1 Corinthians

Chapter 1

¹ Paul, called by Christ Jesus {to be} an apostle by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, ² to the church of God that is in Corinth, having been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called {to be} saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, theirs and ours. ³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in everything you were made rich in him, in all word and all knowledge, ⁶ just as the testimony of Christ has been confirmed among you, ⁷ so that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will also confirm you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God {is} faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰ Now I urge you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there might not be divisions among you, but that you might be joined together in the same mind and in the same purpose. ¹¹ For it has been made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that there are factions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or 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 might say that you were baptized into my name. ¹⁶ (Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know if I baptized any others.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel—not with wise speech so that the cross of Christ would not be emptied.

¹⁸ For the word 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 frustrate the understanding of the intelligent.”

²⁰ Where {is} the wise person? Where {is} the scholar? Where {is} the debater of this age? Has not God turned the wisdom of the world into foolishness? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the preaching. ²² For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom. ²³ But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. ²⁴ But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ {is} the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God {is} stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers, that not many {were} wise according to the flesh, not many {were} powerful, {and} not many {were} of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world in order that he might shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world in order that he might shame the strong, ²⁸ and God chose the base things and the despised things of the world, {and} the things that are not, in order that he might bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ so that no flesh might boast before God. ³⁰ But because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made for us wisdom from God, righteousness, and also sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Chapter 2

¹ And I, brothers, having come to you, did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God. ^{[1] 2} For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. ⁴ And my word and my proclamation {were} not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

⁶ Now we speak wisdom among the mature, but not wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away. ⁷ Instead, we speak the wisdom of God that has been hidden in a mystery that God predestined before the ages for our glory, ⁸ which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But just as it is written,

     “What eye has not seen,

     and ear has not heard,

     and has not arisen in the heart of man,

     these things God has prepared for those who love him.”

¹⁰ For God has revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that {is} within him? So also, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² But we did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who {is} from God, so that we might know the things freely given to us by God. ¹³ And we speak these things not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual things with spiritual words. ¹⁴ But the natural person does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But the spiritual one discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.

     ¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord—who will instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3

¹ And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able. Indeed, even now, you are not able. ³ For you are still fleshly. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to men? ⁴ For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not men? ⁵ Who then is Apollos? And who is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. ⁷ So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God {is} the one who causes the growth. ⁸ Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each will receive his own wages 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 that was given to me as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building on it, but let each one be careful how he builds on it, ¹¹ for no one is able to lay a foundation other than the one that has been laid, that is, Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ the work of each one will become evident, for the day will display it; for it is revealed in fire, and the fire itself will test of what sort is the work of each one. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work that he built will remain, he will receive a reward; ¹⁵ if anyone’s work will be burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as though through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a “fool,” that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

     “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

²⁰ And again,

     “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are futile.”

²¹ So then, let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come. All things are yours, ²³ and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Chapter 4

¹ In this manner let a man regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² In this case, it is required in stewards that one may be found faithful. ³ But to me it is a very small thing that I would be examined by you or by a human court. For I do not examine myself. ⁴ For I am aware of nothing against myself, but I am not justified by this; but the one who judges me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore, do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the hearts. And then the praise from God will come to each one.

⁶ Now, these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that through us you might learn this:

     “Not beyond what is written,”

so that no one would be puffed up in favor of the one against the other. ⁷ For who makes you superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if indeed you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? ⁸ Already you are satisfied! Already you have become rich! You began to reign apart from us, and I wish you really did reign, so that we also might reign with you. ⁹ For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as sentenced to death. For we have become a spectacle to the world—both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We {are} fools for Christ’s sake, but you {are} wise in Christ. We {are} weak, but you {are} strong. You {are} honored, but we {are} dishonored. ¹¹ Up to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed and are brutally beaten and are homeless ¹² and are working hard, working with {our} own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being slandered, we comfort. We have become as the scum of the world, the refuse of all things, even until now.

