1Now, my brothers, I want to bring the good news to your minds again. I told it to you and you received it. You now believe it. 2You are saved by it, if you hold on to what I told you. If you do not, then you have believed for nothing. 3I told you first what was told to me. I told you that Christ died for the wrong things we did, as the holy writings said. 4He was buried. He was raised on the third day, as the holy writings said. 5Peter saw him, and then all the twelve disciples saw him. 6After that, more than five hundred Christian brothers saw him at one time. Most of them are still living, but some have died. 7After that, James saw him. Then all the apostles saw him. 8Last of all, I saw him too. I was like one who was born at the wrong time. 9The other apostles are all greater than I am. I should not be called an apostle because I troubled the people of Gods church. 10But God has been kind to me. He has made me what I am today. And he did not bless me for nothing. I did more work than any of them. Yet it was not I, but the loving kindness of God was working with me. 11So it does not matter who gave the message, they or I. This is the message we gave, and this is the message you believed. 12You have been told that Christ was raised from death. How can some of you say that dead people do not rise again? 13If dead people do not rise, Christ did not rise. 14And if Christ did not rise, then what we told you was not true, and what you believe is not true. 15If this were so, we would have been telling lies about God, because we said that God raised up Christ. He did not raise up Christ if dead people are not raised up. 16If dead people are not raised, then Christ was not raised either. 17If Christ was not raised, then what you believe is no good. Your wrong ways have not been forgiven. 18If that were true, then the people who believed in Christ who have now died, are lost. 19And if we have hope in Christ for our life in this world only, then we are the most unhappy of all people. 20But Christ really has been raised from death. He was the first one to rise of all who have died. 21It was a man who first brought death. So it was also a man who was first raised from death. 22All people who are of Adam die. And so also, all people who belong to Christ will live. 23But each one has his turn. Christ rose first. Then those who belong to Christ will rise when he comes again. 24After that the end will come. Christ will hand over the ruling power to God the Father. Christ will stop all other rulers, and everyone who has any rights and power. 25Christ must rule until God has all power over all his enemies. 26Death is the last enemy to be destroyed. 27The holy writings say, God has put all things under Christ. But it does not mean that God is under Christ. God is the one who put all things under him. 28One day the Son will be over all things. And God will be over the Son. So in the end God will be over all things. 29Another thing, what good is it for people to be baptized for dead people? If dead people are not raised, why are some people baptized for them? 30And why are we in trouble all the time? 31I face death every day! That is true. Just the way it is true that I am proud of you, my brothers. I am proud that you belong to Christ Jesus. 32I fought against wild animals at Ephesus. If I was thinking only of life on earth, why did I do this? If dead people do not rise, then we might just as well say, Let us eat and drink because we will die tomorrow. 33Do not be fooled. If good people keep company with bad people, the good people will become bad too. 34Wake up! Do what is right. Stop doing wrong things. Some of you do not know God at all. I say these things to you to make you ashamed. 35But someone will ask, How can dead people be raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back from death? 36What foolish questions! The seed you put in the ground must die before it can come to life. 37You do not put a grown-up plant in the ground. You put in a seed, such as corn, wheat, rice, or something like that. 38God gives the seed the body he wants it to have. He gives a different kind of body to every kind of seed. 39Not all living bodies are alike. People have one kind of body. Animals have another kind of body. Fish another kind of body. Birds have another kind. 40So too, there are bodies for the sky and bodies for the earth. The bodies for the sky are fine in one way, and the bodies for the earth are fine in another way. They are not alike. 41The sun is fine in one way. The moon is fine in another way. The stars are fine in still another way. And one star is fine in a different way from another star. 42So it is with the body that is raised from death. When it is put in the ground it is a body that dies. When it rises from death, it will never die again. 43When it is put in the ground, it is not fine. When it rises, it is very fine. When it is put in the ground it has no strength. When it rises it is strong. 44When it is put in the ground it is only a body for this world. When it rises it is a body for the spirit. If there is a body for this world, then there is also a body for the spirit. 45The holy writings say, The first man, Adam, was of this world! The last Adam