Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will 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 incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“Death, where is your sting?Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57, World English Bible Updated edition, which is in the public domain.
Which funeral services use it
- Catholic, US (Lectionary for Masses for the Dead): 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, as a second reading.
- Catholic, England and Wales (Order of Christian Funerals): 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.
- Church of England (Common Worship funeral readings): Within 1 Corinthians 15.20-end.
Where it comes in the service
At a Catholic funeral Mass this is a second reading, read after the psalm and before the Gospel acclamation. In a Church of England funeral the Bible readings come in the readings and sermon part of the service.
At a Catholic Mass the reader uses the parish Lectionary, which is a different translation from the one printed here, and in the US its text may not be reproduced without permission. You may prefer to print only the reference and the reader in the running order, for example "Second reading: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, read by Anne Hughes".
Add 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 to your booklet, typeset in full, with the order of service around it. You can see the whole booklet before paying anything.
Put 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 in my bookletAbout this translation
The words here are the World English Bible, a modern English translation whose translators dedicated it to the public domain, so it can be printed in a booklet in the US and the UK without permission or a fee. The King James Version is public domain in the US but is covered by Crown letters patent in the UK, which is why it is not used here. If your church prefers another translation, add it in step 5 with "Use your own words".
Funeral lists checked on September 28, 2026 against the USCCB, the Liturgy Office of England and Wales and the Church of England's Common Worship pages.