1 Corinthians 15:35–58

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.

⁵⁰Brothers and sisters, here is what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t share in the kingdom of God. And what dies can’t share in what never dies.

⁵¹Listen! I am telling you a mystery. We will not all die. But we will all be changed. ⁵²That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever. And we will be changed.

⁵³Our natural bodies don’t last forever. They must be dressed with what does last forever. What dies must be dressed with what does not die. ⁵⁴In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, “Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.”

⁵⁵“Death, where is the battle you thought you were winning?

Death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But let us give thanks to God! He wins the battle for us because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.

⁵⁸My dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.