Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which you also have received, and wherein ye stand,

by which ye also are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you— unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and that He arose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve,

and that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep.

After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

And last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all — yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ is preached, that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

and if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if so it be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised;

and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of those who slept.

For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive;

but every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power.

For He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,

for “He hath put all things under His feet.” But when He saith “all things” are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, who did put all things under Him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Else, what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

I declare by my rejoicing in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die daily.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is there to me, if the dead rise not? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Be not deceived: “Evil associations corrupt good manners.”

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

But some man will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, unless it die.

And that which thou sowest is not that body which shall be, but bare grain, by chance of wheat or of some other grain.

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead: It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written: “The first man Adam was made a living soul.” The last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.

However that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second Man is the Lord from Heaven.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand,

by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;

and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve;

then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep;

then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles;

and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised:

and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:

and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that are asleep.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.

For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him.

And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

I protest by that glorying in you, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.

Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.

Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame.

But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come?

Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die:

and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind;

but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed,

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:

but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.

Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith].

By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].

For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],

and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],

and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].

Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

and last of all, as to one untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.

For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.

But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.

So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth].

We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either;

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

But now [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death].

For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected with incorruptible, immortal bodies] at His coming.

After that comes the end (completion), when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after He has made inoperative and abolished every ruler and every authority and power.

For Christ must reign [as King] until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be abolished and put to an end is death.

For He (the Father) has put all things in subjection under His (Christ’s) feet. But when He says, “All things have been put in subjection [under Christ],” it is clear that He (the Father) who put all things in subjection to Him (Christ) is excepted [since the Father is not in subjection to His own Son].

However, when all things are subjected to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One (the Father) who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [manifesting His glory without any opposition, the supreme indwelling and controlling factor of life].

Otherwise, what will those do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people even baptized for them?

[For that matter] why are we [running such risks and putting ourselves] in danger [nearly] every hour [if there is no resurrection]?

I assure you, believers, by the pride which I have in you in [your union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily [I face death and die to self].

What good has it done me if, [merely] from a human point of view, I fought with wild animals at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink [enjoying ourselves now], for tomorrow we die.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Be sober-minded [be sensible, wake up from your spiritual stupor] as you ought, and stop sinning; for some [of you] have no knowledge of God [you are disgracefully ignorant of Him, and ignore His truths]. I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?”

You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies.

The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given].

All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are also heavenly bodies [sun, moon and stars] and earthly bodies [humans, animals, and plants], but the glory and beauty of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There is a glory and beauty of the sun, another glory of the moon, and yet another [distinctive] glory of the stars; and one star differs from another in glory and brilliance.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength;

it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life].

However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual.

The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven.

As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven.

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].

Now I say this, believers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit nor be part of the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (mortal) inherit the imperishable (immortal).

Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed],

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed].

For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death].

And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever).

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law;

but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].

And now let me remind you [since it seems to have escaped you], brethren, of the Gospel (the glad tidings of salvation) which I proclaimed to you, which you welcomed and accepted and upon which your faith rests,

And by which you are saved, if you hold fast and keep firmly what I preached to you, unless you believed at first without effect and all for nothing.

For I passed on to you first of all what I also had received, that Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for our sins in accordance with [what] the Scriptures [foretold],

That He was buried, that He arose on the third day as the Scriptures foretold,

And [also] that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.

Then later He showed Himself to more than five hundred brethren at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].

Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles (the special messengers),

And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one prematurely and born dead [no better than an unperfected fetus among living men].

For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, who am not fit or deserving to be called an apostle, because I once wronged and pursued and molested the church of God [oppressing it with cruelty and violence].

But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.

So, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed [what you adhered to, trusted in, and relied on].

But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;

And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).

We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];

And further, those who have died in [spiritual fellowship and union with] Christ have perished (are lost)!

If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

But the fact is that Christ (the Messiah) has been raised from the dead, and He became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death].

For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come].

For just as [because of their union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.

But each in his own rank and turn: Christ (the Messiah) [is] the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected] at His coming.

After that comes the end (the completion), when He delivers over the kingdom to God the Father after rendering inoperative and abolishing every [other] rule and every authority and power.

For [Christ] must be King and reign until He has put all [His] enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death.

For He [the Father] has put all things in subjection under His [Christ’s] feet. But when it says, All things are put in subjection [under Him], it is evident that He [Himself] is excepted Who does the subjecting of all things to Him.

However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to [the Father] Who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].

Otherwise, what do people mean by being [themselves] baptized in behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?

[For that matter], why do I live [dangerously as I do, running such risks that I am] in peril every hour?

[I assure you] by the pride which I have in you in [your fellowship and union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily [I face death every day and die to self].

What do I gain if, merely from the human point of view, I fought with [wild] beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will be dead.

Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

Awake [from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, How can the dead be raised? With what [kind of] body will they come forth?

You foolish man! Every time you plant seed, you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up, and growing] unless it dies first.

Nor is the seed you sow then the body which it is going to have [later], but it is a naked kernel, perhaps of wheat or some of the rest of the grains.

But God gives to it the body that He plans and sees fit, and to each kind of seed a body of its own.

For all flesh is not the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for beasts, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars) and there are earthly bodies (men, animals, and plants), but the beauty and glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, while the beauty and glory of earthly bodies is a different kind.

The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. [The body] that is sown is perishable and decays, but [the body] that is resurrected is imperishable (immune to decay, immortal).

It is sown in dishonor and humiliation; it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness; it is resurrected in strength and endued with power.

It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body. [As surely as] there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].

But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual.

The first man [was] from out of earth, made of dust (earthly-minded); the second Man [is] the Lord from out of heaven.

Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded).

And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the image [of the Man] of heaven.

But I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot [become partakers of eternal salvation and] inherit or share in the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (that which is decaying) inherit or share in the imperishable (the immortal).

Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed)

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed).

For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us, this nature that is capable of dying] must put on immortality (freedom from death).

And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through [the abuse of] the Law.

But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand

and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But 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, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.

If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be abolished is death.

For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception.

When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

Why are we in danger every hour?

I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?”

You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;

sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;

sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.

And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all 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 incorruptible, and we will be changed.

For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand.

You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing.

I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures,

he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.

He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve,

and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time.

I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church.

I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me.

So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, “There’s no resurrection of the dead”?

If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either.

If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless.

We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised.

If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either.

If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins,

and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever.

If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died.

Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.

In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ.

Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest, then those who belong to Christ at his coming,

and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end.

It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet.

Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end,

since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control.

But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren’t raised, then why are they being baptized for them?

And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day?

Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I’m facing death every day.

From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren’t raised, let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’ll die.

Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.

Sober up by acting like you should and don’t sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?”

Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies.

What you put in the ground doesn’t have the shape that it will have, but it’s a bare grain of wheat or some other seed.

God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape.

All flesh isn’t alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory.

The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory).

It’s the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won’t ever decay.

It’s degraded when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in glory. It’s weak when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in power.

It’s a physical body when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised as a spiritual body. If there’s a physical body, there’s also a spiritual body.

So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person, and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life.

But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward.

The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven.

The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people.

We will look like the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.

This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom. Something that rots can’t inherit something that doesn’t decay.

Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed—

in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed.

It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die.

And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory.

Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death?

( Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.)

Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord.

Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand,

and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain.

For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says;

and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says;

and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve;

and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died.

Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries;

and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time.

For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me.

Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.

But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised;

and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain;

furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either;

and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins.

Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost.

If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone.

But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died.

For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man.

For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming;

then the culmination, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power.

For he has to rule until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be done away with will be death,

for “He put everything in subjection under his feet.” But when it says that “everything” has been subjected, obviously the word does not include God, who is himself the one subjecting everything to the Messiah.

Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then he will subject himself to God, who subjected everything to him; so that God may be everything in everyone.

Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them?

For that matter, we ourselves — why do we keep facing danger hour by hour?

Brothers, by the right to be proud which the Messiah Yeshua our Lord gives me, I solemnly tell you that I die every day.

If my fighting with “wild beasts” in Ephesus was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character.”

Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! There are some people who lack knowledge of God — I say this to your shame.

But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have?”

Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies.

Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else;

but God gives it the body he intended for it; and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

Not all living matter is the same living matter; on the contrary, there is one kind for human beings, another kind of living matter for animals, another for birds and another for fish.

Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else.

The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon another, the stars yet another; indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. When the body is “sown,” it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay.

When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. When sown, it is weak; when raised, it will be strong.

When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a body controlled by the Spirit. If there is an ordinary human body, there is also a body controlled by the Spirit.

In fact, the Tanakh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being; but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit.

Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards.

The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven.

People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven;

and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven.

Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, nor can something that decays share in what does not decay.

Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed!

It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed.

For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality.

When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

“Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah;

but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!

So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.

My friends, I want you to remember the message I preached and that you believed and trusted.

You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.

I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. This part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say.

He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.

Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.

After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died.

He also appeared to James, then to all of the apostles.

Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.

I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle.

But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's grace at work and not me.

But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.

If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say the dead will not be raised to life?

If they won't be raised to life, Christ himself wasn't raised to life.

And if Christ wasn't raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith.

If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying he raised Christ to life, when he really did not.

So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life.

Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins.

And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost.

If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.

But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.

Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ.

Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us.

But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns.

Then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom to God the Father.

Christ will rule until he puts all his enemies under his power,

and the last enemy he destroys will be death.

When the Scriptures say he will put everything under his power, they don't include God. It was God who put everything under the power of Christ.

After everything is under the power of God's Son, he will put himself under the power of God, who put everything under his Son's power. Then God will mean everything to everyone.

If the dead are not going to be raised to life, what will people do who are being baptized for them? Why are they being baptized for those dead people?

And why do we always risk our lives

and face death every day? The pride that I have in you because of Christ Jesus our Lord is what makes me say this.

What do you think I gained by fighting wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised to life, “Let's eat and drink. Tomorrow we die.”

Don't fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you.

Be sensible and stop sinning. You should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God.

Some of you have asked, “How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?”

Don't be foolish. A seed must die before it can sprout from the ground.

Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up.

This is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have.

People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike.

Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others.

The sun isn't like the moon, the moon isn't like the stars, and each star is different.

That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.

These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong.

As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.

The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.

We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body.

The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven.

Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.

Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.

My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay. This means they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts forever.

I will explain a mystery to you. Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed.

It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so we will never die again.

Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay.

The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true, “Death has lost the battle!

Where is its victory? Where is its sting?”

Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin.

But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!

My dear friends, stand firm and don't be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.

But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand,

by which also ye are saved, (if ye hold fast the word which I announced to you as the glad tidings,) unless indeed ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered to you, in the first place, what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures;

and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures;

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the most remain until now, but some also have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles;

and last of all, as to an abortion, he appeared to *me* also.

For *I* am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called apostle, because I have persecuted the assembly of God.

But by God's grace I am what I am; and his grace, which [was] towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all, but not *I*, but the grace of God which [was] with me.

Whether, therefore, I or they, thus we preach, and thus ye have believed.

Now if Christ is preached that he is raised from among [the] dead, how say some among you that there is not a resurrection of [those that are] dead?

But if there is not a resurrection of [those that are] dead, neither is Christ raised:

but if Christ is not raised, then, indeed, vain also [is] our preaching, and vain also your faith.

And we are found also false witnesses of God; for we have witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he has not raised if indeed [those that are] dead are not raised.

For if [those that are] dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised;

but if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then indeed also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are [the] most miserable of all men.

(But now Christ is raised from among [the] dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep.

For since by man [came] death, by man also resurrection of [those that are] dead.

For as in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive.

But each in his own rank: [the] first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at his coming.

Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him [who is] God and Father; when he shall have annulled all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet.

[The] last enemy [that] is annulled [is] death.

For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says that all things are put in subjection, [it is] evident that [it is] except him who put all things in subjection to him.

But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all.)

Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if [those that are] dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them?

Why do *we* also endanger ourselves every hour?

Daily I die, by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If, [to speak] after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if [those that are] dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.

But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come?

Fool; what *thou* sowest is not quickened unless it die.

And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest:

and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body.

Every flesh [is] not the same flesh, but one [is] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another [flesh] of birds, and another of fishes.

And [there are] heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but different is the glory of the heavenly, different that of the earthly:

one [the] sun's glory, and another [the] moon's glory, and another [the] stars' glory; for star differs from star in glory.

Thus also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility.

It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body: if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [one].

Thus also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit.

But that which is spiritual [was] not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual:

the first man out of [the] earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven.

Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly [one], such also the heavenly [ones].

And as we have borne the image of the [one] made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly [one].

But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom, nor does corruption inherit incorruptibility.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed,

in an instant, in [the] twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and *we* shall be changed.

For this corruptible must needs put on incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality.

But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, [is] thy sting? where, O death, thy victory?

Now the sting of death [is] sin, and the power of sin the law;

but thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, my beloved brethren, be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in [the] Lord.

Now I make-known to you, brothers, the good-news which I announced-as-good-news to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,

through which you also are being saved— if  you are holding-on in that message I announced-as-good-news to you, unless you believed in-vain.

For I delivered to you among the first things what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and that He has been raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

After that He appeared to over five-hundred brothers at-one-time, of whom the majority are remaining until now. But some fell-asleep.

After that He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

And last of all, as-if-indeed to the untimely-born one, He appeared to me also.

For I am the least of the apostles— who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me did not become empty. But I labored even more than them all— yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

So whether it was I or those, thus we are proclaiming, and thus you believed.

But if Christ is being proclaimed that He has been raised from the dead, how is it some are saying among you that there is no resurrection of dead ones?

Now if there is no resurrection of dead ones, neither has Christ been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is also empty; your faith is also empty;

and we are even found to be false-witnesses of  God, because we testified against God that He did raise Christ— Whom He did not raise if-indeed then dead ones are not raised.

For if dead ones are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins.

Then also the ones having fallen-asleep in Christ perished.

If we are ones having hoped in Christ in this life only, we are more pitiable than all people.

But now, Christ has been raised from the dead— the firstfruit of the ones having fallen-asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of dead ones also came through a man.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be given-life,

but each in his own order: Christ the firstfruit; after-that the ones of  Christ at His coming.

Then comes the end— when He hands-over the kingdom to His God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign until which time He has put all the enemies under His feet.

Death, the last enemy, is abolished—

for “He subjected all things under His feet” [Ps 8:6]. But when He says that “All things have been subjected”, it is clear that this is except the One having subjected all things to Him.

But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One having subjected all things to Him, in order that God may be all things in all.

Otherwise, what will the ones being baptized for the dead do? If dead ones are not raised at-all, why indeed are they baptized for them?

Why indeed are we in danger every hour?

I die daily— by your boasting, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If in accordance with human thinking I fought-wild-animals at Ephesus, what is the profit to me? If dead ones are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” [Isa 22:13].

Do not be deceived: bad companionships corrupt good habits.

Sober-up righteously and do not be sinning, for some have an ignorance of God. I speak to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

Foolish one! What you sow is not given-life unless it dies.

And as to what you sow— you do not sow the body which will come, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest.

And God gives it a body just as He willed— indeed, to each of the seeds its own body.

Not all flesh is the same flesh. But there is one of humans, and another flesh of livestock, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is different.

There 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.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in decay; it is raised in undecayability.

It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So also it has been written [in Gen 2:7], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”. The Last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But the spiritual body is not first— but the natural body, then the spiritual.

The first man was from earth, made-of-dust. The second Man is from heaven.

Such as was the one made-of-dust— such ones also are the ones made-of-dust. And such as is the heavenly One— such ones also are the heavenly ones.

And just as we bore the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One.

Now I say this, brothers: that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does decay inherit undecayability.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall-asleep. But we will all be changed—

in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For it will trumpet, and the dead will be raised undecayable, and we will be changed.

For this decayable body must put-on undecayability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

And when this decayable body puts-on undecayability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying having been written will come-about: “Death was swallowed-up in victory” [Isa 25:8].

“Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your stinger?” [Hos 13:14].

Now the stinger of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.

But thanks be to God, the One giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not empty in the Lord.

Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand;

By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures:

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven.

Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

And last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am; and his grace in me hath not been void, but I have laboured more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

For whether I, or they, so we preach, and so you have believed.

Now if Christ be preached, that he arose again from the dead, how do some among you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again.

And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we have given testimony against God, that he hath raised up Christ; whom he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again.

For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again.

And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins.

Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep:

For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead.

And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

But every one in his own order: the firstfruits Christ, then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.

Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue.

For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.

And the enemy death shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet. And whereas he saith,

All things are put under him; undoubtedly, he is excepted, who put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Otherwise what shall they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not again at all? why are they then baptized for them?

Why also are we in danger every hour?

I die daily, I protest by your glory, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not again? Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.

Be not seduced: Evil communications corrupt good manners.

Awake, ye just, and sin not. For some have not the knowledge of God, I speak it to your shame.

But some man will say: How do the dead rise again? or with what manner of body shall they come?

Senseless man, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first.

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be; but bare grain, as of wheat, or of some of the rest.

But God giveth it a body as he will: and to every seed its proper body.

All flesh is not the same flesh: but one is the flesh of men, another of beasts, another of birds, another of fishes.

And there are bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial: but, one is the glory of the celestial, and another of the terrestrial.

One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars. For star differeth from star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power.

It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body. If there be a natural body, there is also a spiritual body, as it is written:

The first man Adam was made into a living soul; the last Adam into a quickening spirit.

Yet that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; afterwards that which is spiritual.

The first man was of the earth, earthly: the second man, from heaven, heavenly.

Such as is the earthly, such also are the earthly: and such as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly.

Therefore as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God: neither shall corruption possess incorruption.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall not all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible: and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality.

And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it.

That Good News, the message you heard from me, is God’s way to save you. But you must continue believing it. If you don’t, you believed for nothing.

I gave you the message that I received. I told you the most important truths: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say;

that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day, as the Scriptures say;

and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve apostles.

After that Christ appeared to more than 500 other believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died.

Then he appeared to James and later to all the apostles.

Last of all, he appeared to me. I was different, like a baby born before the normal time.

All the other apostles are greater than I am. I say this because I persecuted the church of God. That is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle.

But, because of God’s grace, that is what I am. And his grace that he gave me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace that was with me.)

So then it is not important if I told you God’s message or if it was the other apostles who told you—we all tell people the same message, and this is what you believed.

We tell everyone that Christ was raised from death. So why do some of you say that people will not be raised from death?

If no one will ever be raised from death, then Christ has never been raised.

And if Christ has never been raised, then the message we tell is worth nothing. And your faith is worth nothing.

And we will also be guilty of lying about God, because we have told people about him, saying that he raised Christ from death. And if no one is raised from death, then God never raised Christ from death.

If those who have died are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised from death, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins.

And those in Christ who have already died are lost.

If our hope in Christ is only for this life here on earth, then people should feel more sorry for us than for anyone else.

But Christ really has been raised from death—the first one of all those who will be raised.

Death comes to people because of what one man did. But now there is resurrection from death because of another man.

I mean that in Adam all of us die. And in the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again.

But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. Then, when Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life.

Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. Then he will give the kingdom to God the Father.

Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under his control.

The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

As the Scriptures say, “God put everything under his control.” When it says that “everything” is put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself. God is the one putting everything under Christ’s control.

After everything has been put under Christ, then the Son himself will be put under God. God is the one who put everything under Christ. And Christ will be put under God so that God will be the complete ruler over everything.

If no one will ever be raised from death, then what will the people do who are baptized for those who have died? If the dead are never raised, then why are people baptized for them?

And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour?

I face death every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I am proud of what you are because of Christ Jesus our Lord.

I fought wild animals in Ephesus. If I did that only for human reasons, then I have gained nothing. If we are not raised from death, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we die.”

Don’t be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.”

Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know God. I say this to shame you.

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?”

These are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow.

And when you plant something, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else.

But God gives it the body that he has planned for it, and he gives each kind of seed its own body.

All things made of flesh are not the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have yet another kind.

Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the beauty of the earthly bodies is another.

The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon has another kind, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.

It will be the same when those who have died are raised to life. The body that is “planted” in the grave will ruin and decay, but it will be raised to a life that cannot be destroyed.

When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But when it is raised, it will be great and glorious. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it will be full of power.

The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is a physical body. So there is also a spiritual body.

As the Scriptures say, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam is a life-giving spirit.

The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man that came first; then came the spiritual.

The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven.

All people belong to the earth. They are like that first man of earth. But those who belong to heaven are like that man of heaven.

We were made like that man of earth, so we will also be made like that man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Our bodies of flesh and blood cannot have a part in God’s kingdom. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins.

But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.

It will only take the time of a second. We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks. This will happen when the last trumpet blows. The trumpet will blow and those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we will all be changed.

This body that ruins must clothe itself with something that will never ruin. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die.

So this body that ruins will clothe itself with that which never ruins. And this body that dies will clothe itself with that which never dies. When this happens, the Scriptures will be made true: “Death is swallowed in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory? Where is your power to hurt?”

Death’s power to hurt is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But we thank God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

My Christian friends, I want you to remember the good news that I taught to you. You received it from me and you continue to believe it as a true message.

Because of the message that I spoke to you, God will save you. He will save you if you continue to trust that same good news. If you do not, you have believed it for nothing.

I received the good news from Christ, and I told that message to you. I told you the most important things: Christ died as a sacrifice for our sins. The Bible already said how that would happen.

People buried his dead body. On the third day after that God raised him up to live again. The Bible already spoke about that too.

After that, Christ appeared to Peter. Later, he appeared to his 12 disciples.

And after that, he appeared to more than 500 believers at the same time. Most of those 500 people are still alive, but some of them have died.

Then Christ appeared to James. Later he appeared to all the apostles.

After all these people had seen him, Christ also appeared to me. I was like someone who was born at the wrong time.

Among all the apostles, I am the least important. I caused so much trouble for God's church that people should not really call me an apostle.

But God was very kind to me. He helped me to become a different person. And because God has been so kind to me, the result has been great. I have worked more than all the other apostles. But it was not really I myself who could do that work. No, I could do it because God was so kind to me.

So then, all of us apostles teach the same good news about Christ. That is the message that you have believed. It does not matter which of us told it to you, whether it was me or someone else.

We all speak this message: God raised Christ up after his death. But some of you say that dead people do not live again.

Anyone who says that is wrong. If dead people do not live again, then Christ did not rise up after his death. He would still be dead.

And if God did not raise Christ up, it does no good for us to tell God's good news to people. There would be nothing for you to believe.

We would have been telling lies about God, because we told you that God raised Christ up after his death. But if dead people do not live again, that would not be true.

So, if dead people never rise to a new life, then Christ himself did not rise after his death.

And if Christ did not rise, then you have believed a false message. God would still say that you are guilty, because of your sins.

Also, think about those people who believed in Christ but they have already died. If dead people do not rise to a new life, those people would have no life with God.

As believers, we trust Christ to lead us into a new life after death. But if we only trust him to help us in this life, we should be very sad. Everybody should be very sorry for us, more than for anyone else.

But it is really true that God raised Christ up after his death. He rose up to go to God in heaven. He was the first, so we know that believers who die will also rise up.

All people die because of what one man did. That was Adam. And it is because of another man that people can rise up after death to a new life. That is Christ.

As people, all of us belong to Adam's family. So all of us must die. But all people who belong to Christ will live again after death.

It is like this: First of all, Christ died and then he became alive again. Then, when Christ returns, his people will live again too.

After that, the end of everything will happen. Christ will win against every ruler and power and authority. He will give the kingdom to God, the Father. God will rule over everything.

Christ himself must rule as king until he has won against all his enemies.

The last enemy that he must destroy is death.

It says in the Bible, ‘God has put all things under his authority.’ But it is clear that the words ‘all things’ do not include God himself. No, because it is God who put all things under Christ's authority.