¹⁴ I do not write these things as shaming you, but as my beloved children, I correct {you}. ¹⁵ For if you would have myriads of guardians in Christ, yet {you would} not {have} many fathers; for I fathered you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore, I urge you, become imitators of me. ¹⁷ For this reason I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways that {are} in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Now some have been puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not merely the word of these who have been puffed up, but {their} power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God {is} not in word but in power. ²¹ What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

Chapter 5

¹ It is actually reported that {there is} sexual immorality among you, and such immorality which {is} not even among the Gentiles—that someone has {his} father’s wife. ² And you are puffed up, and you did not mourn instead, so that the one who did this deed might be removed from among you. ³ For even I, being absent in body but being present in spirit, have already passed judgment on the one who did such a thing, as if being present. ⁴ You and my spirit, having been assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that {his} spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. ⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole loaf? ⁷ Clean out the old yeast so that you may be new dough, just as you are unleavened bread. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has also been sacrificed. ⁸ So then, we should celebrate the festival, not with old yeast, nor with yeast of evil and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ by no means the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out from the world. ¹¹ But now I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or verbally abusive or a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. ¹² For what to me to judge those outside? Do you not judge those inside? ¹³ But God judges ^[1] those outside.

     “Remove the evil from among yourselves.”

Chapter 6

¹ Do any of you dare, having a dispute with another, to go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? ² Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy of the smallest cases? ³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more, the matters of this life? ⁴ So then, if you have legal disputes about things of this life, why do you appoint as judges those who are of no account in the church? ⁵ I say this to your shame. {Is it} thus {that} there is not any wise man among you who will be able to discern between his brothers? ⁶ But brother goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers? ⁷ This, therefore, is indeed already a complete defeat for you, since you have lawsuits among yourselves. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ But you do wrong and cheat, and this to your brothers! ⁹ Or 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 nor male prostitutes nor those who practice homosexuality ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that {is what} some of you were. 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 lawful for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ “Food {is} for the stomach, and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both this and those. Now the body {is} not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ Now God indeed raised the Lord and will also raise up us by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, having taken away the members of Christ, should I make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that the one who is joined to the prostitute is one body? For it says, “The two will become as one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality! Every sin that a man might commit is outside the body, but the one who is sexually immoral sins against {his} own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. ^[1]

Chapter 7

¹ Now concerning what you wrote: “{It is} good for a man not to touch a woman.” ² But because of immorality, let each man have {his} own wife, and let each woman have {her} own husband. ³ Let the husband give to the wife the duty and likewise the wife also to the husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over {her} own body, but the husband {does}. And likewise, the husband also does not have authority over {his} own body, but the wife {does}. ⁵ Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a season, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶ But I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷ But I wish for all men to be even as myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one indeed this way, and another that way. ⁸ Now to the unmarried and to the widows I say that {it is} good if they remain as I also am. ⁹ But if they do not have self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn. ¹⁰ Now to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to be separated from her husband ¹¹ (but even if she might be separated, let her remain unmarried, or let her be reconciled to the husband), and a husband is not to divorce a wife. ¹² But to the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she agrees to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³ And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, let her not divorce the husband. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through the brother. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbeliever departs, let him go. In such cases, the brother or the sister is not bound, but God has called us to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, woman, whether you will save the husband? Or how do you know, man, whether you will save the wife? ¹⁷ However, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each one, thus let him walk. And in this way I direct in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone called, having been circumcised? Let him not be uncircumcised. Was anyone called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but observance of the commandments of God. ²⁰ Each one, in the calling in which he was called, let him remain in that. ²¹ Were you called as a slave? Let it not be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, then take advantage of it. ²² For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, the one who was called while free is a slave of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴ Brothers, each one in that which he was called, let him remain with God in that.

