﻿1 Corinthians.
Chapter 15.
Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand, 
through which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 
and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 
And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. 
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. Rather, I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 
So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 
Now if Christ is proclaimed as having been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. 
And if Christ has not been raised, our proclamation is empty, and your faith is empty too. 
We are also found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if indeed the dead are not raised. 
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. 
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 
If we have hoped in Christ only for this life, we are of all people most to be pitied. 
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 
For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 
For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ at his coming, 
then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to nothing every rule and every authority and power. 
For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. 
The last enemy to be destroyed is death, 
for “he subjected all things under his feet.” But when it says that all things have been subjected, it is clear that the one who subjected all things to him is excepted. 
And when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. 
Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they baptized for them? 
And why do we face danger every hour? 
I die every day, as surely as I boast of you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
If, in human terms, I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 
Come to your senses as you ought, and do not sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 
You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 
And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or one of the other kinds. 
But God gives it a body as he wished, and to each seed its own body. 
Not all flesh is the same flesh: one kind is human, another is the flesh of animals, another of birds, and another of fish. 
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly another. 
The sun has one glory, the moon another glory, and the stars another glory, for star differs from star in glory. 
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. 
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. 
So it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 
But the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 
The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 
As is the man of dust, so also are those of dust, and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly. 
And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly one. 
Now I say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 
Look, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 
in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 
For this corruptible body must put on incorruption, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 
And when this corruptible body puts on incorruption and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 
“Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?” 
Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 
