1 Corinthians 15:32

Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.

Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.’

For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?

For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.

I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh,

Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

But you, Yahweh, know me. You see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,

Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

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,

desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.

instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age;

Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;

John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.

You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled and cast away, The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.

Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.”

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’

if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”

“They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another.”

Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes the life glad; and money is the answer for all things.

Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;

Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.

This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.

“Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”

“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.

“Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!

Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:

As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine,

he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions,

Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;

(the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives.

They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming.

“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things:

But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.”

Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.

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?

Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

that you ask, ‘What advantage will it be to you? What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?

He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples.

Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?

But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.

But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost,

for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;

Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it.

and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for not all have faith.

But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,

But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason.

saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”