Chapter 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ called by the will of God, and Sosthenes, his brother,
2 to the Church of God which is in Corinth, to the faithful sanctified in Jesus Christ, saints by calling, and to all those who, in any place whatsoever, invoke the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace be given to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
4 I always thank my God for you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.
5 For through your union with him you have been enriched in every way—in all speech and in all knowledge,
6 Now the testimony of Christ having been firmly established among you,
7 so that you do not give it up to anyone in any gift of grace, waiting with confidence for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
10 I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you.
12 I mean that one of you says, »I follow Paul!«—another, “I follow Apollos!”—and I follow Cephas!—and I follow Christ!”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one can say that he was baptized in my name.
16 I also baptized the family of Stephanas; besides, I don't know that I baptized anyone else.
17 Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wise words, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
18 For the teaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: »I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the knowledge of the learned.«
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the doctor? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, but through the foolishness of what was preached it pleased God to save those who believe.
22 The Jews demand miracles, and the Greeks seek wisdom;
23 We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 But to those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For what is foolishness in God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and what is weakness in God is stronger than the strength of men.
26 Consider your calling, my brothers; there is no among you nor many who were wise according to the flesh, nor many who were powerful, nor many who were noble.
27 But what the world considers foolish is what God has chosen to shame the wise; and what the world considers worthless is what God has chosen to shame the strong;
28 And God chose the things in the world which are worthless and powerless, and which are nothing, to nullify the things which are,
29 so that no flesh may boast before God.
30 But it is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
31 so that, according to the word of Scripture, »he who boasts, boasts in the Lord.«
Chapter 2
1 My brothers, when I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.
2 For I did not decide that I should know anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 But it was in weakness, in fear, and in great trembling that I came to you;
4 And my speech and my preaching had nothing of the persuasive language of wisdom, but the Spirit-Saint and the power of God demonstrated its truth:
5 so that your faith may rest not on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 Yet there is a wisdom that we preach among the mature, a wisdom that is not that of this age, nor of the princes of this age, whose reign is coming to an end.
7 We proclaim a wisdom of God, mysterious and hidden, which God destined before the ages for our glorification.
8 This wisdom, none of the princes of this age understood; — for, if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But these are, as it is written, »What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him.«
10 It is to us that God has revealed them by his Spirit; for the Spirit penetrates all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knows what is happening in a man except the man’s spirit which is in him? In the same way no one knows what is in God except the Spirit of God.
12 For we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things which God has given us by his grace.
13 And we speak of these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual things in spiritual language.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are discerned by the Spirit.
15 The spiritual man, on the contrary, judges all things, and is himself judged by no one.
16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Chapter 3
1 My brothers, I could not speak to you as to spiritual men but as to carnal men, as to little children in Christ.
2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to eat it, and you are not yet able, because you are still carnal.
3 For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly and are you not walking like men?
4 When one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul?
5 Ministers through whom you believed, according to what the Lord assigned to each.
6 I planted, Apollos watered; but God made it grow.
7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who waters are equal; and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, I, like a wise master builder, laid a foundation, and another builds on it. Only let each one take care how he builds on it.
11 For no one can lay any other foundation than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If one builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 Each one's work will be revealed; for the day of the Lord will make it known, because it will be revealed in the fire, and the fire itself will test what each person's work is.
14 If the structure that one has built upon it survives, one will receive a reward;
15 If anyone's work is consumed, he will lose his reward; yet he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight, for it is written: »I will catch the wise in their craftiness.«
20 And again: »The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, he knows that they are futile.«
21 Therefore let no one boast in men;
22 For everything is yours, both Paul and Apollos and Cephas, and the world and life and death, both the present and the future. Everything is yours,
23 But you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Chapter 4
1 So then, let us be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 Well then! What is sought in stewards is that each one be found faithful.
3 For me, it matters very little to be judged by you or by any human tribunal; I do not judge myself;
4 For although I feel no guilt, I am not thereby justified: my judge is the Lord.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. Then each will receive their praise from God.
6 What I have just said about Apollos and myself is only a form I have used for your benefit, brothers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written, not to be puffed up with pride in favor of one against another.
7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8 You are already full! You are already rich! Without us, you are kings! God grant that you truly are kings, so that we too may reign with you!
9 For it seems that God has presented us, the Apostles, as the last of men, as those condemned to death, because we have been made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ Jesus; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honored, but we are despised!
