1 Corinthians 15:35-58

1 Corinthians 15

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will object, “How can it be that the dead are raised? With what kind of body are they going to come?”

³⁶ You are being foolish. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body of the kind he wanted it to have, and to each of the seeds he gives its own body.

³⁹ Flesh is not all the same kind. Instead, people have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish yet another. ⁴⁰ There are also celestial bodies and bodies on earth, but the glory of the celestial bodies differs from that of the bodies on earth. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another in glory.

⁴² That is the way the resurrection of the dead will be. What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown as a natural ^[1] body; it is raised as a spiritual ^[2] body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living natural being.” ^[3] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, that which is spiritual is not first; rather, first comes the natural, then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord ^[4] from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man made of dust, so are the people who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so the heavenly people will be. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, let us ^[5] also bear the image of the heavenly man.

The Change to Immortality on the Last Day

⁵⁰ Now I say this, brothers: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what is perishable is not going to inherit what is imperishable. ⁵¹ Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.