Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 ^wAnd he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be ^xrejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after ^ythree days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^z“Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

34 ^aAnd calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and ^btake up his cross and ^cfollow me. 35 ^dFor whoever would save his life¹ will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the ^egospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to ^fgain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ^gashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he ^hcomes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Resurrection of Christ

1 Now I would remind you, brothers,¹ of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, ^tif you hold fast to the word I preached to you—^uunless you believed ^vin vain.

3 For I ^wdelivered to you as of first importance ^xwhat I also received: that ^yChrist died for our sins ^zin accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was ^aburied, that he was raised on the ^bthird day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he ^cappeared to Cephas, then ^dto the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, ^ehe appeared also to me. 9 For ^fI am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I ^gpersecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, ^hthough it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 ⁱWhether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no ^jresurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that ^khe raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and ^lyou are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope² in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been ^mraised from the dead, ⁿthe firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as ^oby a man came death, ^pby a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be ^qmade alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his ^rcoming those who ^sbelong to Christ. 24 Then comes ^tthe end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying ^uevery rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until ^vhe has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 ^wThe last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For ^x“God³ has put ^yall things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, ^zthen the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

Naomi Widowed

1 ^aIn the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of ^bBethlehem in Judah ^cwent to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites ^dfrom Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had ^evisited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal ^fkindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find ^grest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? ^hHave I yet sons in my womb ⁱthat they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the ^jhand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her ^kgods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For ^lwhere you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. ^mMay the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Naomi and Ruth Return

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;¹ call me ⁿMara,² for the ^oAlmighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, ^pwho returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of ^qbarley harvest.