1 Corinthians 15:20–49

²⁰But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise.

²¹Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. ²²Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.

²³But here is the order of events. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. ²⁴Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rule, authority and power. He will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.

²⁵Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. ²⁶The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” It says that “everything” has been put under him. But it is clear that this does not include God himself, who puts everything under Christ. ²⁸When he has done that, the Son also will be under God’s rule. God puts everything under the Son. In that way, God will be all in all.

²⁹Suppose no one rises from the dead. Then what will people do who are baptized for the dead? Suppose the dead are not raised at all. Then why are people baptized for them? ³⁰And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour?

³¹I die every day. I really mean that, brothers and sisters. Here is something you can be sure of. I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. ³²Did I fight wild animals in Ephesus for only human reasons? Then what have I gotten for it? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,

because tomorrow we will die.”

³³Don’t let anyone fool you. “Bad companions make a good person bad.” ³⁴You should come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. I say this to make you ashamed.

The Body That Rises From the Dead

³⁵But someone might ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” ³⁶How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. ³⁷When you plant something, it isn’t a completely grown plant that you put in the ground. You only plant a seed. Maybe it’s wheat or something else. ³⁸But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned. And to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

³⁹All earthly creatures are not the same. People have one kind of body. Animals have another. Birds have another kind. Fish have still another.

⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory. Earthly bodies have another. ⁴¹The sun has one kind of glory. The moon has another kind. The stars have still another. And one star’s glory is different from that of another star.

⁴²It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last forever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts forever. ⁴³It is planted without honor. But it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness. But it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is planted as an earthly body. But it is raised as a spiritual body.

Just as there is an earthly body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. ⁴⁶What is spiritual did not come first. What is earthly came first. What is spiritual came after that. ⁴⁷The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven.

⁴⁸Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth. And those who are spiritual are like the one who came from heaven. ⁴⁹We are like the earthly man. And we will be like the man from heaven.