5. And [also] that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.
6. Then later He showed Himself to more than five hundred brethren at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].
7. Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles (the special messengers),
8. And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one prematurely and born dead [no better than an unperfected fetus among living men].
9. For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, who am not fit or deserving to be called an apostle, because I once wronged and pursued and molested the church of God [oppressing it with cruelty and violence].
10. But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.
11. So, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed [what you adhered to, trusted in, and relied on].
12. But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;
14. And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).
15. We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];