The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

¹Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,²by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,⁴and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,⁵and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.⁶After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;⁷then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;⁸and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.⁹For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.¹⁵Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact 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 worthless; you are still in your sins.¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.¹⁹If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

The Order of Resurrection

²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.²¹For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,²⁴then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.²⁶The last enemy that will be abolished is death.²⁷For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.²⁸When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?³⁰Why are we also in danger every hour?³¹I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.³²If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”³⁴Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”³⁶You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;³⁷and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.³⁸But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is 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.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it 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.⁴⁵So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.⁴⁷The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.⁴⁸As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Mystery of Resurrection

⁵⁰Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.⁵³For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.⁵⁴But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.⁵⁵“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O 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.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.