The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”^{(A) 2} Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”^{(B) 3} So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took these from them, formed them in a mold,^[a] and cast an image of a calf, and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”^{(C) 5} When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” ⁶ They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.^(D)

⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;^{(E) 8} they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”^{(F) 9} The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.^{(G) 10} Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”^(H)

¹¹ But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?^{(I) 12} Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.^{(J) 13} Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”^{(K) 14} And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.^(L)

Balak Summons Balaam to Curse Israel

22 The Israelites set out and camped in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.^{(A) 2} Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were so numerous; Moab was overcome with fear of the Israelites.^{(B) 4} And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.^{(C) 5} He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates,^[a] in the land of Amaw,^[b] to summon him, saying, “A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me.^{(D) 6} Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”^(E)

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.^{(F) 8} He said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, just as the Lord speaks to me”; so the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.^{(G) 9} God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “King Balak son of Zippor of Moab has sent me this message: ¹¹ ‘Look, a people has come^[c] out of Egypt and has spread over the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’ ” ¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”^{(H) 13} So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the officials of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ So the officials of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ Once again Balak sent officials, more numerous and more distinguished than these. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: Do not let anything hinder you from coming to me, ¹⁷ for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.”^{(I) 18} But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more.^{(J) 19} You also stay here overnight, so that I may learn what more the Lord may say to me.” ²⁰ That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.”^{(K) 21} So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.^(L)

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.^{(A) 37} And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.

⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.^{(B) 44} It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.^{(C) 46} But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is^[a] from heaven.^{(D) 48} As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will^[b] also bear the image of the one of heaven.^(E)

⁵⁰ What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(F) 51} Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,^[c] but we will all be changed,^{(G) 52} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.^{(H) 53} For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.^{(J) 57} But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.^(K)

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

¹¹ Soon afterward^[a] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.^{(A) 12} As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”^{(B) 14} Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”^{(C) 15} The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^[b] gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”^{(D) 17} This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.