1 Corinthians 15:1-28

The Resurrection of Christ

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, 1 of the gospel g I preached to you, which you received, h in which you stand, 2 and by which i you are being saved, if you j hold fast to the word I preached to you - k unless you believed in vain.

3 For l I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died m for our sins n in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised o on the third day p in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that q he appeared to Cephas, then r to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to s James, then t to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, u he appeared also to me. 9 For v I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because w I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, x I worked harder than any of them, y though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, z how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, a then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that b he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and c you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who d have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope 2 in this life only, e we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact f Christ has been raised from the dead, g the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as h by a man came death, i by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For j as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then k at his coming l those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers m the kingdom to God the Father after destroying n every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign o until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be p destroyed is death. 27 For q "God 3 has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When r all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that s God may be all in all.

  1. Cross References
    2 Timothy 2:8
    Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.
    1 Corinthians 3:6
    I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
  2. Cross References
    Romans 5:2
    Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
    2 Corinthians 1:24
    Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
    1 Peter 5:12
    By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
  3. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 1:18
    For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
  4. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:2
    Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.
    Hebrews 3:6
    But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
    Hebrews 3:14
    For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
  5. Cross References
    Galatians 3:4
    Did you suffer so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain?
  6. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:23
    For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread.
    Galatians 1:12
    For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
  7. Cross References
    John 1:29
    The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
    Galatians 1:4
    Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
    Hebrews 5:1
    For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
    Hebrews 5:3
    Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
    1 Peter 2:24
    He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:1
    Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
    Daniel 9:26
    And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
    Zechariah 13:7
    Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," declares the Lord of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.
    1 Peter 1:11
    Inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
  9. Cross References
    Hosea 6:2
    After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
    Matthew 12:40
    For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
    John 2:22
    When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 16:10
    For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
    Isaiah 53:10
    Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
    Acts 2:25 - 32
    For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.
    Acts 13:33 - 35
    This he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.
    Acts 26:22 - 23
    To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
  11. Cross References
    Luke 24:34
    Saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!
  12. Cross References
    Mark 16:14
    Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
    Luke 24:36
    As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!
    John 20:19
    On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you.
    John 20:26
    Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you.
    Acts 10:41
    Not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
  13. Cross References
    Acts 12:17
    But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell these things to James and to the brothers." Then he departed and went to another place.
  14. Cross References
    Luke 24:50
    Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
    Acts 1:3 - 4
    He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
  15. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 9:1
    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
  16. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:11
    I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
    Ephesians 3:7 - 8
    Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
    1 Timothy 1:13 - 16
    Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.
  17. Cross References
    Acts 8:3
    But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
  18. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 11:23
    Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one - I am talking like a madman - with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
    2 Corinthians 12:11
    I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
    Colossians 1:29
    For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
  19. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:6
    I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
    2 Corinthians 3:5
    Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.
    Philippians 2:13
    For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
    Matthew 10:20
    For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
  20. Cross References
    Acts 23:8
    For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
    2 Timothy 2:18
    Who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
  21. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 4:14
    For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
  22. Cross References
    Acts 2:24
    God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
  23. Cross References
    Romans 4:25
    Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
  24. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 4:16
    For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
    Revelation 14:13
    And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!
  25. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 4:9
    For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
    2 Timothy 3:12
    Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
  26. Cross References
    2 Timothy 2:8
    Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.
    1 Peter 1:3
    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
  27. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:23
    But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
    Acts 26:23
    That the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.
  28. Cross References
    Romans 5:12
    Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned -
  29. Cross References
    John 11:25
    Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
    Romans 6:23
    For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  30. Cross References
    Romans 5:14 - 18
    Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
  31. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 2:19
    For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
  32. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:52
    In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
    1 Thessalonians 4:16
    For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
    Luke 14:14
    And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
  33. Cross References
    Daniel 7:14
    And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
    Daniel 7:27
    And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.
  34. Cross References
    Ephesians 1:21
    Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
  35. Cross References
    Psalms 110:1
    The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
  36. Cross References
    2 Timothy 1:10
    And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
    Revelation 20:14
    Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
    Revelation 21:4
    He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
  37. Cross References
    Ephesians 1:22
    And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.
    Psalms 8:6
    You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
    Matthew 11:27
    All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
    Matthew 28:18
    And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 8:6
    You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
  39. Cross References
    Philippians 3:21
    Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
  40. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:23
    And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
    1 Corinthians 11:3
    But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.