42 (A)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; (B)it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, (C)“The first man Adam became a living being”;[a] (D)the last Adam became a (E)life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 (F)The first man was from the earth, (G)a man of dust; (H)the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, (I)so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just (J)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, (K)we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

50 I tell you this, brothers: (L)flesh and blood (M)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:45 Greek a living soul
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:49 Some manuscripts let us

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.

50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

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Footnotes

  1. 15:45 Gen 2:7.
  2. 15:49 Some manuscripts read let us be like.