²⁹ Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰ And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?^{(A) 31} I face death every day^(B)—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² If I fought wild beasts^(C) in Ephesus^(D) with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

³³ Do not be misled:^(F) “Bad company corrupts good character.”^{[b](G) 34} Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God^(H)—I say this to your shame.^(I)

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask,^(J) “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”^{(K) 36} How foolish!^(L) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.^{(M) 37} When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.^{(N) 39} Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor,^(O) the moon another and the stars another;^(P) and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be^(Q) with the resurrection of the dead.^(R) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;^{(S) 43} it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;^(T) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.^(U)

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”^[c];^(V) the last Adam,^(W) a life-giving spirit.^{(X) 46} The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.^{(Y) 47} The first man was of the dust of the earth;^(Z) the second man is of heaven.^{(AA) 48} As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.^{(AB) 49} And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,^(AC) so shall we^[d] bear the image of the heavenly man.^(AD)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood^(AE) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,^(AF) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(AG) 51} Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(AH) We will not all sleep,^(AI) but we will all be changed^(AJ)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(AK) the dead^(AL) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(AM) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(AN) and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[e](AO)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(AQ) and the power of sin is the law.^{(AR) 57} But thanks be to God!^(AS) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(AT)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(AU) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(AV)