1Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2through which also you are being saved—if you hold fast to the word I proclaimed to you—unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve;
6then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom the majority remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8and last of all, as to one abnormally born, he appeared also to me.
9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God;
10but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; rather, I labored more abundantly than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12Now if Christ is preached as having been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised;
14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty;
15and we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise—if indeed the dead are not raised.
16For if the dead are not raised, then neither has Christ been raised;
17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead.
22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming,
24then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.
25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26The last enemy to be abolished is death.
27For “he subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that all things have been subjected, it is clear that this excludes the one who subjected all things to him.
28And when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what will those do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
30And why are we ourselves in danger every hour?
31I die daily—I affirm it by the boast in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32If, humanly speaking, I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34Sober up rightly, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37And what you sow—you do not sow the body that will come to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of one of the rest.
38But God gives it a body just as he willed, and to each of the seeds its own body.
39Not all flesh is the same flesh; but there is one flesh of humans, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
40There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and that of the earthly is another.
41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.
43It is sown in dishonor; 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.
45So also it is written: “The first man Adam became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46But the spiritual is not first; rather the natural, then the spiritual.
47The first man is of the earth, made of dust; the second man is of heaven.
48As was the man of dust, so also are those made of dust; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly.
49And just as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly one.
50Now this I say, brothers: that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
52in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53For this perishable must put on imperishability, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54And when this perishable puts on imperishability, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that is written will come to pass: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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