since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.

nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first. And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds. )

"You put aside God's command and obey human teachings."

The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating.

But John tried to make him change his mind. "I ought to be baptized by you," John said, "and yet you have come to me!"

"You don't know what you are asking for," Jesus answered the sons. "Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?" "We can," they answered.

"You will indeed drink from my cup," Jesus told them, "but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them."

Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.

So John said to all of them, "I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I have a baptism to receive, and how distressed I am until it is over!

I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, 'You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

Some of John's disciples began arguing with a Jew about the matter of ritual washing.

So they went to John and told him, "Teacher, you remember the man who was with you on the east side of the Jordan, the one you spoke about? Well, he is baptizing now, and everyone is going to him!"

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was winning and baptizing more disciples than John.

(Actually, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; only his disciples did.)

Peter said to them, "Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit.

Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day.

But when they believed Philip's message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Simon himself also believed; and after being baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was astounded when he saw the great wonders and miracles that were being performed.

For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, "Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?"

The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

"These people have received the Holy Spirit, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptized with water?"

After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, "Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord." And she persuaded us to go.

At that very hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; and he and all his family were baptized at once.

and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit," they answered.

Paul said, "The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him---that is, in Jesus."

For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death.

By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

Let me put it this way: each one of you says something different. One says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Peter"; and another, "I follow Christ."

I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius.

(Oh yes, I also baptized Stephanas and his family; but I can't remember whether I baptized anyone else.)

In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses.

In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.

For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death.

These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat---eight in all---were saved by the water,

which was a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

The group presented them to the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them.

The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them.

For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John,

They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.

Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message.

Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life.

Those of our people who have died will live again! Their bodies will come back to life. All those sleeping in their graves will wake up and sing for joy. As the sparkling dew refreshes the earth, so the LORD will revive those who have long been dead.

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."

God said to me, "Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future.

When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the LORD.

Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace.

That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death.

Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother.

Last of all, the woman died.

Jesus answered them, "How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.

Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven't you ever read what God has told you? He said,

and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death."

and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

"I know," she replied, "that he will rise to life on the last day."

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die;

They were annoyed because the two apostles were teaching the people that Jesus had risen from death, which proved that the dead will rise to life.

Certain Epicurean and Stoic teachers also debated with him. Some of them asked, "What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?" Others answered, "He seems to be talking about foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.

For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!"

When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again."

When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"

I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death.

except for the one thing I called out when I stood before them: 'I am being tried by you today for believing that the dead will rise to life.' "

Why do you who are here find it impossible to believe that God raises the dead?

For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was.

If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised;

More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death---but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ.

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.

If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man.

But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him.

For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.

For the scripture says, "God put all things under his feet." It is clear, of course, that the words "all things" do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ.

Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?

My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this.

Do not be fooled. "Bad companions ruin good character."

Someone will ask, "How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?"

And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up.

And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong.

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

The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven.

Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will wear the likeness of the Man from heaven.

Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.

For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die.

"Where, Death, is your victory? Where, Death, is your power to hurt?"

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.

We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him.

There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first;

So then, encourage one another with these words.

They have left the way of truth and are upsetting the faith of some believers by saying that our resurrection has already taken place.

God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

"When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne,

He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.

I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,

The righteous will then answer him, 'When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!

I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.'

The King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.'

For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!"

But as Paul went on discussing about goodness, self-control, and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix was afraid and said, "You may leave now. I will call you again when I get the chance."

But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed.

Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life.

There will be suffering and pain for all those who do what is evil, for the Jews first and also for the Gentiles.

For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. We will each receive what we deserve, according to everything we have done, good or bad, in our bodily life.

But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

It was Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them: "The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels

to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him!"

Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.

Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.)