²⁵ Now concerning the virgins, I do not have a command of the Lord. However, I give an opinion as having received mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy. ²⁶ Therefore, I think this is good, because of the coming distress, that {it is} good for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if indeed you would marry, you have not sinned; and if the virgin would marry, she has not sinned. But those of such kind will have distress in the flesh, and I want to spare you from this. ²⁹ But this I say, brothers: The time is shortened, so that from now on, even those who have wives should be as those having none; ³⁰ and those who weep, as not weeping; and those who rejoice, as not rejoicing; and those who buy, as not possessing; ³¹ and those using the world, as not using it; for the present form of this world is passing away. ³² But I would like you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he might please the Lord. ³³ But the married man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please the wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin ³⁴ is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she might be holy both in the body and in the spirit. But the one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she might please the husband. ³⁵ Now I say this for your own benefit, not in order to put any constraint on you, but toward what {is} appropriate and devoted to the Lord without any distraction. ³⁶ But if anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin—if she is beyond the age of marriage and it must be so—he should do what he wants. He is not sinning; let them marry. ³⁷ But the one who stands firm in his heart, not under compulsion, but having authority over {his} own will, and he has decided this in {his} own heart—to keep {his} own virgin—he will do well. ³⁸ So then, the one who marries {his} own virgin does well, and the one who does not marry will do even better. ³⁹ A wife is bound for as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, but only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ Yet according to my judgment she would be happier if she would remain as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Chapter 8

¹ Now about the things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² If anyone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, that one is known by him. ⁴ So then, about the eating of the things sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol in the world {is} nothing and that {there is} no God except one. ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,” ⁶ yet for us {there is} one God the Father, from whom {are} all things and for whom we {are}, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things {are}, and through whom we {are}.

⁷ However, this knowledge {is} not in everyone. Instead, some, {being} in the custom of the idols until now, eat things sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ But food will not bring us near to God; neither are we made to lack if we do not eat, nor do we abound if we eat. ⁹ But take care lest this authority of yours might become a stumbling block for the weak. ¹⁰ For if someone might see the one who has knowledge reclining to eat in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, being weak, not be built up so as to eat the things sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So the one who is weak, the brother for whom Christ died, is destroyed through your knowledge. ¹² And thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their weak consciences, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will certainly not ever eat meat, so that I might not cause my brother 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 work in the Lord? ² If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you. For you are the proof of my apostleship in the Lord. ³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴ Do we certainly not have the right to eat and to drink? ⁵ Do we certainly not have the right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? ⁶ Or do only Barnabas and I not have the right not to work? ⁷ Who serves as a soldier at any time at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? ⁸ Am I not saying these things according to men, or does not the law also say these things? ⁹ For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox treading out grain.” God does not care about the oxen, does he? ¹⁰ Or is he speaking entirely for our sake? For it was written for our sake that the one who plows ought to plow in hope, and the one who threshes, in hope of sharing the harvest. ¹¹ If we sowed spiritual things among you, {is it} too much if we will reap material things from you? ¹² If others shared the right over you, {do} we not even more? But we did not take advantage of this right. Instead we endured everything in order that we might not give any hindrance to the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that those working in the temple eat from the things of the temple; those serving at the altar partake from the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way also, the Lord commanded those proclaiming the gospel to live from the gospel. ¹⁵ But I have not taken advantage of {any} of these things. Now I do not write these things so that thus it might be done for me, for {it would be} better for me to die rather than {anyone} will make my boast empty. ¹⁶ For if I proclaim the gospel, there is nothing for me to boast, because compulsion is placed upon me. For woe be to me if I would not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That proclaiming the gospel without charge, I might offer the gospel so as not to take advantage of my right in the gospel. ¹⁹ For being free from all, I enslaved myself to all in order that I might gain the more {people}. ²⁰ And to the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under law, as under law, not being under law myself in order to gain those under law. ^{[1] 21} To those without law, {I became} as without law (not being without law of God, but under law of Christ) so that I might gain those without law. ²² To the weak I became weak so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to everyone so that I might by all means save some. ²³ But I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I might become a partaker of it. ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all those who are running run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you might obtain it. ²⁵ But everyone competing in the games exercises self-control in all things. They therefore {do it} in order that they might receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable one. ²⁶ Therefore, I run thus, not as without purpose; I fight thus, not as boxing the air. ²⁷ But I subdue my body and enslave it, lest having preached to others, I myself might be disqualified.

