1 Corinthians 15
15
1But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand, 2by which also ye are saved, (if ye hold fast the word which I announced to you as the glad tidings,) unless indeed ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you, in the first place, what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; 4and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures; 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the most remain until now, but some also have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8and last of all, as to an abortion, he appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called apostle, because I have persecuted the assembly of God. 10But by God's grace I am what I am; and his grace, which was towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all, but not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Whether, therefore, I or they, thus we preach, and thus ye have believed.
12Now if Christ is preached that he is raised from among the dead, how say some among you that there is not a resurrection of those that are dead? 13But if there is not a resurrection of those that are dead, neither is Christ raised: 14but if Christ is not raised, then, indeed, vain also is our preaching, and vain also your faith. 15And we are found also false witnesses of God; for we have witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he has not raised if indeed those that are dead are not raised. 16For if those that are dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised; 17but if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then indeed also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are the most miserable of all men.
20(But now Christ is raised from among the dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep. 21For since by man came death, by man also resurrection of those that are dead. 22For as in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive. 23But each in his own rank: the first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at his coming. 24Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him who is God and Father; when he shall have annulled all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that is annulled is death. 27For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says that all things are put in subjection, it is evident that it is except him who put all things in subjection to him. 28But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all.) 29Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if those that are dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them? 30Why do we also endanger ourselves every hour? 31Daily I die, by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If, to speak after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if those that are dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. 33Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.
35But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come? 36Fool; what thou sowest is not quickened unless it die. 37And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest: 38and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39Every flesh is not the same flesh, but one is of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes. 40And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but different is the glory of the heavenly, different that of the earthly: 41one the sun's glory, and another the moon's glory, and another the stars' glory; for star differs from star in glory. 42Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. 43It is sown in dishonour, 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: if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. 45Thus also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit. 46But that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual: 47the first man out of the earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. 48Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones. 49And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly one. 50But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom, nor does corruption inherit incorruptibility.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must needs put on incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality. 54But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55Where, O death, is thy sting? where, O death, thy victory? 56Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin the law; 57but thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ.
58So then, my beloved brethren, be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
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1 Corinthians 15: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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