11 Even now, we are still suffering hungerThirst, nakedness; we are bruised with blows, we have neither fire nor home,
12 and we labor with our own hands; cursed, we bless; persecuted, we endure it;
13 slandered, we beseech; we are until now like the scum of the earth, the refuse of men.
14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children.
15 For though you have ten thousand teachers in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
16 I urge you, therefore, be imitators of me, (as I am of Christ).
17 That is why I have sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord; he will remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, how I teach everywhere in all the churches.
18 Some, supposing that I would not come to you again, became puffed up with pride.
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord pleases, and I will find out not the words of those who are arrogant, but what they can do.
20 For the kingdom of God consists not in words but in deeds.
21 What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or with love and in a spirit of gentleness?
Chapter 5
1 We hear of nothing but sexual immorality among you, and of such a kind as is not found even among the pagans; a man is sleeping with his father’s wife.
2 And you are puffed up with pride! And you should not rather have mourned, so that he who committed such an act might be cut off from among you!
3 For my part, though absent in body, but present in spirit, I have already judged, as if I were present, the one who committed such an attack:
4 In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, all of you gathered together and I in spirit in your midst, with the power of Our Lord Jesus,
5 that such a man be handed over to Satan for the death of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 You are wrong to boast so much! Do you not know that a little leaven makes the whole batch of dough leaven?
7 Cleanse yourselves of the old yeast, so that you may be a new batch of dough, just as you are unleavened bread; for our Passover lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to have relations with immoral people:
10 not at all with the immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and rapacious, or with idolaters; otherwise you would have to go out of the world.
11 I simply wanted to tell you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler; not even to eat with such a person.
12 For is it for me to judge those outside? Is it not for you to judge those inside?
13 God judges those outside the church. Expel the wicked person from among you.
Chapter 6
1 What! Are there some among you who, having a dispute with another, dare to go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge lesser matters?
3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not, much more, the affairs of this life?
4 Therefore, when you have judgments to be rendered concerning matters of this life, appoint to judge them those who are least esteemed in the Church!
5 I say this to your shame: is there not a wise man among you, not one who can give a ruling between his brothers?
6 But a brother is in litigation with another brother, and this before unbelievers!
7 It is already a fault of yours to have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather suffer injustice? Why not rather be robbed?
8 But it is you yourselves who commit injustice and plunder others, and it is your brothers!
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
10 Neither effeminate men, nor vile men, nor thieves, nor greedy men, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor predators will possess the kingdom of God.
11 Yet this is what you were, at least some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
12 Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial; everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
13 Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both. But the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 And God, who raised the Lord from the dead, will also raise us up by his power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, says the’Writing, »"They will both be one flesh."«
17 On the contrary, he who is united with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are no longer your own?
20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
Chapter 7
1. Regarding the points you wrote to me about, I will tell you that’It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2 However, for avoid all immorality, let each man have his wife, and let each woman have her husband.
3 The husband should render to his wife what he owes her, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5 Do not separate from one another except perhaps by agreement for a time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6 I say this condescendingly, I am not making it an order.
7 On the contrary, I wish that all men were as I am; but each one receives from God his particular gift, one in one way, another in another.
8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain as I am.
9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 As for married people, I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband;
11 If she is separated from him, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband; likewise, let the husband not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say, I, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife who does not have faith, and she is willing to live with him, he must not send her away;
13 And if a woman has a husband who does not have faith, and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband.
14 For the unfaithful husband is sanctified through the wife, and the unfaithful wife is sanctified through the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15 If the unbeliever leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister are not enslaved under these circumstances. God has called us into peace.
16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17 Only let each one conduct himself according to the position that the Lord has assigned him, and according to the calling of God; this is the rule that I establish in all the churches.
18 If anyone was called while circumcised, let him not conceal his circumcision; if anyone was called while uncircumcised, let him not be circumcised.
19 Circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing; what counts is keeping the commandments of God.
20 Let each one remain in the state in which he was when he was called.
21 Were you called while you were a slave? Do not be troubled about it; but even though you could gain your freedom, rather make the most of your calling.
22 For the slave who was called in the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; likewise the free man who was called is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought at a great price; do not become slaves of men.
24 Let each one, brothers, remain before God in the condition in which he was called.
25 As for virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; but I give advice, as one who has received grace from the Lord to be faithful.