When God has put all things under Christ's authority, then God's Son, Jesus Christ, will put himself under his Father's authority. Then God will have complete authority over all things, everywhere.

Think about this. Some of you have let people baptize you on behalf of believers who have already died. But if dead people do not rise up to a new life, there is no reason to baptize anyone on their behalf.

Also, think about us! All the time we are in great danger.

Yes, every day I come near to death! Why do I tell you this? It is because I am proud of you. I am proud because we all belong to Christ Jesus our Lord.

At Ephesus city, people attacked me like wild animals and I fought against them. But that would be worth nothing to me if dead people do not rise to a new life. If dead people do not live again, then we could say: ‘Tomorrow we will probably die. So we should just eat and drink as much as we like.’

Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this: ‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’

So start thinking properly! Stop doing wrong things! Some of you do not really know God. I am saying this to make you feel ashamed.

One of you may ask, ‘How does God raise dead people, to make them alive again? What kind of body will they have?’

Do not think like a fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it has to die first. Then it can become alive again and grow into a new plant.

You put just a seed into the ground. It might be wheat or it might be another kind of seed. You do not put into the ground the whole plant that the seed will become.

But God makes that seed become a plant. Each plant has its own special body that God has chosen for it.

Also, things that are alive do not have the same kind of body. People have one kind of body. Animals have a different kind of body. Birds and fish also have a different kind of body.

Also, there are things up in the sky that are different from the things here on the earth. They have different bodies. Also, the things in the sky are beautiful in a different way from the things on the earth.

The sun is beautiful in a special way. The moon is also beautiful in a special way, but it is different from the sun. The stars are beautiful too, and each star is beautiful in its own special way.

It is like that when God raises a dead person to a new life. We bury the dead person's body in the ground and it becomes spoiled. But when God raises it up, it will live for ever.

When we bury the body, it is not beautiful. But when God raises it up, it is very beautiful. When we bury the body, it is weak. But when God raises it, it is strong.

What we bury in the ground is a human body. But the body that God raises up is a spiritual body. There is a human body that belongs to this earth. So there also has to be a spiritual body that belongs to heaven.

It says in the Bible, ‘The first man, Adam, became a person who received life.’ But Christ is like the last Adam. He is a spirit who gives life to people.

The spiritual body does not come first. No, what is human comes first. Then, after that, what is spiritual comes.

God used soil from the ground to make the first man, Adam. But the second man came from heaven.

People who live on the earth have bodies like the first man. That is the man that God made from the soil of the earth. People in heaven have bodies like the man who came from heaven.

Now God has given us bodies that look like the first man. One day we will have bodies that look like the man who belongs in heaven.

I tell you this, my Christian friends. Our weak human bodies cannot go to heaven, to join God in his kingdom there. Our human bodies will die. They cannot share in something that will continue for ever.

Listen to me. I will explain a great secret to you. Not all of us will die, but God will change all of us.

It will happen in a short moment, when the last trumpet makes a sound. When that trumpet makes its sound, God will raise up the believers who have died. He will give them bodies that can never die. In that way, he will change all of us.

That has to happen. Our bodies that are becoming spoiled must change. They must change into bodies that never become spoiled. Our bodies that are dying must change into bodies that will never die.

God will give us new bodies like that. When that happens, what is written in the Bible will become true. It says: ‘God has won against death. He has destroyed it completely!’

‘Death, you can no longer win! Death, you no longer have any power to hurt us!’

Death only has power to hurt us because of our sins. And it is the authority of God's Law that gives power to sins.

But now we thank God! Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we win against death and its power.

So you must continue to be strong in your spirits, my Christian friends that I love. Do not let anything move you away from your faith. Continue to work hard as you serve the Lord. You know that whatever you do for him will not be useless.

Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. You received it, and you took your stand on it.

You are also being saved by that gospel that was expressed in the words I preached to you, if you keep your hold on it—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

After that he appeared to over five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles.

Last of all, he appeared also to me, the stillborn child, so to speak.

For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not ineffective. On the contrary, I worked more than all of them (and yet it wasn’t my doing, but it was the grace of God, which was with me, that did it).

So whether it is I or they, that is what we preach, and that is what you believed.

Now if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless, and your faith is pointless too.

Then we are even guilty of giving false testimony about God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it were true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Then it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished.

If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man.

For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming.

Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power.

For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

Death is the last enemy to be done away with.

Certainly, “he has put all things in subjection under his feet.” Now when it says that all things have been put in subjection, obviously that does not include the one who subjected all things to him.

But when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what will those people do who get baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why do they even get baptized for them?

Why do we live in danger every hour?

Day by day I face death, as surely as I boast about you, brothers, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with human motives, what good did it do me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Do not be deceived! “Keeping bad company corrupts good morals.”

Use sober judgment, as is right, and do not sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will object, “How can it be that the dead are raised? With what kind of body are they going to come?”

You are being foolish. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body of the kind he wanted it to have, and to each of the seeds he gives its own body.

Flesh is not all the same kind. Instead, people have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish yet another.

There are also celestial bodies and bodies on earth, but the glory of the celestial bodies differs from that of the bodies on earth.

There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another in glory.

That is the way the resurrection of the dead will be. What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living natural being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

However, that which is spiritual is not first; rather, first comes the natural, then the spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

As was the man made of dust, so are the people who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so the heavenly people will be.

And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly man.

Now I say this, brothers: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what is perishable is not going to inherit what is imperishable.

Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory.

Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But 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.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

We 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.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For “God 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.

When 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.

Otherwise, 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?

Why are we in danger every hour?

I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

What 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.”

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Wake 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.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There 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.

There 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.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

As 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.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all 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 shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When 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.”

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, 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.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards 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.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

We 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.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For “God 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.

When 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.

Otherwise, 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?

Why are we in danger every hour?

I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

What 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.”

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Wake 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.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There 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.

There 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.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

As 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.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all 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 shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When 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.”

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to ·remember [or be clear about] the ·Good News [Gospel] I brought to you. You received this ·Good News [Gospel] ·and continue strong in it [or and have based your faith on it; ^Lin which you stand].

And you are being saved by it if you ·continue believing [^Lhold firm to] ·what I told you [^Lthe Gospel message I proclaimed to you], unless you believed ·for nothing [in vain; or superficially; or in something of no value].

[^LFor] I passed on to you what I received, which is ·of greatest importance [or the first thing I told you]: that Christ died for our sins, ·as the Scriptures say [^Laccording to the Scripture; Is. 53:5–6];

that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day ·as the Scriptures say [^Laccording to the Scripture; Ps. 16:8–11];

and that he was seen by ·Peter [^LCephas; ^CPeter’s name in Aramaic; see 1:12] and then by ·the twelve apostles [^Lthe Twelve; Luke 24:33–36].

After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the ·believers [^Lbrothers (and sisters)] at the same time. Most of them ·are still living today [^Lremain until now], but some have ·died [^Lfallen asleep; ^Ca euphemism for death].

Then he was seen by ·James [Jesus’ brother; Mark 6:3; Acts 15:13; Gal. 1:19] and later by all the apostles [Acts 1:6–11].

Last of all he was seen by me [Acts 9]—as by a person ·not born at the normal time [prematurely/abnormally born; ^CChrist’s appearance to Paul was unique, occurring after Jesus’ ascension].

For I am the least of the apostles. I am not even ·good enough [worthy] to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But God’s grace has made me what I am, and his grace to me was not ·wasted [in vain; without effect]. [^LOn the contrary; Indeed] I worked harder than all ·the other apostles [of them]. (But it was not I really; it was God’s grace that was with me.)

So whether I preached to you or ·the other apostles [^Lthey] preached to you, ·we all preach the same thing [this is what we preach; ^Cthe message of Christ’s death and resurrection; vv. 3–8], and this is what you believed.

Now ·since we preached that Christ was [^Lif Christ is preached as] raised from the dead, why do some of you say that people will not be raised from the dead [^Csome Corinthians denied the resurrection of the body]?

If ·no one is ever raised [^Lthere is no resurrection] from the dead, then Christ has not been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is ·worth nothing [futile; useless; empty], and your faith is ·worth nothing [futile; useless; empty].

