1 Corinthians 15

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1. 1Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you stand.
2. 2This is the message that saves you, if you hold firmly to what I told you. Otherwise, your faith was for nothing.
3. 3What I passed on to you was the most important thing I myself had received: that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said he would,
4. 4that he was buried, and that he was raised on the 3rd day, again just as the Scriptures said.
5. 5After that, he appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve.
6. 6Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still alive today, but some have fallen asleep.
7. 7After that, he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles.
8. 8Last of all, he appeared to me — like someone born at the wrong time.
9. 9I'm the least of the apostles. I don't even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10. 10But by the grace of God, I am what I am. His grace given to me was not wasted. I worked much more than all of them—yet it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11. 11So whether it was me or the other apostles who told you, this is what we all preach, and this is what you believed.
12. 12Now if we preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say there's no such thing as resurrection?
13. 13If there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14. 14And if Christ hasn't been raised, then everything we preach is meaningless, and your faith is meaningless too.
15. 15Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God raised Christ, whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised.
16. 16Because if the dead aren't raised, then Christ hasn't been raised either.
17. 17And if Christ hasn't been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.
18. 18Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19. 19If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are of all people most miserable.
20. 20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21. 21For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22. 22Just as everyone dies because of Adam, everyone will be made alive because of Christ.
23. 23But there's an order to it: Christ was raised first, and then when he returns, those who belong to him will be raised.
24. 24After that comes the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has put down all rule, all authority, and all power.
25. 25Because Christ must reign until he has put every enemy under his feet.
26. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death itself.
27. 27For he has put all things under his feet. But when it says all things are put under him, it is clear that he is excepted, who put all things under him.
28. 28And when everything has been placed under Christ's authority, then the Son himself will submit to God, who gave him authority over all things. Then God will be all in all.
29. 29Otherwise, what will those who are baptized for the dead do, if the dead are not raised at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?
30. 30And why would we risk our lives every single hour?
31. 31I declare by the rejoicing I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily.
32. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus just for human reasons, what did I gain? If the dead aren't raised, then we might as well say, "Let's eat and drink, because tomorrow we die."
33. 33Don't be fooled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
34. 34Wake up to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35. 35But someone will ask, "How exactly are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?"
36. 36You fool, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37. 37And what you plant isn't the full plant that will grow — it's just a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else.
38. 38But God gives it whatever body he chooses, and he gives each kind of seed its own unique body.
39. 39Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, fish have another, and birds have yet another.
40. 40There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.
41. 41The sun has its own glory, the moon has a different glory, and the stars have still another. Even among stars, each one differs from the others in glory.
42. 42That's exactly how it is with the resurrection of the dead. The body that's buried is perishable; the body that's raised cannot decay.
43. 43It's buried in dishonor; it's raised in glory. It's buried in weakness; it's raised in power.
44. 44It's buried as a natural body; it's raised as a spiritual body. If there's a natural body, there's also a spiritual body.
45. 45As it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46. 46The spiritual didn't come first. The natural came first, and then the spiritual.
47. 47The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48. 48Those who are made of dust are like the man of dust, and those who are heavenly are like the man from heaven.
49. 49Just as we have carried the image of the man made from dust, we will also carry the image of the man from heaven.
50. 50Here's what I'm telling you, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what is perishable cannot inherit what is imperishable.
51. 51Listen — I'm revealing a mystery to you: We won't all die, but we will all be transformed,
52. 52in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. The trumpet will blast, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be transformed.
53. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54. 54When this perishable has put on the imperishable, and this mortal has put on immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
55. 55"Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?"
56. 56The sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the law.
57. 57But thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58. 58So then, my dear brothers, stand firm. Don't let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the Lord's work, because you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted.