The Resurrection of Jesus. 1^a After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,^* Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2^{* b} And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3^c His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. 4The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. 5Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. 6^* He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7^d Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” 8Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce^* this to his disciples. 9^{* e} And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

21Do not give in to sadness,

or torment yourself deliberately.^e

22Gladness of heart is the very life of a person,

and cheerfulness prolongs his days.

23Distract yourself and renew your courage,

drive resentment far away from you;

For grief has killed many,^f

and nothing is to be gained from resentment.

24Envy and anger shorten one’s days,

and anxiety brings on premature old age.

25Those who are cheerful and merry at table

benefit from their food.^{* g}

14And I say:

Build up, build up, prepare the way,

remove every obstacle from my people’s way.^{* d}

15^* For thus says the high and lofty One,

the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:

I dwell in a high and holy place,

but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,

To revive the spirit of the lowly,

to revive the heart of the crushed.

16For I will not accuse forever,

nor always be angry;

For without me their spirit fails,

the life breath that I have given.^e

17Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;

I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.

But they turned back, following the way

of their own heart.^f

18I saw their ways,

but I will heal them.

I will lead them and restore full comfort to them

and to those who mourn for them,^g

19creating words of comfort.^*

Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,

says the LORD; and I will heal them.

20But the wicked are like the tossing sea

which cannot be still,

Its waters cast up mire and mud.^h

21There is no peace for the wicked!

says my God.ⁱ

The Gospel Teaching.^* 1Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3^* For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;^a 4that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;^b 5that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.^c 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.^d 9For I am the least^* of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.^e 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me. 11Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

B. The Resurrection of the Dead