A Glorious Body

35 But someone will say, (A)“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, (B)what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind [a]of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also [b]celestial bodies and [c]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, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

42 (C)So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 (D)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 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, (E)“The first man Adam became a living being.” (F)The last Adam became (G)a life-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 (H)The first man was of the earth, (I)made[d] of dust; the second Man is [e]the Lord (J)from heaven. 48 As was the [f]man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; (K)and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And (L)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, (M)we[g] shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Our Final Victory

50 Now this I say, brethren, that (N)flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a [h]mystery: (O)We shall not all sleep, (P)but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. (Q)For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and (R)this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: (S)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O(T)[i] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and (U)the strength of sin is the law. 57 (V)But thanks be to God, who gives us (W)the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 (X)Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing (Y)that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:39 NU, M omit of flesh
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:40 heavenly
  3. 1 Corinthians 15:40 earthly
  4. 1 Corinthians 15:47 earthy
  5. 1 Corinthians 15:47 NU omits the Lord
  6. 1 Corinthians 15:48 earthy
  7. 1 Corinthians 15:49 M let us also bear
  8. 1 Corinthians 15:51 hidden truth
  9. 1 Corinthians 15:55 NU O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?

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