MKJV - I Corinthians - 15

15:1  And, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand;

15:2  by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

15:3  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,

15:4  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures;

15:5  and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve.

15:6  Afterward He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until this present day, but also some fell asleep.

15:7  Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

15:8  And last of all He was seen by me also, as one born out of time.

15:9  For I am the least of the apostles and am not sufficient to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was toward me has not been without fruit, but I labored more abundantly than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

15:11  Therefore whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

15:12  But if Christ is proclaimed, that He was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

15:13  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

15:14  And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless.

15:15  And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ; whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised.

15:16  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised.

15:17  And if Christ is not raised, your faith is foolish; you are yet in your sins.

15:18  Then also those that fell asleep in Christ were lost.

15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

15:20  But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruit of those who slept.

15:21  For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man.

15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.

15:23  But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ's at His coming;

15:24  then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.

15:25  for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.

15:26  The last enemy made to cease is death.

15:27  For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him who has put all things under Him.

15:28  But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him who has subjected things to Him, so that God may be all things in all.

15:29  Otherwise, what will they do, those being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not at all raised, why indeed are they baptized on behalf of the dead?

15:30  And why are we also in danger every hour?

15:31  Day by day I die, by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

15:32  If according to man I fought with beasts in Ephesus, what advantage is to me if the dead are not raised? "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

15:33  Do not be deceived, evil companionships corrupt good habits.

15:34  Be righteously awake, and sin not; for some have ignorance of God. I speak this to your shame.

15:35  But someone will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?

15:36  Foolish one! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

15:37  And what you sow, you do not sow the body that is going to be, but a bare grain (perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest).

15:38  And God gives it a body as it has pleased Him, and to each of the seeds its own body.

15:39  All flesh is not the same flesh; but one kind of flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fish, and another of birds.

15:40  There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is truly different, and that of the earthly different;

15:41  one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

15:42  So also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;

15:43  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

15:44  it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

15:45  And so it is written, "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul," the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.

15:46  But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.

15:47  The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven.

15:48  Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones.

15:49  And according as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

15:50  And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

15:51  Behold, I speak a mystery to you; we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed;

15:52  in a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.

15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

15:54  But when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and when this mortal shall put on immortality, then will take place the word that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.

15:55  O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?"

15:56  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

15:57  But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:58  So that, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not without fruit in the Lord.