New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.
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Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand.
2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
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You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing.
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
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I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures,
4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.
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he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.
5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.
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He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve,
6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
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and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died.
7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
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Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.
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and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time.
9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
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I'm the least important of the apostles. I don't deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God's church.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
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I am what I am by God's grace, and God's grace hasn't been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn't me but the grace of God that is with me.
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
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So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.
12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?
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So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, "There's no resurrection of the dead"?
13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.
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If there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn't been raised either.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.
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If Christ hasn't been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless.
15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.
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We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn't raise him if it's the case that the dead aren't raised.
16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
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If the dead aren't raised, then Christ hasn't been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
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If Christ hasn't been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins,
18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
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and what's more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever.
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
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If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
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But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He's the first crop of the harvest of those who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.
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Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.
22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
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In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ.
23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
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Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest, then those who belong to Christ at his coming,
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.
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and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
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It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet.
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end,
27 For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.” (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)
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since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control.
28 Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
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But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again?
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Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren't raised, then why are they being baptized for them?
30 And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour?
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And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day?
31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you.
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Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I'm facing death every day.
32 And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus —if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
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From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren't raised, let's eat and drink because tomorrow we'll die.
33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
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Don't be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.
34 Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
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Sober up by acting like you should and don't sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
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But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"
36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first.
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Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't come back to life unless it dies.
37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.
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What you put in the ground doesn't have the shape that it will have, but it's a bare grain of wheat or some other seed.
38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.
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God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape.
39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
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All flesh isn't alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
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There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory.
41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
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The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory).
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
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It's the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won't ever decay.
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
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It's degraded when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in glory. It's weak when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in power.
44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
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It's a physical body when it's put into the ground, but it's raised as a spiritual body. If there's a physical body, there's also a spiritual body.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
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So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person, and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life.
46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
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But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward.
47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
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The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven.
48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
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The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people.
49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
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We will look like the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
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This is what I'm saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can't inherit God's kingdom. Something that rots can't inherit something that doesn't decay.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
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Listen, I'm telling you a secret: All of us won't die, but we will all be changed—
52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
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in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won't decay, and we will be changed.
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
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It's necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can't decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can't die.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.
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And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory.
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”
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Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death?
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
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(Death's sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.)
57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
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As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn't going to be for nothing in the Lord.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible