1 Corinthians 15
1 And, brothers, I make known to you the good news that I preached to you, which also ye received, and in which ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved if ye hold firm that word I preached to you, unless ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you at first what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he arose on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some also slept. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all, as to the untimely birth, he also appeared to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy 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 for me did not become empty, but I labored more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Therefore whether I or those men, so we proclaim, and so ye believed. 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed that he has risen from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ risen. 14 And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. 15 And also we are found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed according to God that he raised up the Christ, whom he did not raise up, if therefore the dead are really not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain. Ye are still in your sins. 18 Then also those who slept in Christ have perished. 19 If we are men who have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men more miserable. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. 21 For since death is because of a man, the resurrection of the dead is also because of a man. 22 For as by Adam all die, so also by Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order. Christ the first fruit, then those of Christ at his coming. 24 Afterwards the end, when he delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when he will abolish all rule, and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he will put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy abolished is death. 27 For he subordinated all things under his feet. But when he says that all things have been subordinated, it is clear that he who subordinated all things under him, is excepted. 28 And when all things are made subordinate to him, then the Son himself will also be made subordinate to him who subordinated all things to him, so that God may be all in all. 29 Otherwise what will they do who are immersed for the dead? If the dead do not rise at all, why then are they immersed for the dead? 30 And we, why are we in peril every hour? 31 By the pride that belongs to you, that I keep in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32 If in respect to men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what is the benefit to me if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Be not led astray. Evil associations corrupt good habits. 34 Sober up rightly, and do not sin, for some have ignorance of God. I speak shame about you. 35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come? 36 Thou foolish man, what thou sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what thou sow, thou do not sow the body that it will become, but a bare grain, if it may happen of wheat, or of some other kind. 38 But God gives it a body as he wills, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but one of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds, 40 and heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies (but the glory of the heavenly is different, and the glory of the earthly is different), 41 another glory is of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in the perishable, it is raised in imperishability. 43 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam developed into a living soul. The last Adam a life giving spirit. 46 Nevertheless the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthly, such also are the earthly. And as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. 49 And just as we have worn the form of the earthly, we will also wear the form of the heavenly. 50 Now this I affirm, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit imperishability. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will actually not all sleep, but we will all be transformed, 52 in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For it will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be transformed. 53 For this perishable must put on imperishability, and this mortal put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on imperishability, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written, Death was swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? (Hadēs g86) 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks is to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, become ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not empty in the Lord.