Chapter 10

¹ For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, ² and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and they all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ But God was not well pleased with most of them, for they were scattered about in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things became examples for us so that we would not be ones who desire evil things, just as they also desired. ⁷ Do not become idolaters, just as some of them {were}; even as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.” ⁸ Nor should we commit sexual immorality, just as many of them committed sexual immorality, and 23,000 people fell in one day. ⁹ Nor should we put the Lord ^[1] to the test, just as many of them put him to the test and were destroyed by the snakes. ¹⁰ Do not grumble, even as many of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as examples, but they were written for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore, the one who thinks he stands, let him be careful that he might not fall. ¹³ No temptation has seized you except what is common to humanity; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved ones, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because {there is} one bread, we who are many {are} one body; for we all partake from the one bread. ¹⁸ Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not those who are eating the sacrifices partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then: that food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ Rather, that what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. But I do not want you to be partakers with the demons! ²¹ You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. ²² Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than him, are we?

²³ “All things {are} lawful,” but not all things {are} beneficial. “All things {are} lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but that of the other person. ²⁵ Eat everything that is sold in the market, without asking for the sake of the conscience. ²⁶ For “the earth {is} the Lord’s, and the fullness of it.” ²⁷ If any of the unbelievers invite you, and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without asking questions for the sake of the conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This is offered in sacrifice,” do not eat it, for the sake of that one who informed you, and conscience— ^{[2] 29} now I say the conscience, not that of your own, but that of the other person. For why {is} my freedom judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with gratitude, why am I insulted for that which I give thanks? ³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I also please all people in all things, not seeking {my} own benefit but that of the many, so that they might be saved.

Chapter 11

¹ Be imitators of me, just as I also {am} of Christ.

² Now I praise you, because you remember me in all things and you hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. ³ Now I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man {is} the head of a woman, and God {is} the head of Christ. ⁴ Every man who is praying or prophesying, having something on his head, dishonors his head. ⁵ But every woman who is praying or prophesying with the head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as having been shaved. ⁶ For if a woman does not cover her head, let her hair also be cut off. But if {it is} disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, let her cover her head. ⁷ For a man ought not to cover his head, being the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For man is not from woman, but woman {is} from man. ⁹ For indeed man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man. ¹⁰ For this reason the woman ought to have authority on the head, because of the angels. ¹¹ Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman {is} not independent from man, nor {is} man independent from woman. ¹² For even as the woman {is} from the man, so also the man {is} through the woman, but all things {are} from God. ¹³ Judge for your own selves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man might have long hair, it is a disgrace for him, ¹⁵ but if a woman might have long hair, it is glory for her? For the long hair has been given to her as a covering. ¹⁶ But if anyone thinks to be contentious about this, we do not have any such practice, nor the churches of God.

¹⁷ But in commanding this, I do not praise you, for you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For first, I hear that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ¹⁹ For it is necessary indeed for there to be factions among you, so that also those who are approved may become evident among you. ²⁰ So then, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ For when eating, each one takes his own supper first; and one is indeed hungry, but one is drunk. ²² For do you certainly not have houses in which to eat and to drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you for this? I do not praise you! ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and having given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he would come. ²⁷ Whoever, therefore, might eat the bread or might drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread, and let him drink from the cup. ²⁹ For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment to himself. ³⁰ For this reason many among you {are} weak and sick, and many of you are fallen asleep. ³¹ But if we were examining ourselves, we would not be judged. ³² But being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we might not be condemned along with the world. ³³ Therefore, my brothers, coming together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you might not come together for judgment. Now {about} the remaining things, I will give directions when I come.

Chapter 12

¹ Now about the spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, in whatever ways you were led. ³ Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus {is} accursed,” and no one is able to say, “Jesus {is} Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works all things in everyone. ⁷ Now to each one is given the outward display of the Spirit for the collective benefit. ⁸ For to one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another, a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another, faith by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing by that one Spirit; ¹⁰ and to another, workings of power; to another, prophecy; to another, discernments of spirits; to another, kinds of tongues; and to another, the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing them to each one individually just as he desires.

