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¹ But, brothers, I reveal to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,² by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the Word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.³ For I delivered to you in the first place what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures,⁵ and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.⁶ Then He appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the most remain until now, but some also fell asleep.⁷ Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles;⁸ and last of all, even as if to one born out of time, He was also seen by me.⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who am not sufficient to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was toward me has not been without fruit, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.¹¹ Then whether they or I, so we preach, and so you believed.

¹² But if Christ is proclaimed, that He was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is not a resurrection of the dead?¹³ But if there is not a resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.¹⁴ But if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless.¹⁵ And also we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed as to God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if the dead ones are not raised.¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.¹⁷ But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is foolish; you are still in your sins.¹⁸ And then those that fell asleep in Christ were lost.¹⁹ If we only have hope in Christ in this life, we are of all men most miserable.

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep.²¹ For since death is through man, also through a Man is a resurrection of the dead;²² for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.²³ But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.²⁴ Then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.²⁵ For it is right for Him to reign until He puts all the hostile ones under His feet; Psa. 110:1 ²⁶ the last hostile thing made to cease is death.²⁷ For "He subjected all things under His feet;" but when He says that all things have been subjected, it is plain that it excepts Him who has subjected all things to Him. Psa. 8:6 ²⁸ But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who has subjected all things to Him, that God may be all things in all.²⁹ Otherwise, what will they do, those being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not at all raised, why indeed are they baptized on behalf of the dead?³⁰ Why are we also in danger every hour?³¹ Day by day I die, by your boasting, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.³² If according to man I fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if the dead are not raised? ("Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.") Isa. 22:13 ³³ Do not be led astray; bad companionships ruin good habits.³⁴ Be righteously awake, and do not sin; for some have ignorance of God. I speak to your shame.

³⁵ But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?³⁶ Foolish one! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.³⁷ And what you sow, you do not sow the body that is going to be, but a bare grain, (it may be of wheat, or of some of the rest),³⁸ and God gives it a body according as He willed, and to each of the seeds its own body.³⁹ Not every flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fish, and another of birds.⁴⁰ And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is truly different, and that of the earthly different;⁴¹ 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 So also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, 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; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.⁴⁵ So also it has been written, "The" first "man", Adam, "became a living soul;" the last Adam a life-giving Spirit. Gen. 2:7 ⁴⁶ But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.⁴⁷ The first man was out of earth, earthy. The second Man was the Lord out of Heaven. Gen. 2:7 ⁴⁸ Such as is the earthy man , such also are the earthy ones. And such as is the heavenly Man , such also are the heavenly ones.⁴⁹ And as we bore the image of the earthy man , we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man .⁵⁰ And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹ Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed.⁵² In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.⁵⁴ But when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then will take place the Word that has been written, "Death was swallowed up in victory." Isa. 25:8 ⁵⁵ "O death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?" Hos. 13:14 ⁵⁶ Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law;⁵⁷ but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸ So that, my beloved brothers, you be firm, immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord always, knowing that your labor is not without fruit in the Lord.