1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

2 by which also you are being kept safe, if you hold fast that Word which I preached to you; unless you believe in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures,

5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until the present time, but some have fallen asleep.

7 After that He was seen by Jacob, then by each of the apostles.

8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one of untimely birth.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than every one of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believe.

12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain.

15 Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For since through man came death, through Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam everyone dies, even so in Christ everyone shall be made alive.

23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

25 For it is necessary for Him to reign till He has put every enemy under His feet.

26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

27 For He has subjected everything under His feet. But when He says everything is subjected, it is evident that He who subjected everything under Him is exempt.

28 Now when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who subjected everything under Him, that God may be everything in all things.

29 Otherwise, what will they do who are immersed for the dead, if the dead are not truly raised? Why then are they immersed for the dead?

30 And why are we in danger every hour?

31 I affirm, by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die throughout the day.

32 If like other men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what profit is it to me, if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!

33 Do not be led astray: Evil company corrupts good character.

34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak to your shame.

35 But someone will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?

36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

37 And what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but mere grain; perhaps wheat or something else.

38 But God gives it a body as He purposed, and to each seed its own body.

39 Not every flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the brightness of the heavenly is one, and the brightness of the earthly is another.

41 There is one brightness of the sun, another brightness of the moon, and another brightness of the stars; for one star differs from another star in brightness.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

43 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, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a life-giving Spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

47 The first man was out of the earth, of dust; the second Man is the Lord out of Heaven.

48 As is the man of dust, so also are those of dust; and as is the Man from Heaven, so also are those of Heaven.

49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of Heaven.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed;

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible needs to put on incorruption, and this mortal needs to 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: Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?

56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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