¹² For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also {is} Christ. ¹³ For indeed by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bound or free, and all were made to drink one Spirit. ¹⁴ For indeed the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Since I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” not for this it is not of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” not for this it is not of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body {were} an eye, where {would} the hearing {be}? If the whole {were} an ear, where {would} the sense of smell {be}? ¹⁸ But now God appointed the members, each one of them, in the body just as he desired. ¹⁹ But if they were all one member, where {would} the body {be}? ²⁰ But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹ Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the members of the body appearing to be weaker are much more essential; ²³ and those of the body which we think to be less honorable, we bestow them greater honor; and our unpresentable members have more dignity; ²⁴ but our presentable members do not have need. But God has combined the body together, giving more honor to what is lacking it ²⁵ so that there may be no division within the body, but that the members should care for one another the same. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together; if a member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has indeed appointed some in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administration, {and} various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Not all {are} apostles, are they? Not all {are} prophets, are they? Not all {are} teachers, are they? Not all {do} miracles, do they? ³⁰ Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they? ³¹ But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And now, I show you a more excellent way.

Chapter 13

¹ If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but I do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body, so that I might boast, but I do not have love, I gain nothing. ^{[1] 4} Love is patient {and} is kind; love does not envy; love does not boast; it is not puffed up. ⁵ It is not rude; it does not seek {its} own; it is not easily angered; it does not keep a count of wrongs. ⁶ It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never fails. But if {there are} prophecies, they will pass away; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when the perfect comes, that which {is} partial will pass away. 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 away childish things. ¹² For now we see unclearly in a mirror, but then, face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. ¹³ But now these three remain: faith, hope, {and} love. But the greatest of these {is} love.

Chapter 14

¹ Pursue love, but be zealous for spiritual gifts, but especially that you might prophesy. ² For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but he speaks mysteries in spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ Now I desire you all to speak in tongues, but even more, that you might prophesy. Now the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues (unless he would interpret, so that the church might receive building up). ⁶ But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I benefit you unless I speak to you either in revelation or in knowledge or in prophecy or teaching? ⁷ Even lifeless things giving sounds—whether flute or harp—if they would not give different sounds, how will the thing being played on the flute or the thing being played on the harp be known? ⁸ For indeed, if a trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? ⁹ In the same way also you, unless you give intelligible speech with {your} tongue, how will the thing being spoken be understood? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless so many kinds of languages in the world, and none {is} without meaning. ¹¹ If then I would not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking {will be} a foreigner to me. ¹² So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts for the building up of the church, seek that you would abound in them. ¹³ So let the one speaking in a tongue pray that he might interpret. ¹⁴ If I would pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What then is it? I will pray with {my} spirit, but I will also pray with {my} mind. I will sing with {my} spirit, and I will also sing with {my} mind. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you certainly give thanks well, but the other person is not built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; ¹⁹ but in the church I prefer to speak five words with my mind so that I might also instruct others, than myriads of words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brothers, do not become children in {your} thoughts. Rather, be childlike in evil, but become mature in the thoughts. ²¹ In the Law it is written,

     “By people of other tongues and by the lips of strangers

     I will speak to this people,

     but not even in this way will they hear me,”

says the Lord. ²² So then, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelievers; but prophecy {is} not to the unbelievers, but to those who believe. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church might come together to the same place and they would all speak in tongues, but ungifted or unbelievers would come in, will they not say that you are insane? ²⁴ But if they all would prophesy, but some unbeliever or ungifted person might come in, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all, ²⁵ the secrets of his heart become visible, and so, having fallen on {his} face, he will worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”

²⁶ What then is to be, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, or has an interpretation. Let all things happen for building up. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, {it should be} by two or at most three, and in turn, and one must interpret. ²⁸ But if there is not an interpreter, let him be silent in the church. Instead, let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ But let two or three prophets speak, and let the others evaluate. ³⁰ But if something is revealed to another who is sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For all are able to prophesy one by one so that all may learn, and all may be encouraged. ³² Indeed, the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not of confusion, but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, ³⁴ let the women be silent in the churches. For it is not permitted for them to speak, but to be in submission, just as also the law says. ³⁵ But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask {their} own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. ³⁶ Or did the word of God go out from you? Or did it come only to you?

