1 Corinthians (1 Co) 15
15
1Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, 2and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. 3For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 4and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 5and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; 6and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; 8and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time. 9For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. 10But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me. 11Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.
12But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised; 14and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain; 15furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; 17and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. 18Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost. 19If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone.
20But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. 22For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; 24then the culmination, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power. 25For he has to rule until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be done away with will be death, 27for “He put everything in subjection under his feet.” But when it says that “everything” has been subjected, obviously the word does not include God, who is himself the one subjecting everything to the Messiah. 28Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then he will subject himself to God, who subjected everything to him; so that God may be everything in everyone.
29Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them? 30For that matter, we ourselves — why do we keep facing danger hour by hour? 31Brothers, by the right to be proud which the Messiah Yeshua our Lord gives me, I solemnly tell you that I die every day. 32If my fighting with “wild beasts” in Ephesus was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 33Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character.” 34Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! There are some people who lack knowledge of God — I say this to your shame.
35But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have?” 36Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies. 37Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else; 38but God gives it the body he intended for it; and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39Not all living matter is the same living matter; on the contrary, there is one kind for human beings, another kind of living matter for animals, another for birds and another for fish. 40Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. 41The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon another, the stars yet another; indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty.
42So it is with the resurrection of the dead. When the body is “sown,” it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay. 43When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. When sown, it is weak; when raised, it will be strong. 44When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a body controlled by the Spirit. If there is an ordinary human body, there is also a body controlled by the Spirit. 45In fact, the Tanakh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being; but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit. 46Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. 47The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; 49and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven.
50Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, nor can something that decays share in what does not decay. 51Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! 52It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. 53For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. 54When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55“Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; 57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
58So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.
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1 Corinthians (1 Co) 15: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible1 Corinthians 15
15
1Now I want to remind you about the good news I announced to you. You accepted it, and you have stood firm for it. 2It is through this good news that you are saved if you hold on to the message that I gave you. Otherwise you trusted for nothing! 3I passed on to you what I myself had also received, a message of vital importance: that Christ died for our sins, according to Scripture; 4he was buried and was raised from the dead on the third day, again in accordance with Scripture. 5He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. 6After that he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still alive today, though some have died. 7He appeared to James, then all the apostles. 8Last of all, he also appeared to me, someone born as it were at the wrong time. 9For I'm the least important apostle of all, not even fit to be called an apostle since I persecuted God's church. 10But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace given to me wasn't wasted. On the contrary I've worked harder than all of them—though not me, but God's grace working through me. 11So whether it's I or they, this is the message we shared with you that brought you to trust in God.
12Now if the message declares that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say there's no resurrection of the dead? 13If there's no resurrection of the dead then Christ hasn't been raised either. 14And if Christ isn't raised, then our message we shared with you is pointless, and your trust in God is pointless too. 15In addition, we would be shown to be false witnesses of God when we testified that God raised Christ from the dead. But God didn't raise Christ from the dead if it's true that there's no resurrection. 16If the dead are not raised, then Christ hasn't been raised either, 17and if Christ hasn't been raised, then your trust in God is useless, and you are still in your sins. 18This also means that those who died in Christ are lost. 19If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we're the most pitiful people of all!
20But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits#15:20. The word “firstfruits” refers to the first sample of a harvest that was given as an offering to God, also seen as a guarantee of a successful harvest. Christ as the firstfruits therefore means he is both the initial harvest from the dead and the guarantee of their resurrection. of the harvest from those who have died. 21Just as death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead came through a man. 22Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in their own turn: Christ the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ when he comes. 24After this comes the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having destroyed#15:24. Destroyed in the sense of ending their power. all rulers, authorities, and powers. 25Christ has to rule until he has put all his enemies under his feet.#15:25. Meaning they have been conquered and humbled. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27As Scripture says, “He put everything under his feet.”#15:27. Quoting Psalms 8:6. (Of course when it says “everything” is put under him it's obvious this doesn't refer to God who placed everything under Christ's authority.) 28When everything has been placed under Christ's authority, then the Son will also place himself under God's authority, so that God who gave the Son authority over everything may be all in all.#15:28. “All in all.” Various explanations have been given for this phrase. It is obviously referring to the completeness of God's rulership in the Universe, and is perhaps best translated literally from the original as “all in all.”
29Otherwise what will those people do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then would people be baptized for them?#15:29. The theological meaning of this verse is much debated. However, the actual words are translated simply enough. 30As for us, why do we place ourselves in danger hour after hour? 31I die every day—let me say it bluntly, my brothers and sisters. This is just as sure as the pride I have for what Christ Jesus has done in you. 32Humanly speaking, what would I gain by fighting with those people in Ephesus who were like wild animals, if the dead are not raised? If the dead are not raised, “let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”!#15:32. Quoting Isaiah 22:13.
33Don't be fooled: “Bad company ruins good character.” 34Come to your senses as you should, and stop sinning! Some of you don't know God. I tell you this to shame you.
35Of course somebody will ask, “How exactly are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36What a foolish question! What you sow doesn't sprout into life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you don't sow the plant it will grow into, just the bare seed, whether wheat or whatever you're planting. 38God makes the plant grow into the form he has chosen, and different seeds produce different plants with different forms. 39What living things are made from is not the same. Human beings have one kind of body tissue, while animals have another, birds another, and fish another. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of beauty, earthly bodies another. 41The sun shines in one way, and the moon another, while the stars are different again, with each one shining in a different way.
42It's the same with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in decay; it is raised to last forever. 43It is sown in shame; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. Just as there are natural bodies there are spiritual bodies. 45As Scripture says, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”;#15:45. Quoting Genesis 2:7. but the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural—the spiritual came after that. 47The first man is from the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven. 48Earthly people are like the man made from the earth; heavenly people are like the man from heaven. 49Just as we bore the likeness of the earthly man so we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50However, I tell you this, my brothers and sisters: our present bodies#15:50. Literally, “flesh and blood.” cannot inherit the kingdom of God. These decaying bodies cannot inherit what lasts forever.
51Listen, I'm going to reveal a mystery! Not all of us will die—but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised never to die again, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must be clothed with a body that never perishes. This mortal life must be clothed with immortality. 54When this perishable body has been clothed with a body that never perishes, and this mortal life has been clothed with immortality, then the Scripture will come true that says, “Death has been totally conquered and destroyed. 55Death—where's your victory? Death—where's your sting?”#15:55. Referencing Isaiah 25:8; Hosea 13:14. 56The sting that causes death is sin; and the power of sin is the law; 57but praise God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58So my dear brothers and sisters: be strong, stand firm, doing everything you can for the Lord's work, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord is wasted.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com