New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 15:30-41 (NRSV)
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger
every hour? 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers
and sisters, as my boasting of you-a boast that I make in Christ
Jesus our Lord. 32 If with merely human hopes I fought with wild
animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead
are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die."
33 Do not be deceived:
"Bad company ruins good morals."
34 Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some
people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 35
But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what
kind of body do they come?" 36 Fool! What you sow does not
come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you
do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of
wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he
has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all
flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another
for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There
are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of
the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon,
and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star
in glory.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.