35 But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life and what kind of body will they have then?” 36 Silly question! Plants don’t come to life unless the seed dies first. 37 And you don’t sow the plants, but you sow the bare seeds—perhaps of wheat or something else—38 then God gives it a body just like he wants, so each seed gets its own new body.

39 Not all bodies are the same: humans have one kind of body, animals have different ones, birds different again, and fish also different.

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the beauty of heavenly bodies and of earthly bodies are quite different. 41 The sun, the moon, and the stars all have their own different types of beauty, and even the beauty of stars differs from one to another.

42 So too it is with the resurrection of the dead. The decaying body is ‘sown’ into the ground, but the raised body is immortal. 43 It’s ‘sown’ in dishonour but it’s raised in splendour. It’s ‘sown’ in weakness but it’s raised in power. 44 It’s ‘sown’ a natural body but it’s raised as a spiritual body. (If there’s a natural body, there’s also a spiritual body.) 45 As it’s also written:[ref] ‘The first Adam being a living being.’ The last ‘Adam’ is a life-giving spirit, 46 but the spiritual doesn’t come first—it’s first the natural and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was made of dust from the earth—the second man came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like that earthly man, and heavenly people are like that heavenly man.

49 And just like we carry the image of that earthly man, we should also bear the image of that heavenly man. 50 Now brothers and sisters, I can tell you all that our present physical bodies can’t inherit God’s kingdom, and nor can corrupt things inherit immortality.

51 Listen, I’m explaining a mystery to you all. Not all of us will pass away, but we will all be changed[ref] 52 in an instant, a millisecond, at the last trumpet because the trumpet will sound and the dead will come back to living as immortals, and we’ll be changed. 53 Yes, it’s essential for this perishable body to become incorruptible and for this mortal to become immortal. 54 But when this perishable body becomes incorruptible and this mortal becomes immortal, then what was written will come true:[ref] ‘Death is replaced by victory.’

55 [ref]‘Death, where is your victory?

Yes death, where is your sting?’

56 Sin is the sting of death, and sin’s power is The Law, 57 but be thankful to God because it’s him who gives us the victory through our master Yeshua Messiah.

58 Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and stand firm, always doing the master’s work enthusiastically, knowing that your work for the master isn’t wasted.