26 I therefore think, because of the present difficulties, that it is good for a man to be this way.
27 If you are bound to a wife, do not seek to break that bond; if you are not bound to a wife, do not seek a wife.
28 But if you married, you did not sin; and if a virgin married, she did not sin; but these people will have troubles in the flesh, and I want to spare you from them.
29 But this is what I say, brothers: the time is short; therefore those who have wives must live as if they do not,
30 those who mourn as though they do not mourn, those who rejoice as though they do not rejoice, those who buy as though they do not own,
31 and those who use the world as if not using it; for the form of this world is passing away.
32 But I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, he seeks to please the Lord;
33 A married man is concerned about worldly things, he seeks to please his wife, and he is divided.
34 Likewise, the wife, the unmarried woman, and the virgin, are concerned about the things of the Lord, that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how she pleases her husband.
35 I say this for your benefit, not to put a net over you, but for what is proper and suitable for you to be united to the Lord without conflict.
36 If anyone thinks that he would expose his daughter to dishonor if she were past the prime of life, and that it is his duty to marry her off, let him do as he wishes; he does not sin; let her married.
37 But he who, without being forced, being master of doing what he wants, has set a firm resolution in his heart, and has decided to keep his daughter a virgin, he does well.
38 Thus he who married His daughter is doing well, and he who does not married Couldn't have done better.
39 The wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but if the husband dies, she is free to remarry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.
40 She is happier, however, if she remains as she is: that is my opinion; and I believe that I too have the Spirit of God.
Chapter 8
1 As for food sacrificed to idols, we know, for we are all enlightened… — Science swells, while charity builds.
2 If anyone presumes to know that he knows nothing as he ought to know it.
3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.
4 As for eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one.
5 For if there are beings who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—in this way there are many gods and many lords—
6 For us, however, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
7 But not all have this knowledge. Some, still holding to their former way of viewing idols, eat such meat as has been sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8 Food is not something that commends us to God; if we eat it, we have nothing more; if we do not eat it, we have nothing less.
9 However, beware lest this liberty which you enjoy become an occasion of stumbling for the weak.
10 For if someone sees you, a man of understanding, sitting at a table in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, being weak, lead him to eat food sacrificed to idols?
11 And so the weak one is lost by your knowledge, this brother for whom Christ died!
12 By sinning in this way against your brothers, and by violating their still weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will abstain from meat forever, so that I will not cause him to stumble.
Chapter 9
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my workmanship in the Lord?
2 If I am not an apostle to others, I am certainly one to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3. That is my answer to my detractors.
4. Don't we have the right to eat and drink?
5 Do we not have the right to take a sister along with us, as do the other Apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6 Or are we the only ones, Barnabas and I, who do not have the right not to work?
7 Who has ever borne arms at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not feed on its milk?
8 Am I saying these things according to man, and does not the Law say them also?
9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: »You shall not muzzle the mouth of an ox while it is treading out the grain.» Does God care about oxen?
10 Is it not entirely for our sake that he speaks thus? Yes, it was written for our sake; the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
11 If we have sown spiritual seeds among you, is it so great a matter that we reap material seeds from you?
12 If others are exercising this right over you, why not we ourselves? Yet we have not exercised this right; but we endure everything, so as not to put a stumbling block to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred functions receive their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded those who preach the gospel to live by the gospel.
15 For my part, I have not asserted any of these rights, and it is not in order to claim them in my favor that I write this: it would be better for me to die than to let myself be deprived of this title of glory.
16 If I preach the gospel, it is not for my own glory, but for my own duty; and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17 If I were doing it of my own free will, I would deserve a reward; but I am doing it by order, so it is a charge entrusted to me.
18 What then is my reward? It is that, in preaching the Gospel, I offer it freely, without exercising my right as a preacher of the Gospel.
19 For although I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, in order to win more of them.
20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, in order to win the Jews;
21 to those who are under the Law, as though I were under the Law (though I am not under the Law), in order to win those who are under the Law; to those who are not under the Law, as though I were not under the Law (though I am not under the Law of God, but under the Law of Christ), in order to win those who are not under the Law.
22 I became weak to the weak, so that I might win the weak. I became all things to all people, so that I might save them all.
23 I do everything for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in the races all run, but only one gets the prize? Run likewise, that you may get the prize.
25 Anyone who wants to compete must abstain from everything: they for a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable one.
