And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Parallel translations
- WEB The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
- KJV The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
- BSB The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
- NKJV The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
- NASB The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. It matters because Christ's victory will finally and fully abolish death itself.
Overview
Paul names death as the final foe that Christ will conquer. Already defeated in principle through the resurrection, death will be utterly abolished at the end. This promise crowns the believer's hope: the very enemy that ends earthly life will itself be done away with in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Tim 1:10but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.
- 1 Cor 15:55“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
- Rev 21:4He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”
- Rev 20:14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
- Isa 25:8He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
- Heb 2:14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Luke 20:36For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
- Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 15:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.