1 Corinthians 15
15
The Resurrection of Christ
1Now I would remind you, brothers,#15:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 6, 31, 50, 58 of the gospel #[2 Tim. 2:8]; See ch. 3:6 I preached to you, which you received, #Rom. 5:2; [2 Cor. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:12]in which you stand, 2and by which #ch. 1:18 you are being saved, if you #ch. 11:2; [Heb. 3:6, 14] hold fast to the word I preached to you—#Gal. 3:4unless you believed in vain.
3For #ch. 11:23; Gal. 1:12 I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died #John 1:29; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 5:1, 3; 1 Pet. 2:24 for our sins #Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26; Zech. 13:7; [1 Pet. 1:11]in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised #[Hos. 6:2; Matt. 12:40; John 2:22] on the third day #Ps. 16:10; Isa. 53:10; [Acts 2:25-32; 13:33-35; 26:22, 23]in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that #Luke 24:34 he appeared to Cephas, then #Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36; John 20:19, 26; Acts 10:41to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to #See Acts 12:17 James, then #Luke 24:50; Acts 1:3, 4to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, #See ch. 9:1he appeared also to me. 9For #2 Cor. 12:11; Eph. 3:7, 8; 1 Tim. 1:13-16 I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because #See Acts 8:3I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, #2 Cor. 11:23; 12:11; Col. 1:29 I worked harder than any of them, #[ch. 3:6; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 2:13]; See Matt. 10:20though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, #[Acts 23:8; 2 Tim. 2:18]how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, #1 Thess. 4:14then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that #See Acts 2:24he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and #See Rom. 4:25you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who #1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 14:13have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope#15:19 Or we have hoped in this life only, #[ch. 4:9; 2 Tim. 3:12]we are of all people most to be pitied.
20But in fact #2 Tim. 2:8; 1 Pet. 1:3 Christ has been raised from the dead, #ver. 23; See Acts 26:23the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as #See Rom. 5:12 by a man came death, #John 11:25; Rom. 6:23by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For #[Rom. 5:14-18]as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then #See 1 Thess. 2:19 at his coming #ver. 52; 1 Thess. 4:16; See Luke 14:14those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers #[Dan. 7:14, 27] the kingdom to God the Father after destroying #Eph. 1:21every rule and every authority and power. 25For he must reign #See Ps. 110:1until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be #2 Tim. 1:10; [Rev. 20:14; 21:4]destroyed is death. 27For #Eph. 1:22; Cited from Ps. 8:6; See Matt. 11:27; 28:18“God#15:27 Greek he has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28When #Phil. 3:21 all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that #[ch. 3:23; 11:3]God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30Why are we #2 Cor. 11:26in danger every hour? 31I protest, brothers, by #1 Thess. 2:19 my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, #Luke 9:23; See Rom. 8:36I die every day! 32What do I gain if, humanly speaking, #[2 Cor. 1:8] I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, #Cited from Isa. 22:13; [Isa. 56:12; Luke 12:19]“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33#James 1:16 Do not be deceived: #[ch. 5:6]“Bad company ruins good morals.”#15:33 Probably from Menander’s comedy Thais 34#See Rom. 13:11 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For #1 Thess. 4:5 some have no knowledge of God. #ch. 6:5; [ch. 4:14]I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
35But someone will ask, #[Ezek. 37:3]“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36You foolish person! #John 12:24What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 #
Dan. 12:3; [Matt. 13:43] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; #Phil. 3:21; Col. 3:4it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45Thus it is written, #Cited from Gen. 2:7 “The first man Adam became a living being”;#15:45 Greek a living soul #Rom. 5:14 the last Adam became a #John 5:21; [John 6:33, 39, 40, 54, 57; Rom. 8:2, 10]life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47#John 3:31 The first man was from the earth, #[Gen. 2:7; 3:19] a man of dust; #John 3:13, 31the second man is from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, #[Phil. 3:20]so also are those who are of heaven. 49Just #Gen. 5:3 as we have borne the image of the man of dust, #See Rom. 8:29we shall#15:49 Some manuscripts let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Mystery and Victory
50I tell you this, brothers: #See Matt. 16:17 flesh and blood #[John 3:3, 5]cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold! I tell you a mystery. #1 Thess. 4:15, 17 We shall not all sleep, #Phil. 3:21but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For #Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16; [Isa. 27:13; Zech. 9:14] the trumpet will sound, and #John 5:25, 28; [Luke 20:36]the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and #[2 Cor. 5:2-4]this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
# Cited from Isa. 25:8; [Heb. 2:14, 15; Rev. 20:14; 21:4] “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 #
Hos. 13:14
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin, and #Rom. 4:15; 5:13; 7:5, 8, 13the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, #[Rom. 8:37; 1 John 5:4]who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 #
2 Pet. 3:14 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in #ch. 16:10; Jer. 48:10; John 6:28 the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord #[Gal. 6:9]; See ch. 3:8your labor is not in vain.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Corinthians 15
15
Resurrection Essential to the Gospel
1Now brothers, I want to clarify # Or I make known for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand # Pr 24:16 on it. 2You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you — unless you believed for no purpose. # Or believed without careful thought, or believed in vain # Gl 4:11; Heb 6:8 3For I passed on to you # Jd 3 as most important what I also received:
that Christ died # 1Co 8:11 for our sins
according to the Scriptures, # Mt 26:54; 1Pt 1:20
4that He was buried, # Mt 27:59-60; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53; Jn 19:41-42
that He was raised on the third day # 1Th 4:14
according to the Scriptures, # Ps 16:10; Is 53:10; Hs 6:2; Mt 12:40; Jn 2:22; Ac 2:25-32; 13:33-35; 26:22-23
5and that He appeared to Cephas, # Lk 24:34
then to the Twelve. # Mk 16:14; Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19,26; Ac 10:41
6Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; # Mt 28:10-20
most of them are still alive,
but some have fallen asleep.