And also, we are ·guilty of lying [^Lfound to be false witnesses] about God, because we testified ·of him [^Lagainst God] that he raised Christ from the dead. But if people are not raised from the dead, then God never raised Christ.

If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith ·has nothing to it [is futile/useless/empty]; you are still ·guilty of [or a slave to; ^Lin] your sins.

·And [Consequently; Therefore] those in Christ who have ·already died [^Lfallen asleep; v. 6] ·are lost [have perished].

If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than ·anyone else in the world [^Lall people].

But Christ has truly been raised from the dead—the ·first one and proof that those who sleep in death will also be raised [^Lfirstfruits of those who have fallen asleep; ^Cunlike others who had been raised to mortal life, Christ was the first to be raised to everlasting life].

Death has come ·because of what one man did [through a man/human being], but the rising from death also comes ·because of one man [through a man/human being].

In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again [Rom. 5:12–21].

But ·everyone [each] will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was ·first to be raised [^Lthe firstfruits]. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life,

and then the end will come. At that time Christ will ·destroy [abolish] all rulers, authorities, and powers, and he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.

[^LFor] Christ must ·rule [reign] until he puts all enemies under his ·control [^Lfeet; Ps. 110:1].

The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

·The Scripture says that God put [^LFor he has subjected] all things under his ·control [^Lfeet; Ps. 8:6]. When it says “all things” are ·under [subjected to] him, it is clear this does not include the One [^CGod the father] who put everything under his control.

After everything has been ·put under [subjected to] the Son, then he will ·put himself under [be subjected to] ·God [^Lthe One…], who had put all things under him. ·Then [or …so that] God will be ·the complete ruler over everything [or supreme in every place and in every way; ^Lall in all].

If the dead are never raised, what will people do who are being baptized for the dead [^Cit is unclear what this practice was or whether Paul approves or disapproves]? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people being baptized for them?

And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour?

I ·die [face death] every day. ·That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I brag about you [^L(I swear) by my boasting in you, brothers (and sisters), which I have] in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus [^Cprobably a metaphor for human opponents, though possibly beasts in the arena (Acts 19; 2 Cor. 1:8–11; 2 Tim. 4:16–18)] ·only with human hopes [or from a human point of view; ^Laccording to man], I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die [Is. 22:13; 56:12].”

Do not be ·fooled [deceived; misled]: “Bad ·friends [company] will ruin good ·habits [or character; morals; ^Ca quote from the Greek poet Menander (c. 342–291 bc)].”

·Come back to your right way of thinking [Come to your senses; or Sober up as you should] and stop sinning. Some of you ·do not know [or are ignorant about] God—I say this to shame you.

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?”

Foolish person! When you sow a seed, it must die in the ground before it can ·live and grow [come to life].

And when you sow it, it does not have the same “body” it will have later. [^LBut; On the contrary] What you sow is only a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else.

But God gives it a body that he ·has planned [wants; has chosen] for it, and God gives each kind of seed its own body.

All things made of flesh are not the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have another.

Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the ·beauty [splendor; glory] of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the ·beauty [splendor; glory] of the earthly bodies is another.

The sun has one kind of ·beauty [splendor; glory], the moon has another ·beauty [splendor; glory], and the stars have another. And each star is different in its ·beauty [splendor; glory].

It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. ·The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay [^LIt is sown/buried in corruption], but it is raised ·to a life that cannot be destroyed [imperishable; ^Lin incorruption].

·When the body is “planted,” it is without honor [^LIt is sown/buried in dishonor], but it is raised in glory. ·When the body is “planted,” it is weak [^LIt is sown/buried in weakness], but ·when it is raised, it is powerful [^Lit is raised in power].

·The body that is “planted” is a physical body [^LIt is sown/buried a natural/physical/soulish body]. ·When it is raised, it is [^LIt is raised] a spiritual body. There is a ·physical [natural; soulish] body, and there is also a spiritual body.

[^LSo also] It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man, Adam, became a living ·person [soul; Gen. 2:7].” But the last Adam [^CChrist] became a spirit that gives life.

[^LBut] The spiritual did not come first, but the ·physical [natural; soulish] and then the spiritual.

The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven.

People who ·belong to the earth [or are of dust] are like the first man of ·earth [dust]. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven.

Just as we ·were made like [^Lhave borne the image of] the man of earth, so we will also ·be made like [bear the image of] the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot ·have a part in [inherit] the kingdom of God. ·Something that will ruin cannot […nor can the perishable/corruptible] ·have a part in something that never ruins [inherit the imperishable/incorruptible].

But look! I tell you ·this secret [a mystery; 2:1]: We will not all ·sleep in death [^Lsleep; ^Ca euphemism for death], but we will all be changed.

It will ·take only a second [happen in a flash]—as quickly as an eye ·blinks [or twinkles]—when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet will sound, and those who have died will be raised ·to live forever [imperishable; incorruptible], and we will be changed [1 Thess. 4:13–17].

[^LFor] This body that ·can be destroyed [is perishable/corruptible] must clothe itself with ·something that can never be destroyed [the imperishable/incorruptible]. And this ·body that dies [^Lmortal] must clothe itself with ·something that can never die [immortality].

So when this body that ·can be destroyed [is perishable/corruptible] will clothe itself with that which ·can never be destroyed [is imperishable/incorruptible], and this ·body that dies [^Lmortal] will clothe itself with ·that which can never die [immortality], then this Scripture will ·be made true [come to pass]: “Death is ·destroyed forever [^Lswallowed up] in victory [Is. 25:8].”

“[^LO] Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your ·pain [^Lsting; Hos. 13:14]?”

Death’s ·power to hurt [^Lsting] is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So my ·dear [beloved] brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always ·give yourselves fully to [excel in] the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is ·never wasted [not useless/in vain].

1 The Gospel that Paul preached. 3 The death and resurrection of Christ. 8 Paul saw Christ. 9 He had persecuted that Church, whereof afterward he was made a minister. 12 Christ first rose again, and we all shall rise by him. 26 The last enemy, death. 29 To be baptized for dead. 32 At Ephesus Paul fought with beasts. 35 How the dead are raised. 45 The first Adam. The last Adam, 47 The first and second man. 51 We shall all be changed, we shall not all sleep. 55 Death’s sting. 57 Victory. 58 Constancy and steadfastness. Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which ye have also received, and wherein ye continue,

And whereby ye are saved, if ye keep in memory, after what manner I preached it unto you, except ye have believed in vain.

For first of all, I delivered unto you that which I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,

And that he was buried, and that he arose the third day, according to the Scriptures,

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.

After that, he was seen of more than five hundred brethren at once: whereof many remain unto this present, and some also are asleep.

After that, he was seen of James: then of all the Apostles.

And last of all he was seen also of me, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the Apostles, which am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

But by the grace of God I am that I am: and his grace which is in me, was not in vain: but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me.

Wherefore, whether it were I, or they, so we preach, and so have ye believed.

¶ Now if it be preached, that Christ is risen from the dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrection of the dead?

For if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

And we are found also false witnesses of God: for we have testified of God, that he hath raised up Christ: whom he hath not raised up, if so be the dead be not raised.

For if the dead be not raised, then is Christ not raised.

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain: ye are yet in your sins.

And so they which are asleep in Christ, are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and was made the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: the firstfruits is Christ, afterward, they that are of Christ, at his coming shall rise again.

Then shall be the end, when he hath delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he hath put down all rule, and all authority and power.

For he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death.

For he hath put down all things under his feet. (And when he saith that all things are subdued to him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put down all things under him.)

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him, that did subdue all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do which are baptized for dead? if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for dead?

Why are we also in jeopardy every hour?

By your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If I have fought with beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men, what advantageth it me, if the dead be not raised up? let us eat and drink: for tomorrow we shall die.

Be not deceived: evil speakings corrupt good manners.

Awake to live righteously, and sin not: for some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame.

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body come they forth?

O fool, that which thou sowest, is not quickened, except it die.

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare corn as it falleth, of wheat, or of some other.

