1 Corinthians 15 Now, brothers, I would have you know the gospel I once preached to you, the gospel you received, the gospel in which you have your footing,

Moffatt⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now, brothers, I would have you know the gospel I once preached to you, the gospel you received, the gospel in which you have your footing, ² the gospel by which you are saved — provided you adhere to my statement of it — unless indeed your faith was all haphazard. ³ First and foremost, I passed on to you what I had myself received, namely, that Christ died for our sins as the scriptures had said, ⁴ that he was buried, that he rose on the third day as the scriptures had said, ⁵ and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve; ⁶ after that, he was seen by over five hundred brothers all at once, the majority of whom survive to this day, though some have died; ⁷ after that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, ⁸ and finally he was seen by myself, by this so-called 'abortion' of an apostle. ⁹ For I am the very least of the apostles, unfit to bear the name of apostle, since I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by God's grace I am what I am. The grace he showed me did not go for nothing; no, I have done far more work than all of them — though it was not I but God's grace at my side. ¹¹ At any rate, whether I or they have done most, such is what we preach, such is what you believed. ¹² Now if we preach that Christ rose from the dead, how can certain individuals among you assert that 'there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead'? ¹³ If 'there is no such thing as a resurrection from the dead,' then even Christ did not rise; ¹⁴ and if Christ did not rise, then our preaching has gone for nothing, and your faith has gone for nothing too. ¹⁵ Besides, we are detected bearing false witness to God by affirming of him that he raised Christ — whom he did not raise, if after all dead men never rise. ¹⁶ For if dead men never rise, Christ did not rise either; ¹⁷ and if Christ did not rise, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ More than that: those who have slept the sleep of death in Christ have perished after all. ¹⁹ Ah, if in this life we have nothing but a mere hope in Christ, we are of all men to be pitied most! ²⁰ But it is not so! Christ did rise from the dead, he was the first to be reaped of those who sleep in death. ²¹ For since death came by man, by man came also resurrection from the dead; ²² as all die in Adam, so shall all be made alive in Christ. ²³ But each in his own division: — Christ the first to be reaped; after that, all who belong to Christ, at his arrival. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over his royal power to God the Father, after putting down all other rulers, all other authorities and powers. ²⁵ For he must reign until all his foes are put under his feet. ²⁶ (Death is the last foe to be put down.) ²⁷ For God has put everything under his feet. When it is said that everything has been put under him, plainly that excludes Him who put everything under him; ²⁸ and when everything is put under him, then the Son himself will be put under Him who put everything under him, so that God may be everything to everyone. ²⁹ Otherwise, if there is no such thing as a resurrection, what is the meaning of people getting baptized on behalf of their dead? If dead men do not rise at all, why do people get baptized on their behalf? ³⁰ Yes, and why am I myself in danger every hour? ³¹ (Not a day but I am at death's door! I swear it by my pride in you, brothers, through Christ Jesus our Lord.) ³² What would it avail me that, humanly speaking, I 'fought with wild beasts' at Ephesus? If dead men do not rise, let us eat and drink, for we will be dead to-morrow! ³³ Make no mistake about this: 'bad company is the ruin of good character.' ³⁴ Get back to your sober senses and avoid sin, for some of you — and I say this to your shame — some of you are insensible to God. ³⁵ But, someone will ask, 'how do the dead rise? What kind of body have they when they come?' ³⁶ Foolish man! What you sow never comes to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be; it is a mere grain of wheat, for example, or some other seed. ³⁸ God gives it a body as he pleases, gives each kind of seed a body of its own. ³⁹ Flesh is not all the same; there is human flesh, there is flesh of beasts, flesh of birds, and flesh of fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and also earthly bodies, but the splendour of the heavenly is one thing and the splendour of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is a splendour of the sun and a splendour of the moon and a splendour of the stars — for one star differs from another in splendour. ⁴² So with the resurrection of the dead: what is sown is mortal, what rises is immortal; ⁴³ sown inglorious, it rises in glory; sown in weakness, it rises in power; ⁴⁴ sown an animate body, it rises a spiritual body. As there is an animate body, so there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became an animate being, the last Adam a life-giving Spirit'; ⁴⁶ but the animate, not the spiritual, comes first, and only then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ Man the first is from the earth, material; Man the second is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As Man the material is, so are the material; as Man the heavenly is, so are the heavenly. ⁴⁹ Thus, as we have borne the likeness of material Man, so we are to bear the likeness of the heavenly Man. ⁵⁰ I tell you this, my brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Realm of God, nor can the perishing inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Here is a secret truth for you: not all of us are to die, but all of us are to be changed — ⁵² changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. The trumpet will sound, the dead will rise imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishing body must be invested with the imperishable, and this mortal body invested with immortality; ⁵⁴ and when this mortal body has been invested with immortality, then the saying of Scripture will be realized, Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? ⁵⁶ -- ⁵⁷ The victory is ours, thank God! He makes it ours by our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Well then, my beloved brothers, hold your ground, immovable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.