Letter from the Corinthians

1Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, to the brothers and sisters in Corinth: greetings.

2In the midst of many tribulations, I am not surprised that the teachings of the evil one are spreading rapidly. For my Lord Jesus Christ will hasten his coming and bring to nothing those who falsify his words.

3For at the beginning I delivered to you what I had received from the holy apostles who came before me and were always with Jesus Christ: that our Lord Jesus Christ was born of Mary, who is of the seed of David according to the flesh, after the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven by the Father to her through the angel Gabriel, so that Jesus might come down into this world, redeem all flesh by his flesh, and raise us from the dead in the flesh, just as he showed us in himself as an example. And because humanity was formed by his Father, the human being was sought when lost, so that he might be made alive through adoption.

4For this purpose, God Almighty, who made heaven and earth, first sent the prophets to the Jews, so that they might be drawn away from their sins. Because he intended to save the house of Israel, he gave the prophets a share of the Spirit of Christ and sent them first to the Jews, and for a long time they proclaimed the true worship of God. But the prince of iniquity, desiring to be God, seized them and killed them, bound all flesh through evil desires, and the end of the world drew near through judgment.

5But God Almighty, who is righteous, would not cast away his own creation, but had compassion on them from heaven and sent his Spirit into Mary in Galilee. This was so that, through the flesh by which that wicked one had introduced death, by that same flesh he would be shown to have been defeated. For through his own body Jesus Christ saved all flesh, so that he might display the temple of righteousness in his body. In him we are saved.

6They, therefore, are not children of righteousness but children of wrath, because they reject the wisdom of God and say that heaven, earth, and everything in them are not the work of God. They are children of wrath, for they are cursed and follow the teaching of the serpent. Drive them out from among you and flee from their doctrine.

7As for their claim that there is no resurrection of the flesh, they will indeed have no resurrection to life, but to judgment, because they do not believe in the one who rose from the dead, neither believing nor understanding. For they do not understand, Corinthians, what happens to grains of wheat or other seeds: they are cast bare into the earth, decay, and rise again by the will of God with bodies and clothing. And it is not only what was cast in that rises again, but it returns many times greater, blessing itself.

8And if we must take an example not only from seeds but from nobler bodies, you know how Jonah son of Amittai, when he refused to preach to the people of Nineveh but fled, was swallowed by the sea monster. After three days and three nights, God heard Jonah’s prayer from the lowest hell, and no part of him was consumed—not even a hair or an eyelash. How much more, you of little faith, will he raise you who have believed in Christ Jesus, just as he himself arose?

9Likewise, the children of Israel cast a dead man upon the bones of the prophet Elisha, and he arose—body, soul, bones, and spirit. How much more will you, who have been cast upon the body, bones, and spirit of the Lord, rise again on that day with your flesh whole, even as he arose?

10If, then, you receive any other doctrine, God will be a witness against you. And let no one trouble me, for I bear these chains so that I may gain Christ, and I bear his marks in my body so that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Whoever receives the rule received through the blessed prophets and the holy gospel will receive a reward from the Lord, and when that person rises from the dead, will obtain eternal life. But whoever transgresses these things—the fire is with that person and with those who walk in the same way. They are a generation of vipers. Reject them in the power of the Lord, and peace, grace, and love will be with you.