1 Corinthians 15:1–28

The Resurrection of Christ

15Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel^w I preached to you,^x which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved,^y if you hold firmly^z to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³For what I received^a I passed on to you^b as of first importance^a: that Christ died for our sins^c according to the Scriptures,^{d 4}that he was buried,^e that he was raised^f on the third day^g according to the Scriptures,^{h 5}and that he appeared to Cephas,^bi and then to the Twelve.^{j 6}After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.^{k 7}Then he appeared to James,^l then to all the apostles,^{m 8}and last of all he appeared to me also,ⁿ as to one abnormally born.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles^o and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted^p the church of God.^{q 10}But by the grace^r of God I am what I am, and his grace to me^s was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them^t—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.^{u 11}Whether, then, it is I or they,^v this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,^w how can some of you say that there is no resurrection^x of the dead?^{y 13}If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised,^z our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.^a But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.^{b 18}Then those also who have fallen asleep^c in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.^d

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,^e the firstfruits^f of those who have fallen asleep.^{g 21}For since death came through a man,^h the resurrection of the deadⁱ comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.^{j 23}But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits;^k then, when he comes,^l those who belong to him.^{m 24}Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdomⁿ to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.^{o 25}For he must reign^p until he has put all his enemies under his feet.^{q 26}The last enemy to be destroyed is death.^{r 27}For he “has put everything under his feet.”^cs Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.^{t 28}When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him,^u so that God may be all in all.^v