[1] Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the
gospel, which you received, in which you stand, [2] by which you are saved,
if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain. [3] For I delivered to
you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our
sins in accordance with the scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, [5] and that he
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than
five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though
some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
[9] For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. [10] But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I
worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God
which is with me. [11] Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so
you believed. [12] Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how
can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] But if
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; [14]
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith
is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we
testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true
that the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, then
Christ has not been raised. [17] If Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have
fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If for this life only we have
hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. [20] But in fact
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have
fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the
resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the first
fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the
end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every
rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put
all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is
death. [27] "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But
when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain
that he is excepted who put all things under him. [28] When all things are
subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who
put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one. [29]
Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If
the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
[30] Why am I in peril every hour? [31] I protest, brethren, by my pride in
you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! [32] What do I
gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are
not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." [33] Do not be
deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." [34] Come to your right mind,
and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your
shame. [35] But some one will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind
of body do they come?" [36] You foolish man! What you sow does not come to
life unless it dies. [37] And what you sow is not the body which is to be,
but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. [38] But God
gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
[39] For not all flesh is alike, but there is one kind for men, another for
animals, another for birds, and another for fish. [40] There are celestial
bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is
one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. [41] There is one glory
of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars;
for star differs from star in glory. [42] 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, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it
is raised in power. [44] It is sown a physical body, it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual
body. [45] Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being";
the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual
which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. [47] The first man
was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. [48] As
was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of
heaven, so are those who are of heaven. [49] Just as we have borne the
image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of
heaven. [50] I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [51] Lo!
I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
[52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall
be changed. [53] For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal nature must put on immortality. [54] When the perishable
puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall
come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in
victory." [55] "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy
sting?" [56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
[57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your
labor is not in vain.
