¹Now I am making known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, and in which you stand, ²by which you are also being saved, if you hold on to the words with which I preached the gospel to you, unless you have come to believe in vain. ³For I have passed on to you in the first place that which I for my part received, namely that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, ⁵and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. ⁶After that he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom the majority remain to the present time, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he was also seen by me, one untimely born, as it were. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, ¹⁰but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain, but I have toiled more inordinately than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me. ¹¹So whether it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you have believed. ¹²But if Christ is preached, namely that he has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vacuous, and your faith is also vacuous. ¹⁵And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified against God, that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if the dead really are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, ¹⁷and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸In that case those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. ¹⁹If we have only hoped in Christ for this life, we are the most pitiable of all men. ²⁰But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruit, then those of Christ at his coming. ²⁴Then the end comes, when he delivers the kingdom to him who is God and father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all the enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy which will be abolished is death. ²⁷For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. And when he says, “Everything has been subjected”, it is evident that it is with the exception of him who made everything subject to him. ²⁸And when everything has been subjected to him, then the son himself will be subjected to him who subjected everything to him, in order that God may be all in all. ²⁹For otherwise, what will they who are being baptized in connection with the state of the dead do? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized in connection with the state of the dead? ³⁰And why do we endanger ourselves all the time? ³¹I die every day, I swear by the exultation over you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I, humanly speaking, have done battle with wild beasts in Ephesus, what advantage do I have if the dead are not raised? Then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ³³Do not be led astray: bad company corrupts good habits. ³⁴Sober up, as is right, and do not sin. For some are ignorant of God. I speak to your shame. ³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶You fool, what you sow – surely it does not give life unless it dies? ³⁷And what you sow – you do not sow the body which will come, but a bare seed, whether it happens to be of wheat or of some other crop. ³⁸But God gives it a body as he has willed, that is, to each kind of seed, its own body. ³⁹Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one kind for men, but another kind of flesh for cattle, and another for fish, and another for birds. ⁴⁰And there are upper-heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the upper-heavenly ones is of one kind, whereas that of the earthly ones is of another kind. ⁴¹The glory of the sun is of one kind, and the glory of the moon is of another kind, and the glory of the stars is of yet another kind, for one star differs from another star in glory. ⁴²So is also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in perishability; it is raised in indefectibility. ⁴³It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵So it also stands written: “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam – a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But the spiritual was not first, but the natural, then came the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was of the earth – of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸As the one of dust was, so also are those of dust. And as the upper-heavenly one is, so also are the upper-heavenly ones. ⁴⁹And just as we bore the image of the one of dust, so also let us bear the image of the upper-heavenly one. ⁵⁰And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does perishability inherit indefectibility. ⁵¹Look, I will tell you a mystery. We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵²in an unsplittable instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised as indefectible, and we will be changed. ⁵³For this perishable state must put on indefectibility, and this mortal state must put on immortality. ⁵⁴And when this perishable state puts on indefectibility, and this mortal state puts on immortality, then the word which stands written will apply: ⁵⁶The 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 beloved brothers, be firmly seated, steadfast, always abounding in the Lord's work, knowing that your labour is not in vain with the Lord.

Reference(s) in Chapter 15: v.25 ↔ Psalm 8:7^MT (Psalm 8:6^AV) ● v.27 ↔ Psalm 8:7^MT (Psalm 8:6^AV) ● v.32 ↔ Isaiah 22:13 ● v.45 ↔ Genesis 2:7 ● v.54 ↔ Isaiah 25:8 ● v.55 ↔ Hosea 13:14.