³⁷ If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is a command of the Lord. ³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. ^[1]

³⁹ So then, brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. ⁴⁰ But let all things be done properly and in order.

Chapter 15

¹ Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, on which also you stand, ² by which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the word I proclaimed to you, unless you believed in vain. ³ For I delivered to you among the first what I also received—that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. ⁶ Then he was seen by more than 500 brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. ⁸ Now last of all, he was seen by me also, as if to a child born at the wrong time. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace that {was} in me was not in vain. Instead, I labored harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. ¹¹ Therefore, whether I or they, in this way we preach, and in this way you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed, that he was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ but if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching {is} in vain, and your faith {is} in vain. ¹⁵ But also, we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified concerning God that he raised Christ, whom he has not raised, if then the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷ but if Christ has not been raised, your faith {is} in vain; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If only in this life we have hope in Christ, of all people we are most pitiful.

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death {is} by a man, by a man also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For even as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in {his} own order: Christ the firstfruits; then at his coming, those of Christ. ²⁴ Then {will be} the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all the enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be abolished: death. ²⁷ For “he has put everything under his feet.” But when it says, “he has put everything,” {it is} clear that the one who put everything in subjection to him {is} excepted. ²⁸ Now when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God might be all in all.

²⁹ Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? ³⁰ Why also are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I die every day, by the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² What {is} the profit to me, according to men, if I fought wild beasts at Ephesus? if the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³ Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ³⁴ Be sober, as is right! And do not keep sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame.

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish one! What you sow is not caused to live unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare seed—perhaps wheat or something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body just as he desires, and to each of the seeds, its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh {is} the same flesh. Instead, {there is} one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. ⁴⁰ {There are} also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly {is} one, and that of the earthly {is} another. ⁴¹ {There is} one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For star differs from star in glory. ⁴² So also {is} the resurrection of the dead. What is sown in decay is raised in immortality. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam {is} a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But the spiritual {is} not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man {is} of the earth, made of dust. The second man {is} from heaven. ⁴⁸ As the earthly, so also {are} those of the earth; and as the heavenly, so also {are} those of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear ^[1] the image of the heavenly.

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For it is necessary for this perishable to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal to put on immortality. ⁵⁴ But when this perishable has put on incorruptibility, and this mortal has put on immortality, then will come about the word that is written,

     “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

     ⁵⁵ “O death, where {is} your victory?

     O death, where {is} your sting?”

⁵⁶ But the sting of death {is} sin, and the power of sin {is} the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks {be} to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Chapter 16

¹ Now concerning the collection that {is} for the saints, even as I directed the churches of Galatia, so also you must do. ² Every first of the week, let each of you put something aside, storing up from whatever he might have prospered, so that when I come, there will not be collections then. ³ Now when I arrive, whomever you might approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ But if it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me. ⁵ But I will come to you after I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia. ⁶ But perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my way wherever might I go. ⁷ For I do not desire to see you now only in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord would permit. ⁸ But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹ for a wide and effective door has opened for me, and many are opposing me.

¹⁰ Now if Timothy would come, see that he would be unafraid with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I {am.} ¹¹ Therefore, let no one despise him. But help him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. ¹² Now concerning the brother Apollos, I strongly encouraged him that he would come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all {his} will that he would come now. However, he will come when he might have the opportunity.

¹³ Stay alert; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong. ¹⁴ Let all your things happen in love.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers (you know the household of Stephanas, that they are the firstfruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints), ¹⁶ that you also would be subject to those such as these and to everyone who is joining together in the work and laboring. ¹⁷ Now I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking from you; ¹⁸ for they refreshed my spirit and yours. So then, recognize those like these.

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send greetings to you. Aquila and Priscilla enthusiastically greet you in the Lord, with the church in their home. ²⁰ All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹ This greeting {is} in my own hand—Paul. ²² If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha! ²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus {be} with you. ²⁴ My love {be} with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. ^[1]