1 Corinthians

Chapter 1

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always concerning you for the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,

5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge,

6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed among you,

7 so that you lack no gift as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus.

9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that there are quarrels among you.

12 I mean this: that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I of Apollos," or "I of Cephas," or "I of Christ."

13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?

14 I thank that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

15 lest anyone should say that you were baptized into my name.

16 And I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

18 For the word of the cross is folly 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 the understanding of the understanding I will set aside."

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased through the folly of the preaching to save those who believe.

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ 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: not many were wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong,

28 and God chose the lowborn things of the world and the despised, the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are,

29 so that no flesh might boast before God. 3

0 But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

31 so that, as it is written: "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Chapter 2

1 And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the mystery of God with excellence of speech or of wisdom.

2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

4 and my speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among the mature, though not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing;

7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God foreordained before the ages for our glory,

8 which none of the rulers of this age has known; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written: "What eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love him."

10 But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? So also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God;

13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things by spiritual means.

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because they are discerned spiritually.

15 But the spiritual person discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned 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 And I, brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly, as infants in Christ.

2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able. And even now you are still 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 man?

4 For when someone says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, and to each as the Lord gave.

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

7 So neither the one who plants is anything, nor the one who waters, but God who gives the growth.

8 The one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each will receive his own wage 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, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it.

11 For no one can lay another foundation besides the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 And if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

13 the work of each will become manifest; for the day will disclose it, because it is revealed in fire, and the fire itself will test what sort of work each has done.

14 If anyone's work that he built upon it remains, he will receive a reward;

15 if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what 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 folly 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 vain."

21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,

22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, whether the world or life or death, whether things present or things to come, all are yours,

23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

Chapter 4

1 Let a man so regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.

3 But to me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

4 For I am aware of nothing against myself, yet I am not thereby justified; it is the Lord who judges me.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of hearts; and then each one's praise will come from God.

6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied figuratively to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you may learn not to go beyond what is written, so that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

7 For who makes you different? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

8 Already you are filled, already you have become rich, without us you have become kings; and would indeed that you did reign, so that we also might reign with you!

9 For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death, because 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 To this very hour we both hunger and thirst, and are poorly clothed, and are beaten, and are homeless,

12 and we labor, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

13 being slandered, we entreat; we have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now.

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

15 For even if you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the gospel.

16 Therefore I urge you, become imitators of me.

17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ [Jesus], just as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Now some have become puffed up, as though I were not coming to you;

19 but I will come to you quickly, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of those who are puffed up, but their power.

20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

Chapter 5

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such immorality as is not found even among the Gentiles that a man has his father's wife.

2 And you are puffed up, and did you not rather mourn, so that he who has done this deed might be removed from among you?

3 For I indeed, absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged, as though present, the one who has done this thing:

4 when you are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and my spirit is with you, together with the power of our Lord Jesus,

5 hand over such a man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

7 Cleanse out the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, just as you are unleavened; for Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed.

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with 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 associate with the sexually immoral

10 not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would have had to go out of the world.

11 But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother if he is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

12 For what have I to do with judging those outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

13 But those outside God will judge. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Chapter 6

1 Does any one of you, having a dispute against another, dare to go to law 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, to say nothing of matters of this life?

4 If then you have cases concerning matters of this life, do you set as judges those who are of no account in the church?

5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you even one wise man who will be able to decide between his brothers?

6 But brother goes to law against brother, and this before unbelievers?

7 Already, then, it is altogether a defeat for you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

8 But you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and this to brothers.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with men,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

13 Food is for the belly and the belly for food, but God will do away with both the one and the other. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;

14 and God both raised the Lord and will raise us up through 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 harlot? May it never be!

16 Or do you not know that he who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For, it says, the two shall become one flesh.

17 But he who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man may commit is outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body.

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Chapter 7

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 But because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render to his wife what is owed, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and then be together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 But I say this as a concession, not as a command.

7 I wish that all people were as I myself am; but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind, and one of another.

8 To the unmarried and to the widows I say: it is good for them if they remain as I am.

9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.

10 To the married I give this charge, not I, but the Lord that a wife is not to separate from her husband

11 and that a husband is not to divorce his wife.

12 To the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she consents to live with him, let him not divorce her.

13 And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, let her not divorce her husband.

14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through the brother; otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

15 But if the unbeliever separates, let him separate; the brother or the sister is not enslaved in such cases. God has called you in 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, as the Lord has apportioned to each, as God has called each, so let him walk. And thus I direct in all the churches.

