1 Corinthians 4-8

New American Standard Bible

Servants of Christ

4 This is the way any person is to regard us: as ^(A)servants of Christ and ^(B)stewards of ^(C)the mysteries of God. ² In this case, moreover, it is required ^[a]of stewards that one be found trustworthy. ³ But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human ^[b]court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. ⁴ For I ^(D)am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not ^(E)vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore ^(F)do not go on ^[c]passing judgment before ^[d]the time, but wait ^(G)until the Lord comes, who will both ^(H)bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts; and then ^(I)praise will come to each person from God.

⁶ Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed ^(J)what is written, so that no one of you will ^(K)become ^[e]arrogant ^(L)in behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who considers you as superior? ^(M)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 You are ^(N)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men ^(O)condemned to death, because we ^(P)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. ¹⁰ We are ^(Q)fools on account of Christ, but ^(R)you are prudent in Christ! ^(S)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! ¹¹ Up to this present hour we are both ^(T)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; ¹² and we labor, ^(U)working with our own hands; when we are ^(V)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(W)persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we ^[f]reply as friends; we have ^(X)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴ I do not write these things to ^(Y)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^(Z)children. ¹⁵ For if you were to have countless ^(AA)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^(AB)Christ Jesus I ^(AC)became your father through the ^(AD)gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, be ^(AE)imitators of me. ¹⁷ For this reason I ^(AF)have sent to you ^(AG)Timothy, who is my ^(AH)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^(AI)just as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Now some have become ^[g](AJ)arrogant, as though I were not ^(AK)coming to you. ¹⁹ But I ^(AL)will come to you soon, ^(AM)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the ^[h]words of those who are ^(AN)arrogant, but their power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is ^(AO)not in ^[i]words, but in power. ²¹ What do you desire? ^(AP)That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

Sexual Immorality Rebuked

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has ^(AQ)his father’s wife. ^2 [j]You ^(AR)have become ^[k]arrogant and ^[l]have not ^(AS)mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be ^(AT)removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though ^(AU)absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ^4 (AV)In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and ^[m]I with you in spirit, ^(AW)with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided ^[n]to ^(AX)turn such a person over to ^(AY)Satan for the destruction of his ^[o]body, so that his spirit may be saved on ^(AZ)the day of the ^[p]Lord.

^6 (BA)Your boasting is not good. ^(BB)Do you not know that ^(BC)a little ^[q]leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our ^(BD)Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, ^(BE)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 ^(BF)not to associate with sexually immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with ^(BG)idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. ¹¹ But ^[r]actually, I ^[s]wrote to you not to associate ^[t]with any so-called ^(BH)brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or ^(BI)an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. ¹² For what business of mine is it to judge ^(BJ)outsiders? ^(BK)Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God ^[u]judges. ^(BL)Remove the evil person from among yourselves.

Lawsuits Discouraged

6 Does any one of you, when he has a ^[v]case against ^[w]his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and ^(BM)not before the ^[x]saints? ² Or ^(BN)do you not know that ^(BO)the ^[y]saints will judge ^(BP)the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest ^[z]law courts? ^3 (BQ)Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? ⁴ So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, ^[aa]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? ^5 (BR)I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you anyone wise who will be able to decide between his ^(BS)brothers and sisters, ⁶ but brother goes to law with brother, and that before ^(BT)unbelievers?

⁷ Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. ^(BU)Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your ^(BV)brothers and sisters!

⁹ Or ^(BW)do you not know that the unrighteous will not ^(BX)inherit the kingdom of God? ^(BY)Do not be deceived; ^(BZ)neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ^[ab]homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will ^(CA)inherit the kingdom of God. ^11 (CB)Such were some of you; but you were ^(CC)washed, but you were ^(CD)sanctified, but you were ^(CE)justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^[ac]in the Spirit of our God.

