American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying,
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Hear us, my lord; thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place.
Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the children of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.
And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead.
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure
unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.
But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
These all died {Greek: according to.}in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Hear us, my lord; thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
And they said, Stand back. And they said, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.
So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
There then because of the Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.
The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many {Hebrew: upon the face of the valley.}in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause {Or, spirit}breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put {Or, spirit}breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a {Or, thundering}noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the {Or, breath}wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the {Or, breath}wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O {Or, wind Or, spirit}breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
Now I make known unto you brethren, the {See marginal note on chapter 4:15.}gospel which I {See marginal note on chapter 1:17.}preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand,
by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast {Greek: with what word.}the word which I {See marginal note on chapter 1:17.}preached unto you, except ye believed {Or, without cause}in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;
and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve;
then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep;
then he appeared to {Or, Jacob}James; then to all the apostles;
and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found {Or, void}vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised:
and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching {Or, void}vain, {Some ancient authorities read our.}your faith also is {Or, void}vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witnessed of God that he raised up {Greek: the Christ.}Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:
and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
{Or, If in this life only we have hoped in Christ &c.}If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, so also in {Greek: the Christ.}Christ shall all be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his {Greek: presence.}coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to {Greek: the God and Father.}God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.
For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. {Or, But when he shall have said, All things are put in subjection (evidently excepting him that did subject all things unto him), when, I say, all things &c.}But when he saith, {Psalm 8:6.}All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him.
And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.
Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
I protest by {Or, your glorying}that glorying in you, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, {Or, what doth it profit me, if the dead are not raised? Let us eat &c.}what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.
Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame.
But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come?
Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die:
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind;
but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
it is sown a {Greek: psychical.}natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a {Greek: psychical.}natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So also it is written, {Genesis 2:7.}The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is {Greek: psychical.}natural; then that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, {Many ancient authorities read let us also bear.}we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: {Or, We shall not all &c.}We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
But when {Many ancient authorities omit this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and.}this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, {Isaiah 25:8.}Death is swallowed up {Or, victoriously}in victory.
{Hosea 13:14.}O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:
but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not {Or, void}vain in the Lord.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? Jehovah shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the harlot, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
for we take thought for things honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing.
the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah—
for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,
God having {Or, forseen}provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.