The Resurrection of Christ

1Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, 2by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I proclaimed to you; otherwise you have believed in vain.

3For I delivered to you in the foremost what also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephas,a then to the Twelve. 6Thereafter He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, the greater part of whom remain until now, although some have fallen asleep. 7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8And last of all, He appeared also to me, as to one of untimely birth.

9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been void. Rather, I toiled more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Therefore whether it was I or they, thus we preach, and thus you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised out from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then also our preaching is void, and your faith is void. 15Then also we are found false witnesses of God, because we have witnessed concerning God that He raised up Christ, whom He has not raised if then the dead are not raised.

16For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Also then those having fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If only in this life we are having hope in Christ, we are more to be pitied than all men.

The Order of Resurrection

20But now Christ has been raised out from the dead, the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep. 21For since death came by a man, so also by a man has come the resurrection of the dead. 22For as indeed in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in the own order: Christ the firstfruit, then those of Christ at His coming, 24then the end, when He shall hand over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He shall have annulled all dominion, and all authority and power. 25For it behooves Him to reign until He shall have put all the enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27For “He has put in subjection all things under His feet.”b But when it may be said that all things have been put in subjection, it is evident that the One having put in subjection all things to Him is excepted. 28Now when all things shall have been put in subjection to Him, then also the Son Himself will be put in subjection to the One having put in subjection all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

29Otherwise what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why also are they baptized for them? 30And why are we in danger every hour? 31I die every day, as surely as the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If according to man I fought wild beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and let us drink,

for tomorrow we die.”c

33Do not be misled: “Bad companionships corrupt good morals.”d 34Sober up righteously and do not sin, for some have ignorance of God. I speak to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?” 36You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that will be, but you sow a bare grain, if it may be of wheat, or of some of the rest. 38But God gives it a body as He has willed, and to each of the seeds, its own body.

39Not all flesh is the same, but indeed one flesh is of men, and another flesh is of beasts, and another flesh is of birds, and another is of fish. 40And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But truly the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and that of the earthly is another. 41There 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.

42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in decay; it is raised in immortality. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual. 45So also it has been written: “The first man Adam became into a living soul;”e the last Adam into a life-giving spirit.

46However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47The first man was made of dust from the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As the one was made of dust, so also are those of the earth; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those of heaven. 49And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Where O Death is Your Victory?
(Isaiah 57:1-2; Hosea 13:14)

50Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does decay inherit immortality.

51Behold, I tell to you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For it behooves this, the perishable to put on the imperishable; and this, the mortal to put on immortality.

54Now when this the perishable shall have put on the imperishable, and this, the mortal, shall have put on immortality, then the word having been written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”f

55“Where O death, is your victory?

Where O death is your sting?”g

56Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. 57But thanks be to God, the One giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil in the Lord is not in vain.