1 Corinthians 15
1 Now I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and on which you stand.
But let me recall to you, brethren, the Good News which I brought you, which you accepted, and on which you are standing,
2 It is by this gospel that you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
through which also you are obtaining salvation, if you bear in mind the words in which I proclaimed it--unless indeed your faith has been unreal from the very first.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
4 that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.
that He was buried; that He rose to life again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 Christ appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve;
and was seen by Peter, and then by the Twelve.
6 then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once. Most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.
Afterwards He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, most of whom are still alive, although some of them have now fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Afterwards He was seen by James, and then by all the Apostles.
8 Last of all, he appeared to me, as if to a child born at the wrong time.
And last of all, as to one of untimely birth, He appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles. I am unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.
For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace in me was not in vain. Instead, I worked harder than all of them. Yet it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
But what I am I am by the grace of God, and His grace bestowed upon me did not prove ineffectual. But I labored more strenuously than all the rest--yet it was not I, but God's grace working with me.
11 Therefore whether it is I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
But whether it is I or they, this is the way we preach and the way that you came to believe.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
If there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then Christ Himself has not risen to life.
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.
15 Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God, saying he raised up Christ when he did not.
Nay more, we are actually being discovered to be bearing false witness about God, because we have testified that God raised Christ to life, whom He did not raise, if in reality none of the dead are raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins.
and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins.
18 Then those who have died in Christ have also perished.
It follows also that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If only in this life we have hope in Christ, of all people we are most to be pitied.
If in this present life we have a hope resting on Christ, and nothing more, we are more to be pitied than all the rest of the world.
20 But now Christ, who is the firstfruits of those who died, has been raised from the dead.
But, in reality, Christ has risen from among the dead, being the first to do so of those who are asleep.
21 For since death came by a man, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
For just as through Adam all die, so also through Christ all will be made alive again.
23 But each in his own order: Christ, who is the firstfruits, and then those who belong to Christ will be made alive at his coming.
But this will happen to each in the right order--Christ having been the first to rise, and afterwards Christ's people rising at His return.
24 Then will be the end, when Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. This is when he will abolish all rule and all authority and power.
Later on, comes the End, when He is to surrender the Kingship to God, the Father, when He shall have overthrown all other government and all other authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
For He must continue King until He shall have put all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death;
27 For “he has put everything under his feet.” But when it says “he has put everything,” it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to himself.
for He will have put all things in subjection under His feet. And when He shall have declared that "All things are in subjection," it will be with the manifest exception of Him who has reduced them all to subjection to Him.
28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to him who put all things into subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
But when the whole universe has been made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to Him who has made the universe subject to Him, in order that GOD may be all in all.
29 Or else what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they baptized for them?
Otherwise what will become of those who got themselves baptized for the dead? If the dead do not rise at all, why are these baptized for them?
30 Why then, are we in danger every hour?
Why also do we Apostles expose ourselves to danger every hour?
31 Every day I face death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I protest, brethren, as surely as I glory over you--which I may justly do in Christ Jesus our Lord--that I die day by day.
32 What do I gain, from a human point of view, if I fought with beasts at Ephesus, if the dead are not raised? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
If from merely human motives I have fought with wild beasts in Ephesus, what profit is it to me? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we are to die.
33 Be not deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Do not deceive yourselves: "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."
34 Sober up! Live righteously! Do not keep sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
Wake from this drunken fit; live righteous lives, and cease to sin; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak thus in order to move you to shame.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body will they come?”
But some one will say, "How can the dead rise? And with what kind of body do they come back?"
36 You are so ignorant! What you sow will not start to grow unless it dies.
Foolish man! the seed you yourself sow has no life given to it unless it first dies;
37 What you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed. It may become wheat or something else.
and as for what you sow, it is not the plant which is to be that you are sowing, but a bare grain, of wheat (it may be) or of something else, and God gives it a body as He has seen fit,
38 But God will give it a body as he chooses, and to each seed its own body.
and to each kind of seed a body of its own.
39 Not all flesh is the same. Instead, there is one flesh of human beings, and another flesh for animals, and another flesh for birds, and another for fish.
All flesh is not the same: there is human flesh, and flesh of cattle, of birds, and of fishes.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly body is one kind and the glory of the earthly is another.
There are bodies which are celestial and there are bodies which are earthly, but the glory of the celestial ones is one thing, and that of the earthly ones is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory.
There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, and what is raised is imperishable.
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in a state of decay, it is raised free from decay;
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
an animal body is sown, a spiritual body is raised. As surely as there is an animal body, so there is also a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
In the same way also it is written, "The first man Adam became a living animal"; the last Adam is a life-giving Spirit.
46 But the spiritual did not come first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
Nevertheless, it is not what is spiritual that came first, but what is animal; what is spiritual came afterwards.
47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is from heaven.
The first man is a man of earth, earthy; the second man is from Heaven.
48 Just as the one made from dust is, so also are those who are made of the dust, and as the man of heaven is, so also are those who are of heaven.
What the earthy one is, that also are those who are earthy; and what the heavenly One is, that also are those who are heavenly.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
And as we have borne a resemblance to the earthy one, let us see to it that we also bear a resemblance to the heavenly One.
50 Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does what is perishable inherit what is imperishable.
But this I tell you, brethren: our mortal bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor will what is perishable inherit what is imperishable.
51 Look! I tell you a secret truth: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.
I tell you a truth hitherto kept secret: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 We will be changed in 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 will be changed.
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sounding of the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incapable of decay, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable body must put on what is imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
For so it must be: this perishable nature must clothe itself with what is imperishable, and this mortality must clothe itself with immortality.
54 But when this perishable body has put on what is imperishable, and when this mortal body has put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
But when this perishable nature has put on what is imperishable, and this mortality has put on immortality, then will the words of Scripture be fulfilled, "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?" (Hadēs g86)
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Now sin is the sting of death, and sin derives its power from the Law;
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
but God be thanked who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always abound in the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is not in vain.
Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.