7Then He appeared to James, # Jms 1:1
then to all the apostles. # Ac 1:3-11
8Last of all, as to one abnormally born, # Or one whose birth was unusual, He # 1Tm 1:13-16
He also appeared to me. # Ac 9:1-8
9For I am the least of the apostles, # Eph 3:8; 1Tm 1:16-17 unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted # Php 3:6 the church of God. 10But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me. # 2Co 3:5; Php 2:13; Col 1:29 11Therefore, whether it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.
Resurrection Essential to the Faith
12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, # Mt 17:9 how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? # Mt 22:23; Mk 12:18; Lk 20:27; Ac 23:8; 2Tm 2:18 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. # Or proclamation is useless, and your faith also is useless, or proclamation is empty, and your faith also is empty 15In addition, we are found to be false witnesses # Mt 26:60 about God, because we have testified # Jn 15:26 about God that He raised up Christ — whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ # 1Th 4:16; 1Pt 5:14 have also perished. 19If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits # Ex 23:19; Lv 2:12; Rm 8:23; Col 1:18 of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death # Mt 10:21; Jn 8:51; Php 3:10 came through a man, # Gn 3:1-7; Rm 5:12-14 the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. # Mt 28:5-6; Mk 16:6; Lk 24:5-8,34; Jn 11:25; 20:9,15-18 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. # Rm 14:9 23But each in his own order: # 1Th 4:17 Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, # Mt 24:6; Mk 13:7 when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, # Mt 5:16; 11:27; Lk 11:13; Jn 8:42; Eph 5:20 when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. # Ac 8:10; Eph 1:21; 1Pt 3:22 25For He must reign # Lk 1:33; Rv 11:15 until He puts all His enemies under His feet. # Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44; Eph 1:22 26The last enemy to be abolished is death. # 2Co 5:4 27For God has put everything under His feet. # Ps 8:6 # Ps 8:6 But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception. 28And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son # Jn 5:19; Heb 1:2 Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all. # Ps 104:24; Eph 1:23
Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience
29Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them? # Other mss read for the dead 30Why are we in danger every hour? 31I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day! # Rm 8:36 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus # Eph 1:1 with only human hope, # Lit Ephesus according to man what good did that do me? # Lit what to me the profit? # 1Th 2:19 If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. # Is 22:13 # Is 22:13 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” # A quotation from the poet Menander, Thais, 218 34Come to your senses # Lit Sober up righteously # Ti 2:12 and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame. # 1Co 4:14
The Nature of the Resurrection Body
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come? ” 36Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life # Jn 12:24 unless it dies. 37And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed, # Lit but a naked seed perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38But God gives it a body as He wants, # Ps 143:10; Pr 16:9; Jn 5:30; Gl 1:4; Eph 1:9; 1Jn 2:17 and to each of the seeds its own body. 39Not all flesh # Php 3:3 is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor # Lk 9:31-32; Ac 22:11 of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. 41There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for one star differs from another star in splendor. 42So it is with the resurrection of the dead:
Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; # Rm 2:7; Eph 6:24; 2Tm 1:10
43sown in dishonor, # 2Co 6:8 raised in glory; # 1Pt 5:4
sown in weakness, raised in power; # Mk 5:30; Lk 1:35; 6:19; Ac 19:11; 2Co 13:4; Rv 11:17
44sown a natural body, 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; # Gn 2:7 # Gn 2:7 the last Adam # Rm 8:2 became a life-giving Spirit. 46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
47The first man was from the earth
and made of dust; # Gn 2:7; 3:19; Ps 90:3
the second man is # Other mss add the Lord from heaven.
48Like the man made of dust,
so are those who are made of dust;
like the heavenly man,
so are those who are heavenly. # Php 3:20-21
49And just as we have borne
the image # Gn 1:27 of the man made of dust,
we will also bear
the image of the heavenly man. # 1Jn 3:2
Victorious Resurrection
50Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh # Php 3:3 and blood # Mt 16:17 cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. 51Listen! I am telling you a mystery:
We will not all fall asleep,
but we will all be changed,
52in a moment, in the blink of an eye,
at the last trumpet. # Mt 24:31; 1Pt 1:5
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we will be changed.
53For this corruptible must be clothed # Pr 31:25
with incorruptibility, # 1Pt 1:18
and this mortal must be clothed
with immortality.
54When this corruptible is clothed
with incorruptibility,
and this mortal is clothed
with immortality,
then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up # Mt 23:24 in victory. # Is 25:8 # Is 25:8
55Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting? # Hs 13:14 # Hs 13:14
56Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin # Rm 4:15 is the law. # Gl 5:4
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory # 1Jn 5:5
through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, # Mk 14:6; Gl 3:10; Jms 2:14-26 knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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