⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

²⁰ It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.^(A)

¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.^(A)

²³ But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

¹³ Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^(A)

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,”^[a] says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”^(A)

¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with all of you;^(A)

²⁴ But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.^(A)

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.^{[a](A) 15} For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.^{[b] 16} For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.^{(B) 17} Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.^{(C) 18} Therefore encourage one another with these words.

³⁰ because he came close to death for the work of Christ,^[a] risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.