Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² You have been told that Christ was raised from death. How can some of you say that dead people do not rise again?

¹³ If dead people do not rise, Christ did not rise.

¹⁴ And if Christ did not rise, then what we told you was not true, and what you believe is not true.

¹⁵ If this were so, we would have been telling lies about God, because we said that God raised up Christ. He did not raise up Christ if dead people are not raised up.

¹⁶ If dead people are not raised, then Christ was not raised either.

¹⁷ If Christ was not raised, then what you believe is no good. Your wrong ways have not been forgiven.

¹⁸ If that were true, then the people who believed in Christ who have now died, are lost.

¹⁹ And if we have hope in Christ for our life in this world only, then we are the most unhappy of all people.

²⁰ But Christ really has been raised from death. He was the first one to rise of all who have died.