18 Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not undo it. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

20 Let each remain in the calling in which he was called.

21 Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you; but if indeed you are able to become free, make use of it rather.

22 For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord; likewise he who was called as a free man is a slave of Christ.

23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

24 In whatever condition each was called, brothers, in that let him remain with God.

25 Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

26 I think, then, that this is good because of the present distress: that it is good for a person to remain as he is.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

28 But even if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you.

29 This I say, brothers: the time has been shortened. Henceforth, let those who have wives be as though they had none,

30 and those who weep as though they did not weep, and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, and those who buy as though they did not possess,

31 and those who use the world as though not making full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be free from care. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;

33 but the married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,

34 and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the things of the Lord, that they may be holy both in body and in spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay a snare upon you, but for what is seemly and for devoted attendance upon the Lord without distraction.

36 But if anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past her prime and it must be so, let him do what he wishes; he does not sin, let them marry.

37 But he who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, but has authority over his own will, and has determined this in his own heart, to keep his virgin, will do well.

38 So then, he who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

39 A wife is bound for as long a time as her husband lives; but if her husband falls asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

40 But she is more blessed if she remains as she is, in my opinion; and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Chapter 8

1 Now concerning 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, he is known by him.

4 Concerning, then, the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many gods and many lords

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we through him.

7 But this knowledge is not in everyone; some, by their custom with the idol until now, eat the food as something sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

8 But food will not commend us to God; neither if we do not eat are we worse off, nor if we eat are we better off.

9 But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

10 For if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, reclining at table in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, since he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?

11 For the one who is weak is destroyed by your knowledge, the brother for whom Christ died.

12 And thus, sinning against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, lest I 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 to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 This is my defense to those who examine me.

4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink?

5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right not to work?

7 Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not eat of the milk of the flock?

8 Do I say these things on human authority, or does not the law also say the same?

9 For it is written in the law of Moses: "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing." Is it for oxen that God is concerned,

10 or does he speak entirely for our sake? For our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.

11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

12 If others share this right over you, do not we even more? But we have not made use of this right; rather we endure all things, so that we may not put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

13 Do you not know that those who perform the temple service eat from the temple, and those who attend at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?

14 In the same way the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should live from the gospel.

15 But I have made use of none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it may be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than, no one shall make my boast an empty one.

16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting; for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do 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 in preaching the gospel I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.

20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those under the law as one under the law—though not being myself under the law—that I might win those under the law;

21 to those outside the law as one outside the law—not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ—that I might win those outside the law.

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

24 Do you not know that those who run in a stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

26 Therefore I run in this way, not aimlessly; I box in this way, not as one beating the air;

27 but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, having preached to others, I myself should 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 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

3 and all ate the same spiritual food,

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

6 Now these things became examples for us, so that we should not be desirers of evil things, as they also desired.

7 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 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

9 Nor let us put Christ to the test, as some of them tested him and were destroyed by the serpents.

10 Nor grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer.

11 Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

12 Therefore let the one who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break—is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

18 Consider Israel according to the flesh: are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

19 What then do I say? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

20 No, but that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

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.

25 Eat everything sold in the meat market, asking no questions for the sake of conscience;

26 for the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness.

27 If any of the unbelievers invites you and you wish to go, eat everything set before you, asking no questions for the sake of conscience.

28 But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you and for conscience

29 I mean not your own conscience, but that of the other. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?

30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I reviled for that for which I give thanks?

31 So whether you eat or drink or do anything, do all to the glory of God.

32 Be without offense both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God,

33 just as I also please everyone in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but that of the many, so that they may be saved.

Chapter 11

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

2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.

3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of a woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is one and the same as if she were shaved.

6 For if a woman does not cover herself, let her also be shorn; but if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her cover herself.

7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.

8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man;

9 for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.

10 Therefore the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels.

11 Nevertheless, neither is woman apart from man, nor man apart from woman, in the Lord;

12 for just as the woman is from the man, so also the man is through the woman; but all things are from God.

13 Judge among yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered?

14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a dishonor to him,

15 but if a woman wears long hair it is a glory to her? For her hair has been given in place of a covering.

16 But if anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

17 But in giving this instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

20 Therefore when you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper;

21 for in eating, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry while another is drunk.

22 What, do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered 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 Likewise 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 the 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 the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a person examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup;

29 for the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.

30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a good number sleep.

