1 Corinthians 15
15
The resurrection
1Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. 2You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing. 3I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, 4he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. 5He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, 6and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time. 9I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church. 10I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me. 11So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.
12So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, “There’s no resurrection of the dead”? 13If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. 14If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. 15We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised. 16If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. 17If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins, 18and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever. 19If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.
20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest#15.20 Or firstfruits of those who have died. 21Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. 22In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ. 23Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest,#15.23 Or firstfruits then those who belong to Christ at his coming, 24and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end. 25It is necessary for him to rule until “he puts all enemies under his feet”.#15.25 Ps 110:1 26Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end, 27since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control. 28But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren’t raised, then why are they being baptized for them? 30And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day? 31Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I’m facing death every day. 32From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren’t raised, “let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’ll die”.#15.32 Isa 22:13 33Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character. 34Sober up by acting like you should and don’t sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?” 36Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies. 37What you put in the ground doesn’t have the shape that it will have, but it’s a bare grain of wheat or some other seed. 38God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape. 39All flesh isn’t alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory. 41The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory). 42It’s the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won’t ever decay. 43It’s degraded when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in glory. It’s weak when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in power. 44It’s a physical body when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised as a spiritual body.
If there’s a physical body, there’s also a spiritual body. 45So it is also written, “The first human, Adam, became a living person,”#15.45 Gen 2:7 and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. 46But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward. 47The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven. 48The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people. 49We will look like#15.49 Or bear the image of the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.
50This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom. Something that rots can’t inherit something that doesn’t decay. 51Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— 52in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. 53It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die. 54And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen:
“Death has been swallowed up by a victory”.#15.54 Isa 25:8
55“Where is your victory, Death?”
“Where is your sting, Death?”#15.55 Hos 13:14
(56Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.) 57Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 15
15
The Question About Rising From the Dead
1Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news that I preached to you. You received it, you belong to it, 2and you’re being saved by it. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. Otherwise, you’ll have believed it for nothing.
3When I passed on to you what I received, I told you that the most important thing was that Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would; 4that he was buried; and that he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. 5He appeared to Peter, then he appeared to the 12 apostles, 6and after that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. (Most of them are still living, although some have died.) 7He appeared to James, then he appeared to all the apostles, 8and last of all he also appeared to me, as if I’d been born almost too late to see him.
9I’m the least important of the apostles, and I’m not even fit to be called an apostle, because I tried to destroy God’s church. 10But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted on me. No, I worked harder than all the other apostles—though it wasn’t me doing the work. God’s grace was with me. 11But whether it’s me or the other apostles, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Believers Will Rise From the Dead
12But since we do preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead? 13If no one rises from the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised. 14And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then what we preach doesn’t mean anything, and your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15Even worse, that would make us false witnesses about God, because we testified that God raised Christ from the dead. But God didn’t do that if the dead aren’t really raised. 16If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. 17And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins haven’t been forgiven, 18and those who have died believing in Christ are lost. 19If we have hope in Christ only for this life, then people should pity us more than anyone else.
20But Christ truly has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead. 21Since death came because of what one man did, rising from the dead also comes because of what one man did. 22Because of Adam, all people die, and because of Christ, all will be made alive. 23But this will happen in a particular order. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. 24And then the end will come, when he will hand the kingdom over to God the Father, after he has destroyed all other rulers, authorities, and powers. 25Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” (When it says that “everything” has been put under him, it’s clear that this doesn’t include God himself, who put everything under Christ.) 28When he has put everything under his control, the Son will then put himself under the rule of God, who put everything under him. In that way, God will be all in all.
29If no one rises from the dead, where does that leave people who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31I face death every day, just as surely as I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes, then what did I gain by that? If the dead aren’t raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we’ll die.”
33Don’t let anyone fool you. “Having bad friends turns a good person into a bad one.” 34Come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of that!
The Body That Rises From the Dead
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. 37When you plant something, you don’t put a completely grown plant into the ground. You plant only a seed, maybe of wheat or something else. 38But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish still another. 40There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and earthly bodies have a different kind. 41The sun has one kind of brightness, the moon has another kind, and stars have still another. And one star’s brightness is different from that of another star.
42It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted doesn’t last forever; the body that is raised from the dead does. 43It is planted without honor, but it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness, but it is raised in power. 44It is planted as a body made alive in the natural way, but it is raised as a body made alive by spirit.
Just as there is a naturally living body, there is also a spiritually living body. 45It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” But the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46What is animated by spirit didn’t come first; the natural came first. What is spiritual came after that. 47The first man came from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. 48Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth, and those who are spiritual are like the one who came from heaven. 49Right now we’re like the earthly man, but one day we’ll be like the heavenly man.
50Brothers and sisters, here’s what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God. Things that perish can’t share in what never perishes. 51Listen! I’m telling you a mystery. We’re not all going to die, but we will all be changed. 52That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can blink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever, and we will be changed. 53Our bodies that don’t last forever must be dressed with what does last forever. These bodies that perish must be dressed with what doesn’t perish, and these bodies that don’t last must be dressed with what lasts forever. 54And when our bodies that die are dressed with what doesn’t die, then the saying that is 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, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord, your work isn’t for nothing.
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