The Resurrection of Christ

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

3 For what I receiveda I passed on to youb as of first importancea: that Christ died for our sinsc according to the Scriptures,d 4 that he was buried,e that he was raisedf on the third dayg according to the Scriptures,h 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,b i 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.

9 For I am the least of the apostleso and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecutedp the church of God.q 10 But by the gracer of God I am what I am, and his grace to mes was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of themt—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

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,w how can some of you say that there is no resurrectionx of the dead?y 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised,z our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More 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. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.b 18 Then those also who have fallen asleepc in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.d

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,e the firstfruitsf 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. 22 For 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 reignp 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.”c s 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