A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

Tell me, if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?  Because if the dead are not raised, then Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless.  You are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are the deadest of the dead.  If our hopes in Christ are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable of the human race.  But as it is, Christ is now raised from the dead, the first fruits of those

who have fallen asleep.

The Word of God recorded in the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.