1st Corinthians 15

 

1 Moreover brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also have received, and wherein you also (were established so that you might) stand (to endure);

2 By which (gospel) also you are saved (from death and corruption), if you keep that word which I preached to you (in your heart, until Christ be formed in you), lest you have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received (from the Lord Jesus Himself), how that Christ died for (our body of death, wherein we continually labored in the sting of death in) our trespasses (which always missed the mark He had for our lives) according to the scriptures;

4 And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day (in flesh that could never die again and ascended in that flesh far above the heavens seated at the right hand of majesty on high) according to the scriptures:

5 And that (after He has risen) He was seen of (Peter called) Cephas, then of the twelve:

6 After that, He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time; of whom the greater part remains until this present day, but some have fallen asleep.

7 After that, He was seen by James (the brother of Jude), then of all the apostles.

8 And last of all, He was seen also of me, (who) like an abnormal birth (is no more fitting to be named among the apostles than a stillborn is among the normal born children).

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am (as one alive from a dead): and His grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than all those (who are called Apostles): yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Therefore whether it was I or them, so we preach, and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how come some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen:

14 And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also (worthless and) in vain.  

15 And we would be found false witnesses of God (and the resurrection); because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He did not raise up, if it were true that the dead do not rise.

16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not raised:

17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain; you are yet in your trespasses (trapped in the bondage of death and without hope).

18 Then also shall all those who have fallen asleep in Christ perished.

19 If in this life (inside corruptible flesh) only we have hope in Christ (and after our bodies fall asleep in death, we perish), we are of all men most miserable (for in that is no hope at all).

20 But now, has Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who slept (in the graves).

21 For since by man death entered, by man also must come the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ will all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward those that are Christ's at His coming.

24 Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Godhead even the Father, (declaring; it is done), when He shall have annulled (putting down) all rule and all authority and power (that exalted itself above the knowledge of God).

25 For He must reign, till he has put all enemies under His feet.

26 Lastly death, the enemy shall be destroyed (when He returns joining heaven and earth as one immortal).

27 For He has put all things under His feet. But when the Father declared that all things are put under the Son, it is evident that He excluded Himself from that, which did put all things under the Son.

28 Now when all things shall be subdued to Him, then shall the Son also have been obedient (to fulfil the will of the Father) delivering all things to the (eternal) Godhead even the Father, so that God may be all in all (the Alpha and Omega).

29 Otherwise, if the dead do not rise at all? What shall they do who are baptized for the dead? Why would they then (continue to be) baptized for the dead?

30 And why do we (continue to put our lives) in jeopardy (of death) every hour?

31 As surely as our boasting is of you, which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die (and am faced with deathly peril) daily.

32 If according to the description of men I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it benefit me, if the dead do not rise? (if that is the case) let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

33 Do not be deceived (by those who say there is no resurrection): (companionship with) evil communications (like these destroys sound doctrine and) corrupts good customs.

34 Awake to (clearly behold the) justice (which God determined fitting for you from the beginning in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus), and do not (continue to) trespass (by thinking you must preserve your life in the world); for some (who have erred) do not have the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

35 But some (of these same men) will (object and) say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?  

36 You foolish (and void of understanding), that which you sow does not spring to life, except it (first) dies:

37 And that which you sow, is not that body that shall be, but a bare seed, (so that) it may obtain to that of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God gives each seed a body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed a (distinctive) body of its own.

39 Because not all flesh is the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and 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 one star differs from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is (a body) sown in corruption; it is (a body) raised in incorruption:

43 It is (a body) sown in dishonor; it is (a body) raised in glory: it is (a body) sown in weakness; it is (a body) raised in (the) power (of His incorruptible life):

44 It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural body (born with no ability within itself to give life), and there is a spiritual body (born from and animated by the Spirit of the living God).

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul (in the image of God so that he might bear His likeness); the last Adam (who came in the likeness of dying flesh) was made a life-giving spirit (in His resurrection and ascension, the word of life made immortal flesh).

46 However, that (body) which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural; and afterward that (body) which is spiritual.

47 The first man is (made) from (the dust of the) the earth, (an) earthy (seed); the second man is the Lord from heaven (the heavenly seed).

48 As the earthy (that is sown in corruption dies, having no life in itself), such are they also that are earthy: and as the heavenly is (raised incorruptible by the life which He has in Himself), such are they also (raised in the power of an indestructible) that are (born from His) heavenly (seed).

49 And just as we (who have received the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead) have borne the image of the earthy, so shall we (with certainty) also bear the likeness of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (in the grave), but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (who are alive and remain) shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible (body) must put on incorruption, and this mortal (body) must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible (body) shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal (body) shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in (the) victory (of an endless life).

55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?

56 The sting of death is sin (which has molested us to produce life in our dying bodies); and the strength of sin is (the death that worked in our members, the motions of sin, to bring forth the fruit of death by) the law (of carnal commandments).

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (over death and corruption) through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast (in the faith), unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (glorying only in the work He has done to serve you with an incorruptible life), from where you know (with certainty) that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.