1 Corinthians 15:51

Listen, ¹  I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, ²  but we will all be changed –

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die--but we are all going to be changed.

See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed.

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed,

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed––

Listen, ¹  I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, ²  but we will all be changed –

¹ tn Grk “Behold.”

² tc The manuscripts are grouped into four basic readings here: (1) א C 0243* 33 1739 have “we all will sleep, but we will not all be changed” (πάντες κοιμηθησόμεθα, οὐ πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα); (2) Ì⁴⁶ A^c (F G) have “we will not all sleep, but we will not all be changed” (πάντες οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα, οὐ πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα); (3) D* lat Tert Ambst Spec read “we will all rise, but we will not all be changed.” (4) The wording πάντες οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα, πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα (“we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed”) is found in B D² Ψ 075 0243^c 1881 Ï sy co. How shall we interpret such data? In light of the fact that Paul and his generation did in fact die, early scribes may have felt some embarrassment over the bald statement, “We will not all sleep” (πάντες οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα). This could account for the first variant. Although the second variant could be viewed as a conflation of (1) and (4) (so TCGNT 502; G. D. Fee, First Corinthians [NICNT], 796), it could also have arisen consciously, to guard against the notion that all whom Paul was addressing should regard themselves as true believers. The third variant, prominent in the Western witnesses, may have arisen to counter those who would deny the final resurrection (so TCGNT 502). In any event, since the fourth reading has the best credentials externally and best explains the rise of the others it should be adopted as the authentic wording here.

tn See the note on the word “asleep” in 15:6.