Old/New Testament
The 3rd Hallelujah Psalm[a]
148 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the sky above!
Praise him high in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him all his armies in heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all bright stars.
4 Praise him, skies above,
and the water above the sky.
5 They should all praise the name of the Lord.
It was his command that created them.
6 He has fixed them in their places for all time.
Nothing can change the command that he has given.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth!
Praise him, sea monsters and all the deep seas.
8 Praise him, fire and hail, snow and clouds.
Praise him, wind and storm, as you obey his commands.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills.
Praise him fruit trees and all trees in the forests.
10 Praise him, wild animals and farm animals.
Praise him, snakes and birds.
11 Praise him, kings all over the world,
and people of every nation.
Praise him, princes and all rulers on earth.
12 Praise him, young men and young women.
Praise him, old men, as well as children.
13 They should all praise the name of the Lord.
Only the Lord's name is great above all other names.
He is the king who rules over heaven and earth.
14 He has made his own people strong,
so that other nations respect them.
All the people who serve him should praise him.
They are the Israelite nation, who belong to him.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The 4th Hallelujah Psalm
149 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to worship the Lord.
When his own people meet together,
they should praise him.
2 People of Israel, be very happy,
because God made you.
People of Zion, be very happy,
because God is your king.
3 Yes, dance to praise the name of the Lord.
Take your harps and tambourines
and make music to praise him with your songs.
4 When the Lord's people serve him,
it makes him happy.
He is happy to help humble people,
so that people respect them.
5 The people who belong to God should be very happy,
because he has made them great.
They should always sing with joy,
even when they lie on their beds at night.
6 They should shout aloud to praise God,
while they hold sharp swords in their hands.
7 That is how they must fight against other nations,
to punish them for their sins.
8 They must tie up the foreign kings with chains,
and put the rulers in prison.
9 They must do that to punish their enemies
in the way that is right.
That is how God will cause his people to become great.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The 5th Hallelujah Psalm[b]
150 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his temple.
Praise him high in the sky,
where he shows his great strength.
2 Praise God for the great things that he has done.
Praise him because he is great and powerful.
3 Praise him with music!
Yes! Use trumpets, harps and lyres
to praise God![c]
4 Dance and hit drums to praise him!
Make music with harps and flutes
to praise him!
5 Make music with big cymbals and small cymbals
to praise him!
6 Everything that is alive should praise the Lord.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
29 Think about this. Some of you have let people baptize you on behalf of believers who have already died. But if dead people do not rise up to a new life, there is no reason to baptize anyone on their behalf.[a]
30 Also, think about us! All the time we are in great danger. 31 Yes, every day I come near to death! Why do I tell you this? It is because I am proud of you. I am proud because we all belong to Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 At Ephesus city, people attacked me like wild animals and I fought against them.[b] But that would be worth nothing to me if dead people do not rise to a new life. If dead people do not live again, then we could say:
‘Tomorrow we will probably die.
So we should just eat and drink as much as we like.’[c]
33 Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this:
‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’
34 So start thinking properly! Stop doing wrong things! Some of you do not really know God. I am saying this to make you feel ashamed.
New bodies
35 One of you may ask, ‘How does God raise dead people, to make them alive again? What kind of body will they have?’ 36 Do not think like a fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it has to die first. Then it can become alive again and grow into a new plant. 37 You put just a seed into the ground. It might be wheat or it might be another kind of seed. You do not put into the ground the whole plant that the seed will become. 38 But God makes that seed become a plant. Each plant has its own special body that God has chosen for it.
39 Also, things that are alive do not have the same kind of body. People have one kind of body. Animals have a different kind of body. Birds and fish also have a different kind of body. 40 Also, there are things up in the sky that are different from the things here on the earth. They have different bodies. Also, the things in the sky are beautiful in a different way from the things on the earth. 41 The sun is beautiful in a special way. The moon is also beautiful in a special way, but it is different from the sun. The stars are beautiful too, and each star is beautiful in its own special way.
42 It is like that when God raises a dead person to a new life. We bury the dead person's body in the ground and it becomes spoiled. But when God raises it up, it will live for ever. 43 When we bury the body, it is not beautiful. But when God raises it up, it is very beautiful. When we bury the body, it is weak. But when God raises it, it is strong. 44 What we bury in the ground is a human body. But the body that God raises up is a spiritual body. There is a human body that belongs to this earth. So there also has to be a spiritual body that belongs to heaven.
45 It says in the Bible, ‘The first man, Adam, became a person who received life.’[d] But Christ is like the last Adam. He is a spirit who gives life to people.
46 The spiritual body does not come first. No, what is human comes first. Then, after that, what is spiritual comes. 47 God used soil from the ground to make the first man, Adam. But the second man came from heaven. 48 People who live on the earth have bodies like the first man. That is the man that God made from the soil of the earth. People in heaven have bodies like the man who came from heaven. 49 Now God has given us bodies that look like the first man. One day we will have bodies that look like the man who belongs in heaven.
50 I tell you this, my Christian friends. Our weak human bodies cannot go to heaven, to join God in his kingdom there. Our human bodies will die. They cannot share in something that will continue for ever.
51 Listen to me. I will explain a great secret to you. Not all of us will die, but God will change all of us. 52 It will happen in a short moment, when the last trumpet makes a sound. When that trumpet makes its sound, God will raise up the believers who have died. He will give them bodies that can never die. In that way, he will change all of us.
53 That has to happen. Our bodies that are becoming spoiled must change. They must change into bodies that never become spoiled. Our bodies that are dying must change into bodies that will never die. 54 God will give us new bodies like that. When that happens, what is written in the Bible will become true. It says:
‘God has won against death. He has destroyed it completely!’[e]
55 ‘Death, you can no longer win!
Death, you no longer have any power to hurt us!’[f]
56 Death only has power to hurt us because of our sins. And it is the authority of God's Law that gives power to sins. 57 But now we thank God! Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we win against death and its power.
58 So you must continue to be strong in your spirits, my Christian friends that I love. Do not let anything move you away from your faith. Continue to work hard as you serve the Lord. You know that whatever you do for him will not be useless.
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