But God giveth it a body at his pleasure, even to every seed his own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds:

There are also heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There is another glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, and is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonor, and is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, and is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body, and is raised a spiritual body: there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

As it is also written, The first man Adam was made a living soul: and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual: but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthly: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

As is the earthly, such are they that are earthly: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have born the image of the earthly, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly.

This say I, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I show you a secret thing, We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall blow, and the dead shall be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible hath put on incorruption, and this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, that is written, Death is swallowed up into victory.

O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the Law.

But thanks be unto God, which hath given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, abundant always in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, I’m making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based.

In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over.

I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received: Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted.

He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted.

He appeared to Cephas. Next he appeared to the twelve apostles.

Then he appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. (Most of these people are still living, but some have died.)

Next he appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles.

Last of all, he also appeared to me. I’m like an aborted child ⌞who was given life⌟.

I’m the least of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God’s church.

But God’s kindness  made me what I am, and that kindness was not wasted on me. Instead, I worked harder than all the others. It was not I who did it, but God’s kindness was with me.

So, whether it was I or someone else, this is the message we brought you, and this is what you believed.

If we have told you that Christ has been brought back to life, how can some of you say that coming back from the dead is impossible?

If the dead can’t be brought back to life, then Christ hasn’t come back to life.

If Christ hasn’t come back to life, our message has no meaning and your faith also has no meaning.

In addition, we are obviously witnesses who lied about God because we testified that he brought Christ back to life. But if it’s true that the dead don’t come back to life, then God didn’t bring Christ back to life.

Certainly, if the dead don’t come back to life, then Christ hasn’t come back to life either.

If Christ hasn’t come back to life, your faith is worthless and sin still has you in its power.

Then those who have died as believers in Christ no longer exist.

If Christ is our hope in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.

But now Christ has come back from the dead. He is the very first person of those who have died to come back to life.

Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death.

As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ.

This will happen to each person in his own turn. Christ is the first, then at his coming, those who belong to him ⌞will be made alive⌟.

Then the end will come. Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father as he destroys every ruler, authority, and power.

Christ must rule until God has put every enemy under his control.

The last enemy he will destroy is death.

Clearly, God has put everything under Christ’s authority. When God says that everything has been put under Christ’s authority, this clearly excludes God, since God has put everything under Christ’s authority.

But when God puts everything under Christ’s authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, since God had put everything under the Son’s authority. Then God will be in control of everything.

However, people are baptized because the dead ⌞will come back to life⌟. What will they do? If the dead can’t come back to life, why do people get baptized as if they can ⌞come back to life⌟?

Why are we constantly putting ourselves in danger?

Brothers and sisters, I swear to you on my pride in you which Christ Jesus our Lord has given me: I face death every day.

If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus, what have I gained according to the way people look at things? If the dead are not brought back to life, “Let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’re going to die!”

Don’t let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.

Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?”

You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first.

What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have.

God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form.

Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have still another.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’t all have the same splendor, neither do earthly bodies.

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star.

That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay.

When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong.

It is planted as a physical body. It comes back to life as a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, so there is also a spiritual body.

This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual.

The first man was made from the dust of the earth. He came from the earth. The second man came from heaven.

The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven.

As we have worn the likeness of the man who was made from the dust of the earth, we will also wear the likeness of the man who came from heaven.

Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. What decays cannot inherit what doesn’t decay.

I’m telling you a mystery. Not all of us will die, but we will all be changed.

It will happen in an instant, in a split second at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will come back to life. They will be changed so that they can live forever.

This body that decays must be changed into a body that cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live forever.

When this body that decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture will come true: “Death is turned into victory!

Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?”

Sin gives death its sting, and God’s standards give sin its power.

Thank God that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, then, brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation ⌞of your faith⌟. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless.

And now I want to remind you, my friends, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm.

That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it—unless it was for nothing that you believed.

I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures;

that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures;

that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died.

Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles.

Last of all he appeared also to me—even though I am like someone whose birth was abnormal.

For I am the least of all the apostles—I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church.

But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me.

So then, whether it came from me or from them, this is what we all preach, and this is what you believe.

Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life?

If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised;

and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe.

More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ.

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.

It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost.

If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.

For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man.

For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.

But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him.

Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.

For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.

The last enemy to be defeated will be death.

For the scripture says, “God put all things under his feet.” It is clear, of course, that the words “all things” do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ.

But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.

Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?

And as for us—why would we run the risk of danger every hour?

My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this.

If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.”

Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.

Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?”

You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies.

And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up.

God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.

And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies.

The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal.

When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong.

When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body.

For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit.

It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.

The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven.

Those who belong to the earth are like the one who was made of earth; those who are of heaven are like the one who came from heaven.

Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will wear the likeness of the Man from heaven.

What I mean, friends, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God's Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality.

Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.

For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die.

So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”

“Where, Death, is your victory? Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”

Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.

Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it.

You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.

Therefore, whether it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

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 there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;

and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.

If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be abolished is death.

For God has put everything under His feet. But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception.

And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

Why are we in danger every hour?

I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day!

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Come to your senses and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?”

Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

But God gives it a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for one star differs from another star in splendor.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;

sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;

sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth and made of dust; the second man is from heaven.

Like the man made of dust, so are those who are made of dust; like the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly.

And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man.

Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption.

Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.

When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Now, brothers, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News, and you continue strong in it.

And you are saved by this Good News. But you must continue believing what I told you. If you do not, then you believed for nothing.

I passed on to you what I received. And this was the most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say;

that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say;

and that he showed himself to Peter and then to the twelve apostles.

After that, Jesus showed himself to more than 500 of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today. But some have died.

Then Jesus showed himself to James and later to all the apostles.

Last of all he showed himself to me—as to a person not born at the normal time.

All the other apostles are greater than I am. This is because I persecuted the church of God. And this is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle.

But God’s grace has made me what I am. And his grace to me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace that was with me.)

So then it is not important if I preached to you or if the other apostles preached to you. We all preach the same thing, and this is what you believed.

It is preached that Christ was raised from death. So why do some of you say that people will not be raised from death?

If no one will ever be raised from death, then Christ was not raised from death.

And if Christ was not raised, then our preaching is worth nothing. And your faith is worth nothing.

And also, we will be guilty of lying about God. Because we have preached about him by saying that he raised Christ from death. And if people are not raised from death, then God never raised Christ from death.

If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins.

And also, those in Christ who have already died are lost.

If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.

But Christ has truly been raised from death—the first one and proof that those who are asleep in death will also be raised.

Death comes to everyone because of what one man did. But the rising from death also happens because of one man.

In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again.

But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life.

Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. And he will give the kingdom to God the Father.

Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under Christ’s control.

The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

The Scripture says, “God put all things under his control.” When it says that “all things” are put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself. God is the one putting everything under Christ’s control.

After everything has been put under Christ, then the Son himself will be put under God. God is the One who put all things under Christ. And Christ will be put under God, so that God will be the complete ruler over everything.

If the dead are never raised, then what will people do who are baptized for those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?

And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour?

I die every day. That is true, brothers, just as it is true that I brag about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus only for human reasons, I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, then, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”

Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.”

Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. I say this to shame you—some of you do not know God.

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?”

Those are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow.

And when you plant it, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else.

But God gives it a body that he has planned for it. And God gives each kind of seed its own body.

All things made of flesh are not the same kinds of flesh: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds have another, and fish have another.

Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind. The beauty of the earthly bodies is another kind.

The sun has one kind of beauty. The moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.

It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay. But that body is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed.

When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But it is raised in glory. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it has power.

The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body. There is a physical body. And there is also a spiritual body.

It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man became a living person.” But the last Adam became a spirit that gives life.

The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man who came first; then came the spiritual.

The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven.

People belong to the earth. They are like the first man of earth. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven.

We were made like the man of earth. So we will also be made like the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers: Flesh and blood cannot have a part in the kingdom of God. A thing that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins.

But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.

It will only take a second. We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks. This will happen when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet will sound and those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we will all be changed.

This body that will ruin must clothe itself with something that will never ruin. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die.

So this body that ruins will clothe itself with that which never ruins. And this body that dies will clothe itself with that which never dies. When this happens, then this Scripture will be made true: “Death is destroyed forever in victory.” Isaiah 25:8

“Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your power to hurt?” Hosea 13:14

Death’s power to hurt is sin. The power of sin is the law.

