The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask,^(A) “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”^{(B) 36} How foolish!^(C) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.^{(D) 37} When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.^{(E) 39} Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor,^(F) the moon another and the stars another;^(G) and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be^(H) with the resurrection of the dead.^(I) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;^{(J) 43} it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;^(K) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.^(L)

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”^[a];^(M) the last Adam,^(N) a life-giving spirit.^{(O) 46} The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.^{(P) 47} The first man was of the dust of the earth;^(Q) the second man is of heaven.^{(R) 48} As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.^{(S) 49} And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,^(T) so shall we^[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.^(U)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood^(V) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,^(W) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(X) 51} Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(Y) We will not all sleep,^(Z) but we will all be changed^(AA)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(AB) the dead^(AC) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(AD) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(AE) and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[c](AF)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(AH) and the power of sin is the law.^{(AI) 57} But thanks be to God!^(AJ) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(AK)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(AL) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(AM)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a](A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^{(G) 4} ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b](I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

⁵ He who was seated on the throne^(L) said, “I am making everything new!”^(M) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^(N)