1 Corinthians 15:35–58

Questions Concerning the Resurrection Body

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they come?” ³⁶Foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷And what you sow is not the body which it will become, but you sow the bare seed, whether perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest. ³⁸But God gives to it a body just as he wishes, and to each one of the seeds its own body. ³⁹Not all flesh is the same, but there is one flesh of human beings, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish, ⁴⁰and heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly bodies is of another kind. ⁴¹There 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.

⁴²Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵Thus also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”;^j the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As the one who is made of earth, so also are those who are made of earth, and as the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the one who is made of earth, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

⁵⁰But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility. ⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For it is necessary for this perishable body to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body to put on immortality. ⁵⁴But whenever this perishable body puts on incorruptibility and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?

⁵⁶Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸So then, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you^* know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.