Psalm 31

New King James Version

The Lord a Fortress in Adversity

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

31 In ^(A)You, O Lord, I ^[a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
²^(B)Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of ^[b]refuge,
A ^[c]fortress of defense to save me.

³^(C)For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, ^(D)for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
⁴Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
⁵^(E)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of ^(F)truth.

⁶I have hated those ^(G)who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
⁷I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have ^(H)known my soul in ^[d]adversities,
⁸And have not ^(I)shut^[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
^(J)You have set my feet in a wide place.

⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
^(K)My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my ^[f]body!
¹⁰For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
¹¹^(L)I am a ^[g]reproach among all my enemies,
But ^(M)especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
^(N)Those who see me outside flee from me.
¹²^(O)I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a ^[h]broken vessel.
¹³^(P)For I hear the slander of many;
^(Q)Fear is on every side;
While they ^(R)take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My times are in Your ^(S)hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
¹⁶^(T)Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
¹⁷^(U)Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
^(V)Let them be silent in the grave.
¹⁸^(W)Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which ^(X)speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

¹⁹^(Y)Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
²⁰^(Z)You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
^(AA)You shall keep them secretly in a ^[i]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the Lord,
For ^(AB)He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a ^[j]strong city!
²²For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.

²³Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
²⁴^(AC)Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 31:1 have taken refuge
Psalm 31:2 strength
Psalm 31:2 Lit. house of fortresses
Psalm 31:7 troubles
Psalm 31:8 given me over
Psalm 31:9 Lit. belly
Psalm 31:11 despised thing
Psalm 31:12 Lit. perishing
Psalm 31:20 shelter
Psalm 31:21 fortified

1 Corinthians 15

New King James Version

The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality^(A)

15 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel ^(B)which I preached to you, which also you received and ^(C)in which you stand, ²^(D)by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless ^(E)you believed in vain.

³For ^(F)I delivered to you first of all that ^(G)which I also received: that Christ died for our sins ^(H)according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ^(I)according to the Scriptures, ⁵^(J)and that He was seen by ^[a]Cephas, then ^(K)by the twelve. ⁶After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have ^[b]fallen asleep. ⁷After that He was seen by James, then ^(L)by all the apostles. ⁸^(M)Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

⁹For I am ^(N)the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because ^(O)I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But ^(P)by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, ^(Q)yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Risen Christ, Our Hope^(R)

¹²Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, ^(S)then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because ^(T)we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; ^(U)you are still in your sins! ¹⁸Then also those who have ^[c]fallen ^(V)asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹^(W)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

The Last Enemy Destroyed

²⁰But now ^(X)Christ is risen from the dead, and has become ^(Y)the firstfruits of those who have ^[d]fallen asleep. ²¹For ^(Z)since by man came death, ^(AA)by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall ^(AB)be made alive. ²³But ^(AC)each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. ²⁴Then comes the end, when He delivers ^(AD)the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For He must reign ^(AE)till He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶^(AF)The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷For ^(AG)“He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. ²⁸^(AH)Now when all things are made subject to Him, then ^(AI)the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Effects of Denying the Resurrection

²⁹Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? ³⁰And ^(AJ)why do we stand in ^[e]jeopardy every hour? ³¹I affirm, by ^(AK)the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(AL)I die daily. ³²If, in the manner of men, ^(AM)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ^(AN)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

³³Do not be deceived: ^(AO)“Evil company corrupts good habits.” ³⁴^(AP)Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; ^(AQ)for some do not have the knowledge of God. ^(AR)I speak this to your shame.

A Glorious Body

³⁵But someone will say, ^(AS)“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” ³⁶Foolish one, ^(AT)what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. ³⁷And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. ³⁸But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind ^[f]of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

⁴⁰There are also ^[g]celestial bodies and ^[h]terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. ⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

⁴²^(AU)So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³^(AV)It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵And so it is written, ^(AW)“The first man Adam became a living being.” ^(AX)The last Adam became ^(AY)a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. ⁴⁷^(AZ)The first man was of the earth, ^(BA)made^[i] of dust; the second Man is ^[j]the Lord ^(BB)from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the ^[k]man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; ^(BC)and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹And ^(BD)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(BE)we^[l] shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Our Final Victory

⁵⁰Now this I say, brethren, that ^(BF)flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹Behold, I tell you a ^[m]mystery: ^(BG)We shall not all sleep, ^(BH)but we shall all be changed— ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ^(BI)For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and ^(BJ)this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ^(BK)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“O^(BL)^[n] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and ^(BM)the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷^(BN)But thanks be to God, who gives us ^(BO)the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸^(BP)Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing ^(BQ)that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.