1 Corinthians 15:29-58

English Standard Version

²⁹ Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ³⁰ Why are we ^(A)in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by ^(B)my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(C)I die every day! ³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, ^(D)I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ^(E)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ^33 (F)Do not be deceived: ^(G)“Bad company ruins good morals.”^{[a] 34 (H)}Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For ^(I)some have no knowledge of God. ^(J)I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(K)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(L)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (M)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(N)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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, ^(O)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[b] (P)}the last Adam became a ^(Q)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (R)The first man was from the earth, ^(S)a man of dust; ^(T)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(U)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(V)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(W)we shall^[c] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(X)flesh and blood ^(Y)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(Z)We shall not all sleep, ^(AA)but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(AB)the trumpet will sound, and ^(AC)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(AD)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

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

^58 (AI)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(AJ)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(AK)your labor is not in vain.