Old/New Testament

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

A Psalm of Praise.

²⁹ Otherwise, what will those do who are being ^[a]baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people even baptized for them? ³⁰ [For that matter] why are we [running such risks and putting ourselves] ^[b]in danger [nearly] every hour [if there is no resurrection]? ³¹ 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]. ³² What good has it done me if, [merely] from a human point of view, I ^[c]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.^{(A) 33} Do not be deceived: ^[d]“Bad company corrupts good morals.” ³⁴ 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.

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ 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. ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given].^{(B) 39} All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ 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. ⁴¹ 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.

⁴² 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.^{(C) 43} It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; ⁴⁴ 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. ⁴⁵ 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].^{(D) 46} However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven.^{(E) 48} 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. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], ^[e]we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].

The Mystery of Resurrection

⁵⁰ 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). ⁵¹ 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], ⁵² 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]. ⁵³ 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]. ⁵⁴ 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).^{(F) 55} O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”^{(G) 56} The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law; ⁵⁷ but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ 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].