42 So will it be(A) with the resurrection of the dead.(B) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;(C) 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;(D) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.(E)

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”[a];(F) the last Adam,(G) a life-giving spirit.(H) 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.(I) 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth;(J) the second man is of heaven.(K) 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.(L) 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,(M) so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.(N)

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood(O) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,(P) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:45 Gen. 2:7
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:49 Some early manuscripts so let us

42 This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay. 43 The body[a] 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. 44 It is planted a physical body but is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.[b]

45 This, indeed, is what is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.”[c] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual does not come first, but the physical does, and then comes the spiritual. 47 The first man came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven. 48 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. 49 Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will[d] also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

50 Brothers, this is what I mean: Mortal bodies[e] cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:43 Lit. It
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:44 The Gk. lacks body
  3. 1 Corinthians 15:45 Gen 2:7
  4. 1 Corinthians 15:49 Other mss. read we should
  5. 1 Corinthians 15:50 Lit. mean: Flesh and blood