1Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it and have put your faith in it.2Because you believed the good news, you are saved. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. If you don’t, you have believed it for nothing.3What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would.4He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be.5He appeared to Peter. Then he appeared to the 12 apostles.6After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still living. But some have died.7He appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles.8Last of all, he also appeared to me. I was like someone who wasn’t born at the right time.9I am the least important of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle. I tried to destroy God’s church.10But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me.11So this is what we preach, whether I or the other apostles who preached to you. And that is what you believed.
Believers will rise from the dead
12We have preached that Christ has been raised from the dead. So how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead?13If no one rises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.14And if Christ has not been raised, what we preach doesn’t mean anything. Your faith doesn’t mean anything either.15More than that, we would be lying about God. We are witnesses that God raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if the dead are not raised.16If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven.18Those who have died believing in Christ are also lost.19Do we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else.20But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead.21Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did.22Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.23But here is the order of events. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised.24Then the end will come after Christ destroys all rule, authority and power. Then he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.25Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control.26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.27Scripture says that God ‘has put everything under his control.’ It says that ‘everything’ has been put under him. But it is clear that this does not include God himself. That’s because God put everything under Christ. (Ps 8:6)28When he has done that, the Son also will be under God’s rule. God put everything under the Son. In that way, God will be all in all.29Suppose no one rises from the dead. Then what will people do who are baptised for the dead? Suppose the dead are not raised at all. Then why are people baptised for them?30And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour?31I face death every day. That’s the truth. And here is something you can be just as sure of. I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work.32Did I fight wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes? Then what have I gained by it? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.’ (Isa 22:13)33Don’t let anyone fool you. ‘Bad companions make a good person bad.’34You should come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. I say this to make you ashamed.
The body that rises from the dead
35But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?’36How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies.37When you plant something, it isn’t a completely grown plant that you put in the ground. You only plant a seed. Maybe it’s wheat or something else.38But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned. And to each kind of seed he gives its own body.39Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body. Animals have another. Birds have another kind. Fish have still another.40There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory. Earthly bodies have another.41The sun has one kind of glory. The moon has another kind. The stars have still another. And one star’s glory is different from that of another star.42It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last for ever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts for ever.43It is planted without honour. But it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness. But it is raised in power.44It is planted as an earthly body. But it is raised as a spiritual body. Just as there is an earthly body, there is also a spiritual body.45It is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living person.’ The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. (Ge 2:7)46What is spiritual did not come first. What is earthly came first. What is spiritual came after that.47The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven.48Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth. And those who are spiritual are like the heavenly man.49We are like the earthly man. And we will be like the heavenly man.50Brothers and sisters, here is what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t share in the kingdom of God. And what dies can’t share in what never dies.51Listen! I am telling you a mystery. We will not all die. But we will all be changed.52That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live for ever. And we will be changed.53Our natural bodies don’t last for ever. They must be dressed with what does last for ever. What dies must be dressed with what does not die.54In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts for ever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, ‘Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.’ (Isa 25:8)55‘Death, where is the victory you thought you had? Death, where is your sting?’ (Ho 13:14)56The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law.57But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.58My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.
1 Corinthians 15
English Standard Version
The Resurrection of Christ
1Now I would remind you, brothers,[1] of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, (Ro 5:2; 1Co 3:6; 2Co 1:24; 2Ti 2:8; 1Pe 5:12)2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (1Co 1:18; 1Co 11:2; Ga 3:4; Heb 3:6; Heb 3:14)3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, (Da 9:26; Zec 13:7; Joh 1:29; 1Co 11:23; Ga 1:4; Ga 1:12; Heb 5:1; Heb 5:3; 1Pe 1:11; 1Pe 2:24)4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (Ps 16:10; Isa 53:10; Ho 6:2; Mt 12:40; Joh 2:22; Ac 2:25; Ac 13:33; Ac 26:22)5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (Mr 16:14; Lu 24:34; Lu 24:36; Joh 20:19; Joh 20:26; Ac 10:41)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 James, then to all the apostles. (Lu 24:50; Ac 1:3; Ac 12:17)8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1Co 9:1)9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (Ac 8:3; 2Co 12:11; Eph 3:7; 1Ti 1:13)10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (Mt 10:20; 1Co 3:6; 2Co 3:5; 2Co 11:23; 2Co 12:11; Php 2:13; Col 1:29)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, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (Ac 23:8; 2Ti 2:18)13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. (1Th 4:14)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 he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. (Ac 2:24)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 you are still in your sins. (Ro 4:25)18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (1Th 4:16; Re 14:13)19If in Christ we have hope[2] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1Co 4:9; 2Ti 3:12)20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (Ac 26:23; 1Co 15:23; 2Ti 2:8; 1Pe 1:3)21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (Joh 11:25; Ro 5:12; Ro 6:23)22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (Ro 5:14)23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (Lu 14:14; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 2:19; 1Th 4:16)24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (Da 7:14; Da 7:27; Eph 1:21)25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (Ps 110:1)26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (2Ti 1:10; Re 20:14; Re 21:4)27For “God[3] 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. (Ps 8:6; Mt 11:27; Mt 28:18; Eph 1:22)28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1Co 3:23; 1Co 11:3; Php 3:21)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 in danger every hour? (2Co 11:26)31I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! (Lu 9:23; Ro 8:36; 1Th 2:19)32What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (Isa 22:13; Isa 56:12; Lu 12:19; 2Co 1:8)33Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”[4] (1Co 5:6; Jas 1:16)34Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. (Ro 13:11; 1Co 4:14; 1Co 6:5; 1Th 4:5)
The Resurrection Body
35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” (Eze 37:3)36You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. (Joh 12:24)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.42So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. (Da 12:3; Mt 13:43)43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. (Php 3:21; Col 3:4)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, “The first man Adam became a living being”;[5] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (Ge 2:7; Joh 5:21; Joh 6:33; Joh 6:39; Joh 6:54; Joh 6:57; Ro 5:14; Ro 8:2; Ro 8:10)46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. (Ge 2:7; Ge 3:19; Joh 3:13; Joh 3:31)48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. (Php 3:20)49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[6] also bear the image of the man of heaven. (Ge 5:3; Ro 8:29)
Mystery and Victory
50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (Mt 16:17; Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5)51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (Php 3:21; 1Th 4:15; 1Th 4:17)52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (Isa 27:13; Zec 9:14; Mt 24:31; Lu 20:36; Joh 5:25; Joh 5:28; 1Th 4:16)53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (2Co 5:2)54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (Isa 25:8; Heb 2:14; Re 20:14; Re 21:4)55“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (Ho 13:14)56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (Ro 4:15; Ro 5:13; Ro 7:5; Ro 7:8; Ro 7:13)57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ro 8:37; 1Jo 5:4)58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (Jer 48:10; Joh 6:28; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 16:10; Ga 6:9; 2Pe 3:14)