He Is Not Here, He Is Risen

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.

2 Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!”

3 Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb.

4 They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first.

5 Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in.

6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying,

7 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.

8 So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed.

9 For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

11 But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb,

12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13 They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”

14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

1 Soon afterwards, he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom. With him were the twelve,

2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;

3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions.

4 When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable.

5 “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

6 Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

7 Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.

8 Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

9 Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”

10 He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.

13 Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.

14 That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

15 Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.

16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light.

17 For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light.

18 Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.”

19 His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd.

20 Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.”

21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it.”

22 Now on one of those days, he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples, and he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.

23 But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A wind storm came down on the lake, and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.

24 They came to him, and awoke him, saying, “Master, master, we are dying!” He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and it was calm.

25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” Being afraid they marveled, saying to one another, “Who is this then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

26 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.

27 When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”

29 For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.

31 They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.

32 Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. He allowed them.

33 The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned.

34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country.

35 People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

36 Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed.

37 All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.

38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

39 “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

40 When Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.

41 Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, and begged him to come into his house,

42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him.

43 A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any,

44 came behind him, and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped.

45 Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the…

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.

10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.

13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;

15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.

20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”

21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

22 It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.

23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

24 The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.

26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”

33 The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’

35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),

36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’

37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.

38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

39 They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.

40 He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed.

41 Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”

42 Many believed in him there.

1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

12 Now 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?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.

15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.

17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.

24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.

28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”

34 Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”

36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.

37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.

41 There 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 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46 However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

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 incorruptible, and we will be changed.

53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers,…

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.

5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.

6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”

8 The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things.

9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.

14 Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.

15 But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

19 They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?

20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”

21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things.

23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands,

25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.

26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,

27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.

30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”

33 Thus Paul went out from among them.

34 But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

2 Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.

3 For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

5 Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus,

6 that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

8 Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,

9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

10 Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11 Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.”

12 Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

14 I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.

15 But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God,

16 that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.

18 For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,

19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;

20 yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.

21 But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.”

22 Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you,

23 but now, no longer having any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come to you,

24 whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

25 But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints.

26 For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

27 Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things.

28 When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

29 I know that, when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ.

30 Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

31 that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints;

32 that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest.

33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.