26 For my part, I run likewise, not as if running aimlessly; I strike, not as if beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it in bondage, lest after preaching to others I myself should not be disqualified.
Chapter 10
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and that they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 that they all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and that they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
5 However, God did not find pleasure in most of them, since their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were symbols of what is happening to us, so that we might not have sinful desires, as they did,
7 and that you do not become idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written: »The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.«
8 Let us not give ourselves up to sexual immorality, as some of them did; and in one day twenty-three thousand of them fell.
9 Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were killed by serpents.
10 Do not murmur as some of them murmured, and perished by the blows of the Exterminator.
11 All these things happened to them in symbolism, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the times have come.
12 So let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I am speaking to you as to intelligent men; judge for yourselves what I say.
16 Is not the cup of blessing, which we bless, a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread, which we break, a participation in the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one loaf, we are one body, though we are many; for we all partake of the one loaf.
18 Consider Israel according to the flesh: do not those who eat the sacrifices partake of the altar?
19 What does this mean? That meat sacrificed to idols is something, or that an idol is something?
20 Not at all; I say that what the pagans offer as a sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
22 Do we want to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
23 Everything is permissible, but not everything is expedient; everything is permissible, but not everything builds up.
24 Let no one seek his own advantage, but that of others.
25 Eat anything that is sold in the market, without raising any question on account of conscience;
26 for "the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."»
27 If an unbeliever invites you and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising any question on account of conscience.
28 But if someone tells you, 'This has been offered as a sacrifice [to idols],' do not eat it, both because of the one who told you this and because of conscience.
29 I am talking about conscience, not yours, but that of another. Why indeed should my freedom be judged by a foreign conscience?
30 If I eat with thanksgiving, why should I be blamed for something for which I give thanks?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Do not cause offense to Jews, Greeks, or the church of God.
33 In this same way, I try in all things to please everyone, not seeking my own advantage, but that of the many, that they may be saved.
Chapter 11
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
2 I praise you, [my brothers], because you remember me in everything, and because you hold fast to my instructions just as I gave them to you.
3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
5 Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head; she is just like one whose head is shaved.
6 If a woman does not veil herself the head, that she also cut her hair. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head.
7 A man ought not to cover his head, because he is the image of God’s glory; but woman is the glory of man.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
9 And man was not created for woman, but woman for man.
10 For this reason, a woman must have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11 However, in the Lord, neither woman is independent of man, nor man independent of woman.
12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman, and everything comes from God.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not nature itself teach us that it is a shame for a man to wear long hair?,
15 Whereas long hair is a glory for a woman, because her hair was given to her as a covering?
16 If anyone wants to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
17 But in recommending this point to you, I do not intend to praise you for assembling together, not for your benefit, but for your harm.
18 And first of all I hear that when you come together in assembly there are divisions among you, — and I partly believe it;
19 For there must be factions among you, so that the true brothers may be revealed among you, —
20 Therefore, when you come together, it is no longer the Lord's Supper that you celebrate;
21 For at the table, each one goes first to eat his own meal, so that some go hungry, while others gorge themselves.
22 Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and insult those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? That I praise you? No, I do not praise you in this.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, know, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 And after giving thanks, he broke it and said, »Take and eat; this is my body, [which will be given] for you; do this in remembrance of me.«
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup and said, »This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.«
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Let each one therefore examine himself, and so eat of this bread and drink of this cup;
29 For he who eats and drinks [unworthily], without discerning the body of the Lord, eats and drinks his own judgment.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have died.
31 If we examined ourselves we would not be judged.
32 But the Lord judges and chastises us, so that we will not be condemned with this world.
33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for your condemnation.
I'll sort out the other things when I arrive. at your place.
Chapter 12
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be uninformed, my brothers.
2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, as you were led there.
3 I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says »Jesus is accursed»; and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them;
5 diversity of ministries, but it is the same Lord;
6. There are different kinds of operations, but it is the same God who works all of them in everyone.
7 To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for their benefit municipality.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
9 to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing by that one and the same Spirit;
10 to another the power to work miracles; to another prophecy; to another the ability to distinguish between spirits; to another the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; to another the gift of interpreting them.
11 But it is the same Spirit who produces all these gifts, distributing them to each one individually, as he wills.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Thus the body is not a single member, but It is made up of several.
