< 1 Corinthians 15 >
1 Next, friends, I would like to remind you of the good news which I told you, and which you received – the good news on which you have taken your 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 and by means of which you are being saved. I would like to remind you of the words that I used in telling it to you, since you are still holding fast to it, and since it was not in vain that you became believers in Christ.
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 at the very beginning of my teaching I gave you the account which I had myself received – that Christ died for our sins (as the scriptures had foretold),
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, that on the third day he was raised (as the scriptures had foretold),
that He was buried; that He rose to life again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
and was seen by Peter, and then by the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have gone to their rest.
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 After that, he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles.
Afterwards He was seen by James, and then by all the Apostles.
8 Last of all, he appeared even to me, who am, as it were, a miscarried baby – born untimely.
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 who am unworthy of the name of ‘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 it is through the love of God that I am what I am, and the love that he showed me has not been wasted. No, I have toiled harder than any of them, and yet it was not I, but the love of God working 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 Whether, then, it was I or whether it was they, this we proclaim, and this 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 it is proclaimed of Christ that he has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a 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 such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then even Christ has not 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 proclamation is without meaning, and our faith without meaning also!
And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.
15 Yes, and we are being proved to have borne false testimony about God; for we testified of God that he raised the Christ, whom he did not raise, if, indeed, the dead do not rise!
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 do not rise, then even Christ himself has not 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 folly – your sins are on you still!
and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins.
18 Yes, and they, who have passed to their rest in union with Christ, perished!
It follows also that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If all that we have done has been to place our hope in Christ for this life, then we of all people are the 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, in truth, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who are at rest.
But, in reality, Christ has risen from among the dead, being the first to do so of those who are asleep.
21 For, since through a man there is death, so, too, through a man there is a resurrection of the dead.
For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For, as through union with Adam all die, so through union with the Christ will all be made to live.
For just as through Adam all die, so also through Christ all will be made alive again.
23 But each in their proper order – Christ the first-fruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to the Christ.
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 come the end – when he surrenders the kingdom to his God and Father, having overthrown all other rule and all other 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 God ‘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 overthrown is death;
The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death;
27 for God has placed all things under Christ’s feet. (But, when it is said that all things have been placed under Christ, it is plain that God is excepted who placed everything under him.)
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 And, when everything has been placed under him, the Son will place himself under God who placed everything under him, so 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 Again, what good will they be doing who are baptized on behalf of the dead? If it is true that the dead do not rise, why are people baptized on their behalf?
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, too, do we risk our lives every hour?
Why also do we Apostles expose ourselves to danger every hour?
31 Daily I face death – I swear it, friends, by the pride in you that I feel through my union with 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 If with only human hopes I had fought in the arena at Ephesus, what should I have gained by it? If the dead do not rise, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will 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 Do not be deceived. ‘Good character is marred by evil company.’
Do not deceive yourselves: "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."
34 Wake up to a righteous life, and cease to sin. There are some who have no true knowledge of God. I speak in this way to shame you.
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 Someone, however, may ask ‘How do the dead rise? And in what 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 foolish person! The seed you yourself sow does not come to life, unless it dies!
Foolish man! the seed you yourself sow has no life given to it unless it first dies;
37 And when you sow, you sow not the body that will be, but a mere grain – perhaps of 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 God gives it the body that he pleases – to each seed its special body.
and to each kind of seed a body of its own.
39 All forms of life are not the same; there is one for people, another for beasts, another 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 heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but the beauty of the heavenly bodies is not the beauty of the earthly.
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 a beauty of the sun, and a beauty of the moon, and a beauty of the stars; for even star differs from star in beauty.
There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. Sown a mortal body, it rises immortal; sown disfigured, it rises beautiful;
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 sown weak, it rises strong; sown a human body, it rises a spiritual body.
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 As surely as there is a human 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 That is what is meant by the words – ‘Adam, the first man, became a human being’; 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 That which comes first is not the spiritual, but the human; afterward comes 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 was from the dust of the earth; the second man from heaven.
The first man is a man of earth, earthy; the second man is from Heaven.
48 Those who are of the dust are like him who came from the dust; and those who are of heaven are like him who came from 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 And as we have borne the likeness of him who came from the dust, so let us bear the likeness of him who came from 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 This I say, friends – Flesh and blood can have no share in the kingdom of God, nor can the perishable share the 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 Listen, I will tell you God’s hidden purpose! We will not all have passed to our rest, but we will all be transformed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
I tell you a truth hitherto kept secret: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 at the last trumpet-call; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise immortal, and we, also, will be transformed.
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 of ours must put on an imperishable form, and this dying body a deathless form.
For so it must be: this perishable nature must clothe itself with what is imperishable, and this mortality must clothe itself with immortality.
54 And, when this dying body has put on its deathless form, then indeed will the words of scripture come true –
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."
55 ‘death has been swallowed up in victory! Where, Death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?’ (Hadēs )
"Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?" (Hadēs )
56 It is sin that gives death its sting, and it is the Law that gives sin its power.
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 Jesus Christ, our Lord.
but God be thanked who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my dear friends, stand firm, unshaken, always diligent in the Lord’s work, for you know that, in union with him, your toil 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.