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¹ Now I'm making known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you have taken your stand,[xr] ² and by which you are also being saved if you hold firmly to the message I proclaimed to you - unless, of course, your faith was worthless.[xr] ³ For I passed on to you the most important points of[fn] what I received: Christ died for our sins in keeping with the Scriptures,[xr] ⁴ he was buried, he was raised on the third day in keeping with the Scriptures - and is still alive![xr] - ⁵ and he was seen by Cephas,[fn] and then by the twelve.[xr] ⁶ After that, he was seen by more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.[fn] ⁷ Next he was seen by James, then by all the apostles,[xr] ⁸ and finally he was seen by me, as though I were born abnormally late.[xr] ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God's church.[xr] ¹⁰ But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others - not I, of course, but God's grace that was with me.[xr] ¹¹ So, whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

¹² Now if we preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised,[xr] ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our message means nothing and your[fn] faith means nothing. ¹⁵ In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we testified on God's behalf that he raised Christ - whom he did not raise if in fact it is true that the dead are not raised.[xr] ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins.[xr] ¹⁸ Yes, even those who have died[fn] in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If we have set our hopes on Christ in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.[xr]

²⁰ But at this moment Christ stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest[fn] of those who have died.[fn][xr] ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.[xr] ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive. ²³ However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first Christ,[fn] then those who belong to Christ when he comes.[xr] ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power.[xr] ²⁵ For he must rule until God[fn] puts all his enemies under his feet.[xr] ²⁶ The last enemy to be done away with is death,[xr] ²⁷ for "God[fn] has put everything under his feet."[fn] Now when he says, "Everything has been put under him," this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him.[xr] ²⁸ But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.[xr] ²⁹ Otherwise, what will those people do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized for them? ³⁰ And why in fact are we being endangered every hour?[xr] ³¹ I face death every day! That is as certain, brothers,[fn] as it is that I am proud of you in Christ Jesus our Lord.[xr] ³² If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus from merely human motives, what do I get out of it? If the dead are not raised,[xr] "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."[fn] ³³ Stop being deceived:[xr] "Wicked friends lead to evil ends."[fn] ³⁴ Come back to your senses as you should, and stop sinning! For some of you - I say this to your shame - are without a true knowledge of God.[xr]

³⁵ But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"[xr] ³⁶ You fool! The seed you plant does not come to life unless it dies,[xr] ³⁷ and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else. ³⁸ But God gives the plant[fn] the form he wants it to have, and to each kind of seed its own form. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same.[fn] Humans have one kind of flesh,[fn] animals in general have another,[fn] birds have another,[fn] and fish have still another. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of those in heaven is of one kind, and that of those on earth is of another. ⁴¹ One kind of splendor belongs to the sun, another[fn] to the moon, and still another[fn] to the stars. In fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. ⁴² This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.[xr] ⁴³ The body[fn] is planted in dishonor but raised in splendor. It is planted in weakness but raised in power.[xr] ⁴⁴ It is planted a physical body but raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.[fn] ⁴⁵ This, indeed, is what is written: "The first man, Adam, became a living being."[fn] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.[xr] ⁴⁶ The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven.[xr] ⁴⁸ Those who are made of the dust are like the man from the dust, those who are heavenly are like the man who is from heaven.[xr] ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will[fn] also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.[xr] ⁵⁰ Brothers, this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.[xr]

⁵¹ Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed[xr] - ⁵² in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet[fn] will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed.[xr] ⁵³ For what is decaying must put on what cannot decay, and what is dying must put on what cannot die.[xr] ⁵⁴ Now, when what is decaying puts on what cannot decay, and what is dying puts on what cannot die, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory!"[fn][xr] ⁵⁵ "Where, O death, is your victory?[xr] Where, O death, is your sting?"[fn] ⁵⁶ Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.[xr] ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ![xr]

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that your work isn't wasted in the Lord.[xr]