1 Corinthians 15
15
The Good News About Christ
1Now, brothers, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News, and you continue strong in it. 2And you are saved by this Good News. But you must continue believing what I told you. If you do not, then you believed for nothing.
3I passed on to you what I received. And this was the most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; 4that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; 5and that he showed himself to Peter and then to the twelve apostles. 6After that, Jesus showed himself to more than 500 of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today. But some have died. 7Then Jesus showed himself to James and later to all the apostles. 8Last of all he showed himself to me—as to a person not born at the normal time. 9All the other apostles are greater than I am. This is because I persecuted the church of God. And this is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle. 10But God’s grace has made me what I am. And his grace to me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace that was with me.) 11So then it is not important if I preached to you or if the other apostles preached to you. We all preach the same thing, and this is what you believed.
We Will Be Raised from Death
12It is preached that Christ was raised from death. So why do some of you say that people will not be raised from death? 13If no one will ever be raised from death, then Christ was not raised from death. 14And if Christ was not raised, then our preaching is worth nothing. And your faith is worth nothing. 15And also, we will be guilty of lying about God. Because we have preached about him by saying that he raised Christ from death. And if people are not raised from death, then God never raised Christ from death. 16If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins. 18And also, those in Christ who have already died are lost. 19If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.
20But Christ has truly been raised from death—the first one and proof that those who are asleep in death will also be raised. 21Death comes to everyone because of what one man did. But the rising from death also happens because of one man. 22In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. 23But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life. 24Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. And he will give the kingdom to God the Father. 25Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under Christ’s control. 26The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. 27The Scripture says, “God put all things under his control.”# Quotation from Psalm 8:6. When it says that “all things” are put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself. God is the one putting everything under Christ’s control. 28After everything has been put under Christ, then the Son himself will be put under God. God is the One who put all things under Christ. And Christ will be put under God, so that God will be the complete ruler over everything.
29If the dead are never raised, then what will people do who are baptized for those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
30And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31I die every day. That is true, brothers, just as it is true that I brag about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus only for human reasons, I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, then, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”# Quotation from Isaiah 22:13; 56:12.
33Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.” 34Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. I say this to shame you—some of you do not know God.
What Kind of Body Will We Have?
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36Those are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. 37And when you plant it, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else. 38But God gives it a body that he has planned for it. And God gives each kind of seed its own body. 39All things made of flesh are not the same kinds of flesh: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds have another, and fish have another. 40Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind. The beauty of the earthly bodies is another kind. 41The sun has one kind of beauty. The moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
42It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay. But that body is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. 43When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But it is raised in glory. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it has power. 44The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body.
There is a physical body. And there is also a spiritual body. 45It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man became a living person.”# Quotation from Genesis 2:7. But the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. 46The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man who came first; then came the spiritual. 47The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48People belong to the earth. They are like the first man of earth. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven. 49We were made like the man of earth. So we will# Some Greek copies read “So let us.” also be made like the man of heaven.
50I tell you this, brothers: Flesh and blood cannot have a part in the kingdom of God. A thing that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins. 51But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed. 52It will only take a second. We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks. This will happen when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet will sound and those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we will all be changed. 53This body that will ruin must clothe itself with something that will never ruin. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die. 54So this body that ruins will clothe itself with that which never ruins. And this body that dies will clothe itself with that which never dies. When this happens, then this Scripture will be made true:
55“Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your power to hurt?” Hosea 13:14
56Death’s power to hurt is sin. The power of sin is the law. 57But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58So my dear brothers, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.
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1 Corinthians 15: ICB
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1 Corinthians 15
15
Christ's victory over death
Christ was raised to life
1My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. 2You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.
3I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is:#Is 53.5-12.
Christ died for our sins,
as the Scriptures say.
4He was buried,#Ps 16.8-10; Mt 12.40; Ac 2.24-32.
and three days later
he was raised to life,
as the Scriptures say.
5Christ appeared to Peter,#15.5 Peter: See the note at 1.12.#Lk 24.34; Mt 28.16,17; Mk 16.14; Lk 24.36; Jn 20.19.
then to the twelve.
6After this, he appeared
to more than five hundred
other followers.
Most of them are still alive,
but some have died.
7He also appeared to James,
and then to all
the apostles.
8Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.#15.8 who was born at the wrong time: The meaning of these words in Greek is not clear.#Ac 9.3-6.
9I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle.#Ac 8.3. 10But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's kindness at work and not me. 11But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.
God's people will be raised to life
12If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? 13If they won't be raised to life, Christ himself wasn't raised to life. 14And if Christ wasn't raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. 15If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not.
16So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life. 17Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. 18And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. 19If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.
20But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life. 21Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. 22Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us. 23But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns. 24Then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom to God the Father.
25Christ will rule until he puts all his enemies under his power,#Ps 110.1. 26and the last enemy he destroys will be death. 27When the Scriptures say that he will put everything under his power, they don't include God. It was God who put everything under the power of Christ.#Ps 8.6. 28After everything is under the power of God's Son, he will put himself under the power of God, who put everything under his Son's power. Then God will mean everything to everyone.
29If the dead are not going to be raised to life, what will people do who are being baptized for them? Why are they being baptized for those dead people? 30And why do we always risk our lives 31and face death every day? The pride that I have in you because of Christ Jesus our Lord is what makes me say this. 32What do you think I gained by fighting wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised to life,#Is 22.13.
“Let's eat and drink.
Tomorrow we die.”
33Don't fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you. 34Be sensible and stop sinning. You should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God.
What our bodies will be like
35Some of you have asked, “How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36Don't be foolish. A seed must die before it can sprout from the ground. 37Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up. 38This is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have. 39People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike. 40Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others. 41The sun isn't like the moon, the moon isn't like the stars, and each star is different.
42That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live for ever. 43These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong. 44As there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.
45The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.#Gn 2.7. 46We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body. 47The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. 48Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven. 49Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.
50My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay. This means that they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts for ever. 51I will explain a mystery to you. Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed.#1 Th 4.15-17. 52It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again. 53Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay. 54The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true,#Is 25.8.
“Death has lost the battle!
55Where is its victory?#Ho 13.14 (LXX).
Where is its sting?”
56Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin. 57But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!
58My dear friends, stand firm and don't be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012