Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 15 - Modern English Version (2024)

The Resurrection of Christ

15Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you have received, and in which you stand. ²Through it you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve. ⁶Then He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present time, though some have passed away. ⁷Then He was seen by James and then by all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born at the wrong time.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles and am 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 was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹²Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen. ¹⁴If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain. ¹⁵Yes, and we would then be found false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶For if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷If Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

²⁰But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming. ²⁴Then comes the end when He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For He will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷For He “has put all things under His feet.”^[a] But when He says, “all things are put under Him,” it is revealed that He, who has put all things under Him, is the exception. ²⁸When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? ³⁰And why do we stand in danger every hour? ³¹I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. ³²If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise?

“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”^[b]

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ³⁴Awake to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come?” ³⁶You fool! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. ³⁷When you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸Then God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. ³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh. There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds. ⁴⁰There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. The glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. ⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. One star differs from another star in glory.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. 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.

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵So it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul.”^[c] The last Adam was made a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶However, that which is spiritual is not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second man was the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. ⁵²In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this corruptible will put on incorruption, and this mortal will put on immortality. ⁵⁴When this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then the saying that is written shall come to pass: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”^[d]

⁵⁵“O death, where is your sting?
O grave, where is your victory?”^[e]

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.