The Resurrection of the Dead

¹² But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,^(A) how can some of you say that there is no resurrection^(B) of the dead?^{(C) 13} If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised,^(D) our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.^(E) But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.^{(F) 18} Then those also who have fallen asleep^(G) in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.^(H)

¹³ He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(A) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(B) the Righteous One^(C) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness^(D) to all people of what you have seen^(E) and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(F) and wash your sins away,^(G) calling on his name.’^(H)

¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(A) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a](B) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(C) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(D) 17} I will rescue you^(E) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(F) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(G) and turn them from darkness to light,^(H) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(I) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(J)

¹⁹ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient^(K) to the vision from heaven.