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Monday, July 14th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

1 Corinthians 15:16

So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Immortality;   Jesus Continued;   Resurrection;   Zeal, Religious;   Scofield Reference Index - Resurrection;   Thompson Chain Reference - Dead, the;   Mortality-Immortality;   Resurrection;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Resurrection, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Death;   Resurrection of Christ;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Ascension of Jesus Christ;   Corinthians, First and Second, Theology of;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Annihilation;   Materialists;   Omnipotence of God;   Resurrection;   Resurrection of Christ;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Timothy, the First Epistle to;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Resurrection;   Resurrection of Jesus Christ;   Rhetoric;   1 Corinthians;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Corinthians, First Epistle to the;   Eschatology;   Ethics;   Faith;   Hope;   Resurrection;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Acts of the Apostles (2);   Preaching Christ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Resurrection;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Asleep;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for March 28;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
King James Version (1611)
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
King James Version
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
English Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
New American Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised;
New Century Version
If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either.
Amplified Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
Legacy Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
Berean Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.
Complete Jewish Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either;
Darby Translation
For if [those that are] dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised;
Easy-to-Read Version
If those who have died are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For if the dead be not raised, then is Christ not raised.
George Lamsa Translation
For if the dead rise not, then neither did Christ rise:
Good News Translation
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.
Lexham English Bible
For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either.
Literal Translation
For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.
American Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:
Bible in Basic English
For if it is not possible for the dead to come to life again, then Christ has not come to life again:
Hebrew Names Version
For if the dead aren't raised, neither has Messiah been raised.
International Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised,
Etheridge Translation
For if the dead rise not, Meshiha also hath not risen
Murdock Translation
For, if the dead will not arise, the Messiah also hath not risen.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For yf the dead ryse not agayne, then is not Christe rysen agayne.
English Revised Version
For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:
World English Bible
For if the dead aren't raised, neither has Christ been raised.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For if the dead rise not, neither is Christ raised:
Weymouth's New Testament
For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forwhi if deed men risen not ayen, nether Crist roos ayen;
Update Bible Version
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised:
Webster's Bible Translation
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
New English Translation
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.
New King James Version
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
New Living Translation
And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
New Life Bible
If the dead are not raised, then not even Christ was raised from the dead.
New Revised Standard
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, if the dead are not raised, not even Christ, hath been raised;
Douay-Rheims Bible
For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again.
Revised Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For yf the deed ryse not agayne then is Christ not rysen agayne.
Young's Literal Translation
for if dead persons do not rise, neither hath Christ risen,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For yf the deed ryse not agayne, the is Christ also not rysen agayne.
Mace New Testament (1729)
for if the dead are not raised, then was not Christ raised:
THE MESSAGE
If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Let me repeat, if those cowboys who die aren't going to be raised up, then Jesus wasn't either.

Contextual Overview

12 If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? 13 If they won't be raised to life, Christ himself wasn't raised to life. 14 And if Christ wasn't raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. 15 If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not. 16 So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life. 17 Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. 18 And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. 19 If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Romans 8:11 - he that raised 1 Corinthians 15:4 - he rose 1 Corinthians 15:29 - what

Cross-References

Genesis 15:5
Then the Lord took Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have."
Genesis 15:8
Abram asked, " Lord God, how can I know the land will be mine?"
Genesis 15:9
Then the Lord told him, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon."
Genesis 15:11
And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away.
Exodus 12:40
The Lord 's people left Egypt exactly four hundred thirty years after they had arrived.
Daniel 8:23
When these rulers have become as evil as possible, their power will end, and then a king who is dangerous and cannot be trusted will appear.
1 Thessalonians 2:16
They keep us from speaking his message to the Gentiles and from leading them to be saved. The Jews have always gone too far with their sins. Now God has finally become angry and will punish them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. This is a repetition of the argument in 1 Corinthians 15:13 made partly to show the importance of it, and partly to observe other absurdities, following upon the conclusion of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For if the dead rise not ... - This is a repetition of what is said in 1 Corinthians 15:13. It is repeated here, evidently, because of its importance. It was a great and momentous truth which would “bear” repetition, that if there was no resurrection, as some held, then it would follow that the Lord Jesus was not raised up.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 15:16. False witnesses — As having testified the fact of Christ's resurrection, as a matter which ourselves had witnessed, when we knew that we bore testimony to a falsehood. But could five hundred persons agree in this imposition? And if they did, is it possible that some one would not discover the cheat, when he could have no interest in keeping the secret, and might greatly promote his secular interest by making the discovery? Such a case never occurred, and never can occur. The testimony, therefore, concerning the resurrection of Christ, is incontrovertibly true.

If so be that the dead rise not. — This clause is wanting in DE, Syriac, some of the Slavonian, and Itala; several also of the primitive fathers omit it. Its great similarity to the following words might be the cause of its omission by some copyists.


 
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