1 CorinthiansChapter 15

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¹Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it, and you stand firm in it. ²You are saved by this good news if you hold on tight to the word I preached to you. If not, you have believed for nothing. ³What I received, I passed on to you as most important. Here it is. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. ⁴He was buried. He was raised on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. ⁵And he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. Most of them are still living, but some have fallen asleep in death. ⁷Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, he appeared to me too. I was like a baby born at the wrong time.a ⁹I am the least of the apostles. I don't even deserve to be called an apostle, because I hurt and hunted down the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace to me was not wasted. No, I worked harder than all of them. Yet it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹So it does not matter if it was I or they. This is what we preach, and this is what you believed. ¹²But if we preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that the dead do not rise again? ¹³If the dead do not rise again, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worth nothing. And so is your faith. ¹⁵Then we are also shown to be false witnesses about God. We have said that God raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if the dead really are not raised. ¹⁶If the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless. You are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If we hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else. ²⁰But Christ really has been raised from the dead! He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹Death came through a man. So the rising of the dead also comes through a man. ²²In Adam all die. In the same way, in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each one in his own turn. Christ is the firstfruits. Then, when he comes, those who belong to him will be raised. ²⁴Then the end will come. He will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. That will happen after he has destroyed every ruler, every authority, and every power. ²⁵He must rule until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For "God has put everything under his feet." Now it says that everything has been put under him. But it is clear that this does not include God, the One who put everything under him. ²⁸All things will be put under the Son. When that is done, then the Son himself will be put under God, who put all things under him. This is so that God may be all in all. ²⁹If these things are not true, what will those people do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰And why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? ³¹Brothers and sisters, I face death every day. That is as sure as my pride in you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²I fought wild beasts in Ephesus. If I did it only for human reasons, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, then "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." ³³Do not be fooled. "Bad friends ruin good character." ³⁴Come back to your right mind, as you should, and stop sinning. Some of you do not know God. I say this to shame you. ³⁵But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?" ³⁶You fool! The seed you plant does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷And what you plant is not the body that will grow. It is just a seed. It may be wheat or some other kind. ³⁸But God gives it a body as he has planned. He gives each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹Not all flesh is the same. People have one kind of flesh. Animals have another. Birds have another, and fish have another. ⁴⁰There are also bodies in the sky and bodies on the earth. The glory of the bodies in the sky is one kind. The glory of the bodies on the earth is another kind. ⁴¹The sun has one kind of glory. The moon has another, and the stars have another. And each star is different from the other stars in its glory. ⁴²It will be like that when the dead are raised. The body that is planted will decay. The body that is raised will never decay. ⁴³It is planted in shame. It is raised in glory. It is planted weak. It is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is planted a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵So it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. ⁴⁶But the spiritual did not come first. The natural came first, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was made from the dust of the earth. The second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸Those who are of the earth are like the man made of earth. And those who are of heaven are like the man from heaven. ⁴⁹We have been made like the man made of earth. In the same way, we will be made like the man from heaven. ⁵⁰Brothers and sisters, I tell you this. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And what decays cannot inherit what never decays. ⁵¹Listen, I'm telling you a secret. We will not all sleep in death. But we will all be changed. ⁵²It will happen in a flash, as fast as the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound. The dead will be raised, never to decay again. And we will be changed. ⁵³What decays must put on what never decays. What dies must put on what never dies. ⁵⁴What decays will put on what never decays. What dies will put on what never dies. When that happens, then the words that are written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵"Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?" ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is not wasted.