1 Corinthians 15:29-58

New King James Version

Effects of Denying the Resurrection

²⁹ Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? ³⁰ And ^(A)why do we stand in ^[a]jeopardy every hour? ³¹ I affirm, by ^(B)the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(C)I die daily. ³² If, in the manner of men, ^(D)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ^(E)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

³³ Do not be deceived: ^(F)“Evil company corrupts good habits.” ^34 (G)Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; ^(H)for some do not have the knowledge of God. ^(I)I speak this to your shame.

A Glorious Body

³⁵ But someone will say, ^(J)“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” ³⁶ Foolish one, ^(K)what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind ^[b]of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

⁴⁰ There are also ^[c]celestial bodies and ^[d]terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

^42 (L)So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ^43 (M)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 And so it is written, ^(N)“The first man Adam became a living being.” ^(O)The last Adam became ^(P)a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. ^47 (Q)The first man was of the earth, ^(R)made^[e] of dust; the second Man is ^[f]the Lord ^(S)from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the ^[g]man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; ^(T)and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And ^(U)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(V)we^[h] shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Our Final Victory

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that ^(W)flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a ^[i]mystery: ^(X)We shall not all sleep, ^(Y)but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ^(Z)For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and ^(AA)this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ^(AB)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(AD)the strength of sin is the law. ^57 (AE)But thanks be to God, who gives us ^(AF)the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (AG)Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing ^(AH)that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.