1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospelg[2 Tim. 2:8]; See ch. 3:6 I preached to you, which you received,hRom. 5:2; [2 Cor. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:12] in which you stand, 2 and by whichich. 1:18 you are being saved, if youjch. 11:2; [Heb. 3:6, 14] hold fast to the word I preached to you—kGal. 3:4 unless you believed in vain.
3 Forlch. 11:23; Gal. 1:12 I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ diedmJohn 1:29; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 5:1, 3; 1 Pet. 2:24 for our sinsnIsa. 53; Dan. 9:26; Zech. 13:7; [1 Pet. 1:11] in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raisedo[Hos. 6:2; Matt. 12:40; John 2:22] on the third daypPs. 16:10; Isa. 53:10; [Acts 2:25-32; 13:33-35; 26:22, 23] in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and thatqLuke 24:34 he appeared to Cephas, thenrMark 16:14; Luke 24:36; John 20:19, 26; Acts 10:41 to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared tosSee Acts 12:17 James, thentLuke 24:50; Acts 1:3, 4 to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born,uSee ch. 9:1 he appeared also to me. 9 Forv2 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, becausewSee Acts 8:3 I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,x2 Cor. 11:23; 12:11; Col. 1:29 I worked harder than any of them,y[ch. 3:6; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 2:13]; See Matt. 10:20 though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,z[Acts 23:8; 2 Tim. 2:18] how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead,a1 Thess. 4:14 then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God thatbSee Acts 2:24 he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile andcSee Rom. 4:25 you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also whod1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 14:13 have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ,e[ch. 4:9; 2 Tim. 3:12] we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in factf2 Tim. 2:8; 1 Pet. 1:3 Christ has been raised from the dead,gver. 23; See Acts 26:23 the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For ashSee Rom. 5:12 by a man came death,iJohn 11:25; Rom. 6:23 by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 Forj[Rom. 5:14-18] as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, thenkSee 1 Thess. 2:19 at his cominglver. 52; 1 Thess. 4:16; See Luke 14:14 those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he deliversm[Dan. 7:14, 27] the kingdom to God the Father after destroyingnEph. 1:21 every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reignoSee Ps. 110:1 until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to bep2 Tim. 1:10; [Rev. 20:14; 21:4] destroyed is death. 27 ForqEph. 1:22; Cited from Ps. 8:6; See Matt. 11:27; 28:18 “God 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. 28 WhenrPhil. 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, thats[ch. 3:23; 11:3] God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, 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? 30 Why amt2 Cor. 11:26 I in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, byu1 Thess. 2:19 my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,vLuke 9:23; See Rom. 8:36 I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking,w[2 Cor. 1:8] I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised,xCited from Isa. 22:13; [Isa. 56:12; Luke 12:19] “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ” 33 yJames 1:16 Do not be deceived:z[ch. 5:6] “Bad company ruins good morals. ” 34 aSee Rom. 13:11 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. Forb1 Thess. 4:5 some have no knowledge of God.cch. 6:5; [ch. 4:14] I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask,d[Ezek. 37:3] “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? ” 36 You foolish person!eJohn 12:24 What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There 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. 41 There 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 fDan. 12:3; [Matt. 13:43] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor;gPhil. 3:21; Col. 3:4 it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written,hCited from Gen. 2:7 “The first man Adam became a living being ”;iRom. 5:14 the last Adam became ajJohn 5:21; [John 6:33, 39, 40, 54, 57; Rom. 8:2, 10] life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 kJohn 3:31 The first man was from the earth,l[Gen. 2:7; 3:19] a man of dust;mJohn 3:13, 31 the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven,n[Phil. 3:20] so also are those who are of heaven. 49 JustoGen. 5:3 as we have borne the image of the man of dust,pSee Rom. 8:29 we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50 I tell you this, brothers:qSee Matt. 16:17 flesh and bloodr[John 3:3, 5] cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery.s1 Thess. 4:15, 17 We shall not all sleep,tPhil. 3:21 but we shall all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ForuMatt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16; [Isa. 27:13; Zech. 9:14] the trumpet will sound, andvJohn 5:25, 28; [Luke 20:36] the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, andw[2 Cor. 5:2-4] this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
xCited from Isa. 25:8; [Heb. 2:14, 15; Rev. 20:14; 21:4] “Death is swallowed up in victory. ”
55 yHos. 13:14 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? ”
56 The sting of death is sin, andzRom. 4:15; 5:13; 7:5, 8, 13 the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God,a[Rom. 8:37; 1 John 5:4] who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 b2 Pet. 3:14 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding incch. 16:10; Jer. 48:10; John 6:28 the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lordd[Gal. 6:9]; See ch. 3:8 your labor is not in vain.