31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged;

32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the 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 may not come together for judgment. And the remaining matters I will set in order whenever I come.

Chapter 12

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

2 You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led astray to mute idols, however 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 can 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, and the same Lord;

6 and there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works all things in all.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8 For to one is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit,

10 to another workings of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues.

11 But all these things are worked by one and the same Spirit, distributing 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 also is Christ.

13 For indeed by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body is not one member but many.

15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it for that reason not of the body?

16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it for that reason not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But now God has arranged the members, each one of them, in the body just as he willed.

19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

20 But as it is, there are many members, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are much more necessary,

23 and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have greater propriety,

24 whereas our presentable parts have no need. But God has composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked,

25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; 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 appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third masters, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, kinds of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all masters? Do all work miracles?

30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet I show you a still more excellent way.

Chapter 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

2 And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body that I may boast, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind; it does not envy; love does not boast, is not puffed up,

5 does not behave unseemly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, keeps no account of evil;

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; but whether there are prophecies, they will be done away; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be done away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;

10 but when the perfect comes, that which is in part will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child; when I became a man, I put away the things of the child.

12 For now we see through a mirror, in a riddle, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Chapter 14

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

2 For the one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries.

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 wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.

6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how shall I benefit you unless I speak to you either in revelation or in knowledge or in prophecy or in teaching?

7 Even lifeless things that give sound, whether flute or harp, if they do not give a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be known?

8 And indeed, if a trumpet gives an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?

9 So also you, unless you give intelligible speech with the tongue, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none is without meaning.

11 If then I do not know the meaning of the voice, I shall be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking a foreigner to me.

12 So also you, since you are eager for spiritual gifts, seek to abound in them for the building up of the church.

13 Therefore let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

15 What then is it? I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, but I will also sing with the mind.

16 Otherwise, if you give a blessing with the spirit, how will the one who fills the place of the outsider say the "Amen" at your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

17 For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not built up.

18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all;

19 but in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, so that I may also instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, but be infants in evil, and in your thinking be mature.

21 In the law it is written: "By people of other tongues and by the lips of others I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me, says the Lord."

22 So then tongues are a sign not for those who believe but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

23 If then the whole church comes together in one place and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?

24 But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all,

25 the hidden things of his heart become manifest, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is truly among you.

26 What then is it, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be by two or at most three, and in turn, and let one interpret;

28 but if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said;

30 but if a revelation comes to another sitting there, let the first be silent.

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

32 And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets,

33 for God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

34 let the women keep silent in the churches; for it is not permitted for them to speak, but let them be subordinate, as also the law says.

35 And if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

36 Or did the word of God go out from you, or has it come to you alone?

37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is a command of the Lord;

38 but if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

39 So then, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues;

40 but let all things be done decently and in order.

Chapter 15

1 Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,

2 through which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

4 and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the scriptures,

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, though some have fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

8 And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, 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 toward me was not in vain; rather, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached as 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, then not even Christ has been raised;

14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is empty.

15 We are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise—if indeed the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For since through a man came death, through a man also comes the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who are Christ's at his coming,

24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has abolished every rule and every authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

27 For he has subjected all things under his feet. But when it says that all things have been subjected, it is clear that this excludes the one who subjected all things to him.

28 And 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, that God may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized on their behalf?

30 And why do we ourselves stand in danger every hour?

31 I die daily—I swear by my boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

32 If, humanly speaking, I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? 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 Sober up rightly and do not sin; for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will say: How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?

36 Fool! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of some other kind.

38 But God gives it a body as he willed, and to each of the seeds its own body.

39 Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of birds, another of fish.

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and that of the earthly of another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, 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. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.

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 one.

45 So also it is written: the first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46 But the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

47 The first man was from the earth, of dust; the second man is from heaven.

48 As was the man of dust, so also are those of dust; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly.

49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.

50 Now this I say, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

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

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 And when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word that is written: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

56 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, be 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 for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collections when I come.

3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you approve by letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;

4 and if it seems fitting that I should go also, they will travel with me.

5 I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia;

6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

7 For I do not wish to see you now merely in passing, since I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits.

8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

9 for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10 If Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.

11 Let no one, then, despise him. Send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I am expecting him with the brothers.

12 Now concerning our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now; he will come when he has opportunity.

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints

16 be subject to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them.

17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence;

18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Acknowledge such men, therefore.

19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.

20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 This greeting is in my own hand, Paul's.

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.