Question about cell phones?

I have an htc ozone for verizon. I have a plan for it but my service is being disconnected on sept 10th. I was wondering, after its disconnected can i buy a verizon phone off craigslist and put my sim card into that phone? how does all that work? what will my service/plan be for that phone? can i set it up for prepaid or do i have to have a plan placed on it? i'm confused about all that works... can someone explain it to me?