The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,(A) how can some of you say that there is no resurrection(B) of the dead?(C) 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised,(D) our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.(E) But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.(F) 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep(G) in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.(H)

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,(I) the firstfruits(J) of those who have fallen asleep.(K) 21 For since death came through a man,(L) the resurrection of the dead(M) comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.(N) 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits;(O) then, when he comes,(P) those who belong to him.(Q) 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom(R) to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.(S) 25 For he must reign(T) until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(U) 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(V)

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The Resurrection Body

35 But someone will ask,(A) “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”(B) 36 How foolish!(C) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(D) 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.(E) 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor,(F) the moon another and the stars another;(G) and star differs from star in splendor.

42 So will it be(H) with the resurrection of the dead.(I) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;(J) 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;(K) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.(L)

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[a];(M) the last Adam,(N) a life-giving spirit.(O) 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.(P) 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth;(Q) the second man is of heaven.(R) 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.(S) 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,(T) so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.(U)

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood(V) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,(W) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.(X) 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery:(Y) We will not all sleep,(Z) but we will all be changed(AA) 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,(AB) the dead(AC) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable(AD) must clothe itself with the imperishable,(AE) and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[c](AF)

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”[d](AG)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:45 Gen. 2:7
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:49 Some early manuscripts so let us
  3. 1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
  4. 1 Corinthians 15:55 Hosea 13:14

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