But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So my dear brothers, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

Now I’m making known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you have taken your stand,

and by which you are also being saved if you hold firmly to the message I proclaimed to you—unless, of course, your faith was worthless.

For I passed on to you the most important points that I received: The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures—and is still alive!—

and he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve.

After that, he was seen by more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

Next he was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

and finally he was seen by me, as though I were born abnormally late.

For I am the least of the apostles and not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God’s church.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others—not I, of course, but God’s grace that was with me.

So, whether it was I or the others, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Now if we preach that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised,

and if the Messiah has not been raised, then our message means nothing and your faith means nothing.

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we testified on God’s behalf that he raised the Messiah—whom he did not raise if in fact it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised,

and if the Messiah has not been raised, your faith is worthless and you are still imprisoned by your sins.

Yes, even those who have died believing in the Messiah are lost.

If we have set our hopes on the Messiah in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.

But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so also in the Messiah will all be made alive.

However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes.

Then the end will come, when after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power, the Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father.

For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah’s enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be done away with is death,

for “God has put everything under his feet.” Now when he says, “Everything has been put under him,” this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him.

But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what will those people do who are being baptized because of those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized because of them?

And why in fact are we being endangered every hour?

I face death every day! That is as certain, brothers, as it is that I am proud of you in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus from merely human motives, what do I get out of it? If the dead are not raised, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Stop being deceived: “Wicked friends lead to evil ends.”

Come back to your senses as you should, and stop sinning! For some of you—I say this to your shame—don’t fully know God.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?”

You fool! The seed you plant does not come to life unless it dies,

and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else.

But God gives the plant the form he wants it to have, and to each kind of seed its own form.

Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals in general have another, birds have another, and fish have still another.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of those in heaven is of one kind, and that of those on earth is of another.

One kind of splendor belongs to the sun, another to the moon, and still another to the stars. In fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.

The body is planted in a state of dishonor but is raised in a state of splendor. It is planted in weakness but is raised in power.

It is planted a physical body but is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

This, indeed, is what is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The spiritual does not come first, but the physical does, and then comes the spiritual.

The first man came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven.

Those who are made of the dust are like the man from the dust; those who are heavenly are like the man who is from heaven.

Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

Brothers, this is what I mean: Mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.

Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed—

in a moment, faster than an eye can blink, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed.

For what is decaying must be clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying must be clothed with what cannot die.

Now, when what is decaying is clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying is clothed with what cannot die, then the written word will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up by victory!”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Now death’s stinger is sin, and sin’s power is the Law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus the Messiah!

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn’t wasted.

Now, my brothers, I want to speak about the Gospel which I have previously preached to you, which you accepted, in which you are at present standing, and by which, if you remain faithful to the message I gave you, your salvation is being worked out—unless, of course, your faith had no meaning behind it at all.

For I passed on to you Corinthians first of all the message I had myself received—that Christ died for our sins, as the scriptures said he would; that he was buried and rose again on the third day, again as the scriptures foretold. He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, and subsequently he was seen simultaneously by over five hundred Christians, of whom the majority are still alive, though some have since died. He was then seen by James, then by all the messengers. And last of all, as if to one born abnormally late, he appeared to me!

I am the least of the messengers, and indeed I do not deserve that title at all, because I persecuted the Church of God. But what I am now I am by the grace of God. The grace he gave me has not proved a barren gift. I have worked harder than any of the others—and yet it was not I but this same grace of God within me. In any event, whoever has done the work whether I or they, this has been the message and this has been the foundation of your faith.

Now if the rising of Christ from the dead is the very heart of our message, how can some of you deny that there is any resurrection? For if there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ was never raised. And if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all. Further it would mean that we are lying in our witness for God, for we have given our solemn testimony that he did raise up Christ—and that is utterly false if it should be true that the dead do not, in fact, rise again! For if the dead do not rise neither did Christ rise, and if Christ did not rise your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven. Moreover those who have died believing in Christ are utterly dead and gone. Truly, if our hope in Christ were limited to this life only we should, of all mankind be the most to be pitied!

But the glorious fact is that Christ did rise from the dead: he has become the very first to rise of all who sleep the sleep of death. As death entered the world through a man, so has rising from the dead come to us through a man! As members of a sinful race all men die; as members of the Christ of God all men shall be raised to life, each in his proper order, with Christ the very first and after him all who belong to him when he comes.

Then, and not till then, authority and power, hands over the kingdom to God the Father. Christ’s reign will and must continue until every enemy has been conquered. The last enemy of all to be destroyed is death itself. The scripture says: ‘He has put all things under his feet’. But in the term “all things” it is quite obvious that God, who brings them all under subjection to Christ, is himself excepted.

Nevertheless, when everything created has been made obedient to God, then shall the Son acknowledge himself subject to God the Father, who gave the Son power over all things. Thus, in the end, shall God be wholly and absolutely God.

Further, you should consider this, that if there is to be no resurrection what is the point of some of you being baptised for the dead by proxy? Why should you be baptised for dead bodies? And why should I live a life of such hourly danger? I assure you, by the certainty of Jesus Christ that we possess, that I face death every day of my life! And if, to use the popular expression, I have “fought with wild beasts” here in Ephesus, what is the good of an ordeal like that if there is no life after this one? ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’

Don’t let yourselves be deceived. Talking about things that are not true is bound to be reflected in practical conduct. Come back to your senses, and don’t dabble in sinful doubts. Remember that there are men who have plenty to say but have no knowledge of God. You should be ashamed that I have to write like this at all!

But perhaps someone will ask, “How is the resurrection achieved? With what sort of body do the dead arrive?” Now that is talking without using your minds! In your own experience you know that a seed does not germinate without itself “dying”. When you sow a seed you do not sow the “body” that will eventually be produced, but bare grain, of wheat, for example, or one of the other seeds. God gives the seed a “body” according to his laws—a different “body” to each kind of seed.

Then again, even in this world, all flesh is not identical. There is a difference in the flesh of human beings, animals, fish and birds.

There are bodies which exist in this world, and bodies which exist in heaven. These bodies are not, as it were, in competition; the splendour of an earthly body is quite a different thing from the splendour of a heavenly body. The sun, the moon and the stars all have their own particular splendour, while among the stars themselves there are different kinds of splendour.

These are illustrations here of the raising of the dead. The body is “sown” in corruption; it is raised beyond the reach of corruption. It is “sown” in dishonour; it is raised in splendour. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. As there is a natural body so will there be a spiritual body.

It is written, moreover, that: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’.

So the last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. But we should notice that the order is “natural” first and then “spiritual”. The first man came out of the earth, a material creature. The second man came from Heaven and was the Lord himself. For the life of this world men are made like the material man; but for the life that is to come they are made like the one from Heaven. So that just as we have been made like the material pattern, so we shall be made like the Heavenly pattern.

For I assure you, my brothers, it is utterly impossible for flesh and blood to possess the kingdom of God. The transitory could never possess the everlasting.

Listen, and I will tell you a secret. We shall not all die, but suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, every one of us will be changed as the trumpet sounds! The trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised beyond the reach of corruption, and we who are still alive shall suddenly be utterly changed. For this perishable nature of ours must be wrapped in imperishability, these bodies which are mortal must be wrapped in immortality.

So when the perishable is lost in the imperishable, the mortal lost in the immortal, this saying will come true: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ‘O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’

It is sin which gives death its power, and it is the Law which gives sin its strength. All thanks to God, then, who gives us the victory over these things through our Lord Jesus Christ!

And so brothers of mine, stand firm! Let nothing move you as you busy yourselves in the Lord’s work. Be sure that nothing you do for him is ever lost or ever wasted.

¶ Moreover, brothers, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and in which ye stand;

by which also ye are being saved if ye retain the word that I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures

and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures

and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve;

after that, he appeared unto more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain unto now, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he appeared unto James; then to all the apostles.

And last of all he appeared unto me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, for I am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace towards me was not in vain, for I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

¶ Now if the Christ is preached that rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither is Christ risen;

and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.