15 If the foot said, "Since I am not a hand, I am not of the body," would it be any less of the body for that reason?
16 And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," would it be any less of the body for that reason?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If it were entirely hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But God placed each of the members in the body just as he wanted them to be.
19 If they were all one single member, where would the body be?
20 So there are several members and only one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, »I don’t need you»; nor can the head say to the feet, »I don’t need you.«
22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that appear weakest are more necessary;
23 And those whom we consider the least honorable of the body are those whom we treat with the most honor. Thus, our least honest members, we treat with the greatest decency,
24 while our honest parts do not need it. God has arranged the body so as to give greater respect to what is less worthy,
25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that its members may have equal concern for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 You are the body of Christ, and you are its members, each for their part.
28 God has appointed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those with gifts {to work miracles,} to heal, to assist, to govern, to speak in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are they all apostles? All prophets? All teachers?
30 Are they all miracle workers? Do they all possess the graces of healing? Do they all speak in tongues? Do they all interpret?
31 Aspire to higher gifts. I will show you a path that is superior to all others.
Chapter 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charityI am a resounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and yet I do not charityI am nothing.
3 If I were to distribute all my possessions to feed the poor, if I were to give my body to be burned, and if I were not charityNone of this is of any use to me.
4 Charity She is patient, she is good; charity is not envious, charity is not reckless, she is not puffed up with pride;
5 She does not do anything improper, she does not seek her own interest, she is not easily angered, she does not consider evil;
6 She does not delight in injustice, but rejoices in the truth;
7. She excuses everything, believes everything, hopes for everything, endures everything.
8 Charity will never pass away. As for prophecies, they will cease; as for tongues, they will be stilled; as for knowledge, it will reach its end.
9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
10 For when that which is perfect comes, that which is in part comes to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we shall see face to face; today I know in part, but then I will know as I am known.
13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
Chapter 14
1. Search charityAspirate nevertheless to spiritual gifts, but especially to that of prophecy.
2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.
3 But the one who prophesies speaks to men, edifying them, exhorting them, comforting them.
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; he who prophesies edifies the church [of God].
5 I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more I want you to prophesy. For the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless the latter interprets what he said, so that the Church may receive edification from it.
6 Now then, brothers, what good would it be to you if I came to you speaking in tongues, and did not speak to you by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophecy, or by teaching?
7 If inanimate objects that make a sound, such as a flute or a harp, do not make distinct sounds, how will we know what is being played on the flute or the harp?
8 And if the trumpet gives a confused sound, who will prepare for battle?
9 Likewise, unless you speak clearly with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will be speaking into the air.
10 However numerous the various languages may be in the world, there is none that consists of unintelligible sounds.
11 If therefore I do not know the value of sound, I shall be a barbarian to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks shall be a barbarian to me.
12 So you also, since you desire spiritual gifts, should strive to excel in them for the building up of the church.
13 Therefore, let the one who speaks in a tongue pray for receive the donation to interpret.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind remains unfruitful.
15 What then shall I do? I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the understanding; I will sing with the spirit, but I will also sing with the understanding.
16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with the spirit, how will someone who is in the ranks of the common man respond 'Amen!' to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
17 Your hymn of thanksgiving is no doubt very beautiful; but he is not edified by it.
18 I thank [my] God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;
19 But in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, but be children in your wickedness, and in your thinking be mature.
21 It is written in the Law: »With other tongues and through foreign lips I will speak to this people, yet even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.«
22 So then, tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers; prophecy, on the other hand, is a sign, not for the unbelievers, but for the believers.
23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and uninitiated or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are crazy?
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninitiated person comes in, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all,
25 The secrets of his heart are revealed, so that, falling on his face, he will worship God, and proclaim that God is truly in your midst.
26 What then shall we do, my brothers? When you come together, one of you has a hymn, another a lesson, another a revelation, another a speech in tongues, another an interpretation; all these things are done to build up.
27 If speaking in tongues, let it be at most two or three at a time, each in turn, and let there be an interpreter;
28 If there is no interpreter, let them keep silent in the assembly and speak to themselves and to God.
29 As for the prophets, let two or three speak, and let the others judge;
30 and if another who is sitting has a revelation, let the first one keep silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one after another, so that all may be instructed and all may be exhorted.
32 Now the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,
33 For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.
As has been the case in all the churches of the saints,
34 Let your women remain silent in the assemblies, for they are not authorized to speak, but let them be submissive, as the Law also says.
