that he might be Lord
both of the dead and of the living.
If for this life only
we have hoped in Christ,
we are of all men most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised
from the dead, the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep.
For as by a man came death,
by a man has come also
the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command,
with the archangel's call,
and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left,
shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air;
and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Lo! I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised in perishable,
and we shall be changed.
Thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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