Bible / 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15

World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations

1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 1 CCC · Fathers

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, Fathers

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 2

6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, CCC

8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. CCC

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. CCC

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Fathers

11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Fathers

12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? CCC · Fathers

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. CCC · Fathers

14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. CCC

15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.

17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep.

21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

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

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming.

24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. CCC

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. CCC · Fathers

26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. CCC · Fathers

27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. CCC · Fathers

28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all. CCC · Fathers

29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”

34 Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” CCC

36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. CCC · Fathers

37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. CCC

38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.

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

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. CCC · Fathers

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. CCC · Fathers

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. CCC · Fathers

45 So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Fathers

46 However, that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. Fathers

47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. Fathers

49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Fathers

50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable. Fathers

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

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 incorruptible, and we will be changed. CCC · Fathers

53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. CCC · Fathers

54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Fathers

55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” Fathers

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

Where our lessons quote this chapter

  1. Verses 3–4: Who is Jesus?, What Catholics believe, on one page, The cross and the empty tomb, Did Jesus really rise?
  2. Verses 5–6: Who is Jesus?

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 601 “The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a…”
    • “… who shall know him?" He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I delivered," he says, "unto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  2. Read the Fathers
    • “… who shall know him?" He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I delivered," he says, "unto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  3. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 857 “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the…”
  4. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 659 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right…”
    • CCC 857 “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the…”
  5. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 752 “In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community 142 or the whole universal community of…”
  6. Read the Fathers
    • “Wherefore also Paul, since he was the apostle of the Gentiles, says, "I laboured more than they all.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  7. Read the Fathers
    • “And again, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he had recounted all those who had seen God after the resurrection, he says in continuation, "But whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  8. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 991 “Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of…”
    • “For after remarking, "But if Christ be preached, that He rose from the dead,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  9. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 991 “Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of…”
    • “But now Christ has risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those that sleep; for as by man [came] death, by man also [came] the resurrection of the dead.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  10. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 991 “Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of…”
  11. Read the Fathers
    • “… of the rest, and by speaking vanity, he might acquire for himself hearers void of faith, affecting to be esteemed a teacher, and endeavouring from time to time to employ sayings of this kind often [made use of] by Paul: "In Adam we all die;”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “… Spirit of God, having become united with the ancient substance of Adam's formation, rendered man living and perfect, receptive of the perfect Father, in order that as in the natural [Adam] we all were dead, so in the spiritual we may all be made alive.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter I. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  12. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 668 “Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." Christ's Ascension into heaven…”
    • CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
  13. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
    • “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  14. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 954 “The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no…”
    • CCC 1008 “Death is a consequence of sin. the Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death…”
    • CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
    • “Now Adam had been conquered, all life having been taken away from him: wherefore, when the foe was conquered in his turn, Adam received new life; and the last enemy, death, is destroyed,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  15. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 668 “Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." Christ's Ascension into heaven…”
    • CCC 954 “The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no…”
    • CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
    • “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  16. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 668 “Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." Christ's Ascension into heaven…”
    • CCC 1130 “The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord "until he comes," when God will be "everything to everyone." Since the apostolic age…”
    • CCC 1326 “Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all…”
    • CCC 2550 “On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them 344 to perfect communion with God: There will…”
    • CCC 2804 “The first series of petitions carries us toward him, for his own sake: thy name, thy kingdom, thy will! It is characteristic…”
    • CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
    • “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  17. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 646 “Christ's Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had…”
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
  18. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
    • “… therefore in reference to it he says, in the first [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "So also is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it rises in incorruption." For he declares, "That which thou sowest cannot be quickened, unless first it die.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  19. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
  20. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
    • CCC 1683 “The Church who, as Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's…”
    • “… this of which he also says, "He shall also quicken your mortal bodies." And therefore in reference to it he says, in the first [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "So also is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it rises in incorruption.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  21. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 1683 “The Church who, as Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's…”
    • “And for this reason he said, "It is sown in dishonour, it rises in glory.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power:”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  22. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 1683 “The Church who, as Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's…”
    • “It is sown an animal body, it rises a spiritual body.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  23. Read the Fathers
    • “Wherefore also "the first Adam was made" by the Lord "a living soul, the second Adam a quickening spirit.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  24. Read the Fathers
    • “But that is not first which is spiritual," says the apostle, speaking this as if with reference to us human beings; "but that is first which is animal, afterwards that which is spiritual,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  25. Read the Fathers
    • “And therefore he says, "As is the earthy, such are they that are earthy.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter IX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  26. Read the Fathers
    • “And on this account he (the apostle) declares, "As we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, we shall also bear the image of Him who is from heaven.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter IX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “For this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  27. Read the Fathers
    • “… cast out the Spirit, and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than of the Spirit, then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, "That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God;”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  28. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
    • “… and shows that it is He who is Himself able to extend both healing and life to His handiwork, that His words concerning its [future] resurrection may also be believed; so also at the end, when the Lord utters His voice "by the last trumpet,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  29. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 999 “How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; but he did…”
    • “… nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter II. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “And for this reason, he says, "This mortal must put on immortality, and this corruptible must put on incorruption.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “O death, where is thy victory?”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  30. Read the Fathers
    • “O death, where is thy sting?”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  31. Read the Fathers
    • “O death, where is thy sting?”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1