35 If they want to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in the assembly.
36 Did the word of God originate with you? Or have it reached you alone?
37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or rich in spiritual gifts, let him acknowledge that these things which I have written to you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 And if he wants to ignore it, let him ignore it.
39 Therefore, my brothers, earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
40 But let everything be done properly and in order.
Chapter 15
1 Now I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you have stood firm,
2 and by which you are also saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you; unless you have believed in vain.
3 For I taught you first of all that which I myself learned: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
4 that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures;
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
6 After this, he appeared all at once to more than five hundred brothers, most of whom are still alive, and some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 After all of them, he also appeared to me, as to one untimely born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 It is by the grace of God that I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; on the contrary, I worked harder than all of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
11 So then, whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15 It turns out that we are also false witnesses about God, because we have testified against him that he raised Christ from the dead, whereas he did not raise him if it is true that the dead do not rise.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.,
18 and consequently also those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, he is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, even so will come the Lord. the resurrection deaths.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.,
23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
24 Then it will be the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God and the Father, after he has destroyed every principality, every power, and every strength.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.»
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
27 for God has put everything under his feet. But when Scripture He says that everything has been subjected to him, it is evident that he is excepted, who has subjected all things to him.
28 And when all things have been put under him, then the Son himself will pay homage to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised in any way, why are they baptized for them?
30 And why are we ourselves in danger at every hour?
31 Every day I face death, as surely, my brothers, as you are my glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32 If I fought wild beasts at Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, »Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.«
33 Do not be seduced: »Bad company corrupts good morals.«
34 Come to your senses, seriously, and do not sin; for there are some who are ignorant of God, I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
36 Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies first.
37 And what you sow is not the body that will one day be; it is merely a grain, whether of wheat or of some other seed:
38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each seed he gives its own body.
39 Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh of men, another that of four-footed animals, another that of birds, and another that of fish.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the brilliance of celestial bodies is of a different nature than that of terrestrial bodies:
41 The brightness of the sun is one thing, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another; even one star differs in brightness from another star.
42 This is also the case for the resurrection of the dead. Sown in corruption, the body is resurrected, incorruptible;
43 sown in shame, it is raised in glory; sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44. It is sown as an animal body, it is raised as a spiritual body.
If there is an animal body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 It is in this sense that it is written: "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul"; the last Adam was made a life-giving spirit.
46 But the spiritual did not come first, but the natural; after that the spiritual came.
47 The first man was of the earth, he is of the earth; the second is from heaven.
48 As is the earthly, so are those who are earthly; and as is the heavenly, so are those who are heavenly.
49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 What I say, brothers, is this: neither flesh nor blood can inherit the kingdom of God, nor will corruption inherit incorruptibility.
51 Here is a mystery I reveal to you: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53 For this corruptible body must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When this corruptible body will have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body will have put on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: »Death has been swallowed up in victory.«
55 "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"»
56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Chapter 16
1 As for the collection for the saints, you also must follow the instructions I gave to the churches of Galatia.
2 On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside what you can save, so that collections will not have to be made until my arrival.
3 And when I arrive, I will send with letters those whom you have designated, to carry your gifts to Jerusalem.
4 If it is appropriate for me to go myself, they will make the journey with me.
5 I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia; for I will only pass through it;
6 but perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter there, so that you may accompany me wherever I have to go.
7 I don't want to see you this time only in passing, but I hope to stay with you for a while, if the Lord permits.
8 However, I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost;
9 because a door is opened to me, wide and effective, and the adversaries are many.
10 If Timothy comes to you, see that he is not afraid among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.
11 Therefore, let no one despise him. Escort him in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
12 As for our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he absolutely refused to do so now; he will go when he finds the opportunity.
13 Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be men, be strong.
14 Let everything be done at your home in charity.
15 I urge you again, brothers. You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they devoted themselves to the service of the saints:
16 In turn, show deference to men of this merit, and to everyone who cooperates and works in the same endeavor.
17 I am pleased by the presence of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaica; they have made up for your absence,
18 For they have calmed my mind and yours. Therefore, appreciate such men.
19 The churches in Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church that is in their house, send you warm greetings in the Lord.
20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 The greeting is in my own hand, Paul's.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed!
MARAN ATHA.
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you! My love is with you all in Jesus Christ [Amen!].