The Body Is the Lord’s

^12 (CF)All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ^13 (CG)Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will ^(CH)do away with both ^[ad]of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but ^(CI)for the Lord, and ^(CJ)the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only ^(CK)raised the Lord, but ^(CL)will also raise us up through His power. ^15 (CM)Do you not know that ^(CN)your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? ^[ae](CO)Far from it! ¹⁶ Or ^(CP)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “^(CQ)The two shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ^(CR)one spirit with Him. ^18 (CS)Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the ^[af]sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(CT)do you not know that ^(CU)your body is a ^[ag]temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from ^[ah]God, and that ^(CV)you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(CW)you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in ^(CX)your body.

Teaching on Marriage

7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is ^(CY)good for a man ^[ai]not to touch a woman. ² But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. ³ The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise the wife also to her 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 [aj](CZ)Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and ^[ak]come together again so that ^(DA)Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But this I say by way of concession, ^(DB)not of command. ^7 [al]Yet I wish that all ^[am]men were ^(DC)even as I myself am. However, ^(DD)each has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is ^(DE)good for them if they remain ^(DF)even as I. ⁹ But if they do not have self-control, ^(DG)let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰ But to the married I give instructions, ^(DH)not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband ¹¹ (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to ^[an]divorce his wife.

¹² But to the rest ^(DI)I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he must not ^[ao]divorce her. ¹³ And ^[ap]if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not ^[aq]divorce her husband. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through ^[ar]her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are ^(DJ)holy. ¹⁵ Yet if the unbelieving one is leaving, ^[as]let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called ^[at]us ^(DK)in peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will ^(DL)save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Only, ^(DM)as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. And ^(DN)so I direct in ^(DO)all the churches. ¹⁸ Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? ^(DP)He is not to be circumcised. ^19 (DQ)Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is ^(DR)the keeping of the commandments of God. ^20 (DS)Each person is to remain in that ^[au]state in which he was called.

²¹ Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you. But if you are also able to become free, take advantage of that. ²² For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave, is ^(DT)the Lord’s freed person; likewise the one who was called as free, is ^(DU)Christ’s slave. ^23 (DV)You were bought for a price; do not become slaves of people. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, ^(DW)each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have ^(DX)no command of the Lord, but I am offering direction as one who ^[av](DY)by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶ I think, then, that this is good in view of the ^[aw]present ^(DZ)distress, that ^(EA)it is good for a man ^[ax]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 you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people as yourselves will have ^[ay]trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. ²⁹ But this I say, brothers, ^(EB)the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should 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 they did not ^(EC)make full use of it; for ^(ED)the present form of this world is passing away.

³² But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^(EE)unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; ³³ but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but ^[az]to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ But if anyone thinks that he is acting dishonorably toward his virgin, if she is ^[ba]past her youth and it ought to be so, let him do what he wishes, he is not sinning; let ^[bb]them marry. ³⁷ But the one who stands firm in his heart, ^[bc]if he is not under constraint, but has authority ^[bd]over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. ³⁸ So then, both the one who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better.

^39 (EF)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband ^[be]dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(EG)in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But ^(EH)in my opinion she is ^[bf]happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Take Care with Your Liberty

8 Now concerning ^(EI)food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have ^(EJ)knowledge. Knowledge ^[bg](EK)makes one conceited, but love ^(EL)edifies people. ^2 (EM)If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet ^(EN)known as he ought to know; ³ but if anyone loves God, he ^(EO)is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore, concerning the eating of ^(EP)food sacrificed to idols, we know that an ^(EQ)idol is ^[bh]nothing at all in the world, and that ^(ER)there is no God but one. ⁵ For even if ^(ES)there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶ yet for us ^(ET)there is only one God, ^(EU)the Father, ^(EV)from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and ^(EW)one Lord, Jesus Christ, ^(EX)by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷ However, not all people ^(EY)have this knowledge; but ^(EZ)some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ Now ^(FA)food will not bring us ^[bi]close to God; we are neither ^[bj]the worse if we do not eat, nor ^[bk]the better if we do eat. ⁹ But ^(FB)take care that this ^[bl]freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the ^(FC)weak. ¹⁰ For if someone sees you, the one who has ^(FD)knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat ^(FE)things sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ For through ^(FF)your knowledge the one who is weak ^(FG)is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died. ^12 (FH)And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin ^(FI)against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(FJ)if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.