1 Corinthians 15
1Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you also received, in which also you have stood,
2through which also you are being saved, in what word I proclaimed the gospel to you, if you hold fast — unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not empty; but I toiled more abundantly than all of them — not I, however, but the grace of God that was with me.
11Whether therefore I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
12Now if Christ is proclaimed as having been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
14And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is empty, and your faith is also empty.
15And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified concerning God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised.
16For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are more pitiable than all people.
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep.
21For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God and Father, when he has abolished every dominion and every authority and power.
25For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.
26The last enemy to be abolished is death.
27For he has subjected all things under his feet. But when it says, 'All things have been subjected,' it is evident that the one who subjected all things to him is excepted.
28And when all things shall have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what will they do, those who are being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized on behalf of them?
30Why are we also in danger every hour?
31I die every day! I swear it by your boasting, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32If from a human standpoint I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit is it to me? If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'
33Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.'
34Sober up rightly and do not sin; for some have an ignorance of God. I say this to your shame.
35But someone will say: How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?
36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37And what you sow — you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, whether it may be of wheat or of some one of the rest.
38But God gives it a body as he has willed, and to each of the seeds its own body.
39Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of human beings, another flesh of animals, another of birds, and another of fish.
40And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and another is the glory of the earthly.
41One is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in decay; it is raised in incorruption.
43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45So also it is written: 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
47The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven.
48As is the one made of dust, so also are those made of dust; and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly ones.
49And just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
50Now I say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does decay inherit incorruptibility.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —
52in an instant, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53For this perishable thing must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal thing must put on immortality.
54But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that is written will come to pass: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
55Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
56Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.