I felt the powerful presence of the LORD, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones.

He said to me, "Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?" I replied, "Sovereign LORD, only you can answer that!"

Tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life.

So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together.

God said to me, "Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign LORD commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life."

Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began.

But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' "

Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.

We are ruled by the love of Christ, now that we recognize that one man died for everyone, which means that they all share in his death.

He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake.

In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins.

that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved.

In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world.

for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you."

But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives.

Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God;

Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.

You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?

So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.

You Gentiles by birth---called "the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies)---remember what you were in the past.

You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength; you will keep me from the grave.

Even in my suffering I was comforted because your promise gave me life.

Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to.

What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit.

as the scripture says, "I have made you father of many nations." So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed---the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist.

If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.

You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies.

For the scripture says, "The first man, Adam, was created a living being"; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit.

it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

Before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who firmly professed his faith before Pontius Pilate, I command you

Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.

The LORD says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.

Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the LORD, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.

None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the LORD, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the LORD, have spoken."

All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.

(SEE 13:38)

Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends.

Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs."

But if we live in the light---just as he is in the light---then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin.

But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.

I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ.