The Resurrection of Christ

¹Now I would remind you, brothers,1 of the gospel gI preached to you, which you received, hin which you stand, ²and by which iyou are being saved, if you jhold fast to the word I preached to you—kunless you believed in vain.

³For lI delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died mfor our sins nin accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised oon the third day pin accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵and that qhe appeared to Cephas, then rto the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to sJames, then tto all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, uhe appeared also to me. ⁹For vI am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because wI persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, xI worked harder than any of them, ythough it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, zhow can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, athen not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that bhe raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and cyou are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who dhave fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If in Christ we have hope2 in this life only, ewe are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But in fact fChrist has been raised from the dead, gthe firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For as hby a man came death, iby a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For jas in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then kat his coming lthose who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers mthe kingdom to God the Father after destroying nevery rule and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign ountil he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be pdestroyed is death. ²⁷For q“God3 has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸When rall things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that sGod may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ³⁰Why are we tin danger every hour? ³¹I protest, brothers, by umy pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, vI die every day! ³²What do I gain if, humanly speaking, wI fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, x“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³yDo not be deceived: z“Bad company ruins good morals.”4 ³⁴aWake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For bsome have no knowledge of God. cI say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵But someone will ask, d“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶You foolish person! eWhat you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²fSo is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor; git 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. ⁴⁵Thus it is written, h“The first man Adam became a living being”;5 ithe last Adam became a jlife-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷kThe first man was from the earth, la man of dust; mthe second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, nso also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹Just oas we have borne the image of the man of dust, pwe shall6 also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰I tell you this, brothers: qflesh and blood rcannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. sWe shall not all sleep, tbut we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For uthe trumpet will sound, and vthe dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and wthis mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

x“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵y“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and zthe power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, awho gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸bTherefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in cthe work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord dyour labor is not in vain.