And we are even found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up the Christ, whom he did not raise up, if it so be that the dead do not rise.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not raised either;

and if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; ye are even yet in your sins.

Then those also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have existence in Christ, we are the most miserable of all men.

¶ But now Christ is risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of those that slept.

For since by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in the Christ shall all be made alive.

But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward, those that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is clear that he is excepted, who did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also subject himself unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?

I die daily to stay in the glory of having taught you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it advantage me, if the dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

Be not deceived: evil companions corrupt good character.

Watch diligently, and sin not; for some do not know God: I speak this to your shame.

¶ But someone will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not brought to life, unless it dies first;

and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain: it may be of wheat or of some other grain;

but God gives it a body as it has pleased him, and to each seed its own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the heavenly glory is one thing, and the earthly glory is another.

One thing is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it shall be raised in incorruption;

it is sown in dishonour, it shall be raised with glory; it is sown in weakness, it shall be raised with power;

it is sown a natural body, it shall be raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a life-giving Spirit.

Howbeit the spiritual is not first, but the natural; and afterward, that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord of heaven.

As is the earthy, such are those also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such also are those that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

¶ Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall all indeed be raised, but we shall not all be changed;

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised without corruption, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the word that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

¶ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

After that, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we bore witness against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be abolished is death.

For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.

And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

Why are we also in danger every hour?

I affirm, brothers, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Become righteously sober-minded, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There 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.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a corruptible body, it is raised an incorruptible body;

it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.

And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the corruptible inherit the incorruptible.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all 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 incorruptible, and we will be changed.

For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But when this corruptible puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the word that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed to you, which you have also received, in which you also stand,

by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the message I proclaimed to you, unless you believed to no purpose.

For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,

then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, the majority of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

and last of all, as it were to one born at the wrong time, he appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, and not I, but the grace of God with me.

Therefore whether I or those, in this way we preached, and in this way you believed.

Now if Christ is preached as raised up from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ has not been raised either.

But if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.

And also we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if after all, then, the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either.

But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins.

And as a further result, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If we have put our hope in Christ in this life only, we are of all people most pitiable.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming,

then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For it is necessary for him to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be abolished is death.

For “he subjected all things under his feet.” But when it says “all things” are subjected, it is clear that the one who subjected all things to him is not included.

But whenever all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, why do they do it, those who are being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why indeed are they being baptized on behalf of them?

And why are we in danger every hour?

I die every day—yes indeed, by my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord!

If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit is it to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Do not be deceived! “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Sober up correctly and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they come?”

Foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body which it will become, but you sow the bare seed, whether perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest.

But God gives to it a body just as he wishes, and to each one of the seeds its own body.

Not all flesh is the same, but there is one flesh of human beings, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish,

and heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly bodies is of another kind.

There 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.

Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is from heaven.

As the one who is made of earth, so also are those who are made of earth, and as the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.

And just as we have borne the image of the one who is made of earth, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For it is necessary for this perishable body to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body to put on immortality.

But whenever this perishable body puts on incorruptibility and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So then, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now let me remind you, brothers, of what the Gospel really is, for it has not changed—it is the same Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still do now, for your faith is squarely built upon this wonderful message;

and it is this Good News that saves you if you still firmly believe it, unless of course you never really believed it in the first place.

I passed on to you right from the first what had been told to me, that Christ died for our sins just as the Scriptures said he would,

and that he was buried, and that three days afterwards he arose from the grave just as the prophets foretold.

He was seen by Peter and later by the rest of “the Twelve.”

After that he was seen by more than five hundred Christian brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now.

Then James saw him, and later all the apostles.

Last of all I saw him too, long after the others, as though I had been born almost too late for this.

For I am the least worthy of all the apostles, and I shouldn’t even be called an apostle at all after the way I treated the church of God.

But whatever I am now it is all because God poured out such kindness and grace upon me—and not without results: for I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet actually I wasn’t doing it, but God working in me, to bless me.

It makes no difference who worked the hardest, I or they; the important thing is that we preached the Gospel to you and you believed it.

But tell me this! Since you believe what we preach, that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying that dead people will never come back to life again?

For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead.

And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless;

and we apostles are all liars because we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, and of course that isn’t true if the dead do not come back to life again.

If they don’t, then Christ is still dead,

and you are very foolish to keep on trusting God to save you, and you are still under condemnation for your sins;

in that case, all Christians who have died are lost!

And if being a Christian is of value to us only now in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures.

But the fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead and has become the first of millions who will come back to life again someday.

Death came into the world because of what one man (Adam) did, and it is because of what this other man (Christ) has done that now there is the resurrection from the dead.

Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, being members of his sinful race, and wherever there is sin, death results. But all who are related to Christ will rise again.

Each, however, in his own turn: Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will become alive again.

After that the end will come when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.

For Christ will be King until he has defeated all his enemies,

including the last enemy—death. This too must be defeated and ended.

For the rule and authority over all things has been given to Christ by his Father; except, of course, Christ does not rule over the Father himself, who gave him this power to rule.

When Christ has finally won the battle against all his enemies, then he, the Son of God, will put himself also under his Father’s orders, so that God who has given him the victory over everything else will be utterly supreme.

If the dead will not come back to life again, then what point is there in people being baptized for those who are gone? Why do it unless you believe that the dead will someday rise again?

And why should we ourselves be continually risking our lives, facing death hour by hour?

For it is a fact that I face death daily; that is as true as my pride in your growth in the Lord.

And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those men of Ephesus—if it was only for what I gain in this life down here? If we will never live again after we die, then we might as well go and have ourselves a good time: let us eat, drink, and be merry. What’s the difference? For tomorrow we die, and that ends everything!

Don’t be fooled by those who say such things. If you listen to them you will start acting like them.

Get some sense and quit your sinning. For to your shame I say it; some of you are not even Christians at all and have never really known God.

But someone may ask, “How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?”

What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it “dies” first.

And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting,

then God gives it a beautiful new body—just the kind he wants it to have; a different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed.

And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh. Humans, animals, fish, and birds are all different.

The angels in heaven have bodies far different from ours, and the beauty and the glory of their bodies is different from the beauty and the glory of ours.

The sun has one kind of glory while the moon and stars have another kind. And the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.

In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die.

The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength.

They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.

The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural, human body but Christ is more than that, for he was life-giving Spirit.

First, then, we have these human bodies, and later on God gives us spiritual, heavenly bodies.

Adam was made from the dust of the earth, but Christ came from heaven above.

Every human being has a body just like Adam’s, made of dust, but all who become Christ’s will have the same kind of body as his—a body from heaven.

Just as each of us now has a body like Adam’s, so we shall some day have a body like Christ’s.

I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God’s Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever.

But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies!

It will all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky, and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies too.

For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.

When this happens, then at last this Scripture will come true—“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

O death, where then your victory? Where then your sting? For sin—the sting that causes death—will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge.

How we thank God for all of this! It is he who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection.

Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time—this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)

The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence.

But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it’s all the same: We spoke God’s truth and you entrusted your lives.

Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the psalmist said, “He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them.” When Scripture says that “he walked all over them,” it’s obvious that he couldn’t at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is finally under God’s rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God’s rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending!

Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there’s no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God’s power stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he’s going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet alive?

And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me? Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.”

Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can’t afford in times like these. Aren’t you embarrassed that you’ve let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?

Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.

You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!

This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever! The corpse that’s planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!

We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual—a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven. The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly. In the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends.

I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very “nature” is to die, so how could they “naturally” end up in the Life kingdom?

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you have received, and in which you stand.

Through it you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

and was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve.

Then He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present time, though some have passed away.

Then He was seen by James and then by all the apostles.

Last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born at the wrong time.

For I am the least of the apostles and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen.

If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yes, and we would then be found false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not been raised.

If Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Then comes the end when He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

For He will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

For He “has put all things under His feet.” But when He says, “all things are put under Him,” it is revealed that He, who has put all things under Him, is the exception.

When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?

And why do we stand in danger every hour?

I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Awake to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come?”

You fool! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

When you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

Then God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.