Montgomery - I Corinthians - 15

15:1  Now I am calling to your remembrance, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, and on which you have taken your stand, ;47 The first man is of the earth, earthly; the second Man is of heaven.

15:2  by which also you are saved, if you are holding fast the message which I preached to you; unless indeed you have believed in vain.

15:3  For the very first thing I taught you was that I had myself been taught, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture,

15:4  that he was buried, and that he was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures,

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

15:6  Afterward he was seen at one time by more than five hundred brethren, most of whom are still alive, but some are fallen asleep.

15:7  Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

15:8  and last of all, as by one born out of due time, he was seen by me also.

15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, I who am not worthy 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 that grace of his, bestowed upon me, did not prove ineffectual. I labored more abundantly than all the rest, yet not I, but by the grace of God that is with me.

15:11  But whether it is I or they, thus do I preach, and thus you came to believe.

15:12  If then, we are preaching Christ, that he rose from the dead, how are some of you saying that there is no resurrection from the dead?

15:13  But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

15:14  and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and vain also is your faith.

15:15  More than that, we are detected in bearing false witness against God; because we testified of God that he raised Christ from the dead, whom he did not raise, if indeed the dead rise not.

15:16  For if the dead rise not, neither has Christ arisen;

15:17  and if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, you are still in your sins.

15:18  More than that, those who are sleeping in Christ have perished.

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

15:20  But now, now, Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruit of those who have fallen asleep.

15:21  For since by man came to death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead.

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

15:23  But each in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, then those who belong to Christ at his appearing.

15:24  And then the end, when he shall hand over his kingdom to God his Father, after he has abolished all rule and authority and power.

15:25  For he must rule until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

15:26  The last enemy that will be destroyed is Death.

15:27  For He hast put all things under his feet, but in that quotation All things are put under him, it is evident that God is excepted, who put all things under Him.

15:28  For when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself shall subject himself to Him who made them subject, that God may be all in all.

15:29  Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are really not raised, why are they baptized for them?

15:30  Yes, and why am I myself exposed to danger every hour?

15:31  Every day I am facing death, my brothers, I affirm it by that pride in you which I have through Christ Jesus our Lord.

15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good does it do me? If the dead do not rise, Let us eat and drink, For we shall be dead tomorrow.

15:33  Do not deceive yourselves. Evil companions ruin good morals.

15:34  Wake up, do justly, cease from sin; for I say to your shame that some of you have no acquaintance with God.

15:35  But some one will ask. "How are the dead raised? and with what body are they coming?"

15:36  Foolish man! The seed you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

15:37  And when you sow the seed you are not sowing the body that it will become, but bare grain, of wheat perhaps, or some other grain.

15:38  But God gives it what body he pleases, and to each kind of seed its own body.

15:39  All flesh is not the same flesh; there is human flesh, another of fishes of animals, another of birds, another of fishes.

15:40  There are both celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial; but the splendor of the celestial is one thing, and the splendor of the terrestrial is another.

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

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

15:43  Sown in weakness, It is raised in power;

15:44  The body sown is animal The body is raised is spiritual. If there is an animal body, there is also a spiritual body.

15:45  Thus it is written. The first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit.

15:46  Now it is not the spiritual which is first, but the animal, and then the spiritual.

15:48  Like him who was of earth, are the earthy; and like Him who is of heaven, are the heavenly;

15:49  As we have borne the likeness of him who was of earth, so also let us bear the likeness of Him who is of heaven.

15:50  I tell you this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

15:51  Lo, I tell you a secret truth. we shall not all be sleeping, but we shall be changed,

15:52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

15:53  For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.

15:54  And when this mortal has been clothed with immortality, then will the words of Scripture come to pass, Death has been swallowed up in victory.

15:55  Where, Death, is thy victory? Where, Death, is thy sting?

15:56  Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.

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

15:58  So, my brothers beloved, stand firm, immovable, always abounding in work for the Lord, because you know that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.