1 Corinthians 15:1–28

Paul’s Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ

15Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed to you, which you have also received, in which you also stand, ²by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the message I proclaimed to you, unless you believed to no purpose. ³For I passed on to you as of first importance^a what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised up 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, the majority of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all, as it were to one born at the wrong time, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy 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 to me has not been in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, and not I, but the grace of God with me. ¹¹Therefore whether I or those, in this way we preached, and in this way you believed.

Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead

¹²Now if Christ is preached as raised up 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, Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁴But if Christ has not been raised, then^b our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵And also we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if after all, then, the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸And as a further result, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If we have put our hope^c in Christ in this life only, we are of all people most pitiable.

²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, 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 has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For it is necessary for him to 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.”^d But when it says “all things” are subjected, it is clear that the one who subjected all things to him is not included. ²⁸But whenever all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected^e to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.