1 Corinthians 1-6

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)called ^(B)by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those ^(C)sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^(D)called to be saints together with all those who in every place ^(E)call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

^3 (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

⁴ I ^(G)give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way ^(H)you were enriched in him in all ^(I)speech and all knowledge— ⁶ even as ^(J)the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you ^(K)wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^8 (L)who will sustain you to the end, ^(M)guiltless ^(N)in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9 (O)God is faithful, by whom you were called into the ^(P)fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers,^[a] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no ^(Q)divisions among you, but that you be united ^(R)in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is ^(S)quarreling among you, my brothers. ¹² What I mean is that ^(T)each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow ^(U)Apollos,” or “I follow ^(V)Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ^13 (W)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you ^(X)baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except ^(Y)Crispus and ^(Z)Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (I did baptize also ^(AA)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, and ^(AB)not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is ^(AC)folly to ^(AD)those who are perishing, but to us ^(AE)who are being saved it is ^(AF)the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

^20 (AH)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^(AI)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, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[b] to save those who believe. ²² For ^(AJ)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ ^(AK)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(AL)the power of God and ^(AM)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: ^(AN)not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But ^(AO)God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^(AP)God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^(AQ)things that are not, to ^(AR)bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so ^(AS)that no human being^[d] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^(AT)wisdom from God, ^(AU)righteousness and ^(AV)sanctification and ^(AW)redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, ^(AX)“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,^{[f] (AY)}did not come proclaiming to you ^(AZ)the testimony^[g] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except ^(BA)Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And ^(BB)I was with you ^(BC)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^(BD)the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men^[h] but ^(BE)in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

⁶ Yet among ^(BF)the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not ^(BG)a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, ^(BH)who are doomed to pass away. ⁷ But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, ^(BI)which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of ^(BJ)the rulers of this age understood this, for ^(BK)if they had, they would not have crucified ^(BL)the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,

¹⁰ these things ^(BP)God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even ^(BQ)the depths of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person's thoughts ^(BR)except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now ^(BS)we have received not ^(BT)the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³ And we impart this ^(BU)in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, ^(BV)interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.^[i]

¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^(BW)folly to him, and ^(BX)he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The ^(BY)spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ^16 (BZ)“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But ^(CA)we have the mind of Christ.

Divisions in the Church

3 But I, brothers,^[j] could not address you as ^(CB)spiritual people, but as ^(CC)people of the flesh, as ^(CD)infants in Christ. ^2 (CE)I fed you with milk, not solid food, for ^(CF)you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, ³ for you are still of the flesh. For while there is ^(CG)jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ⁴ For ^(CH)when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” ^(CI)are you not being merely human?

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? ^(CJ)Servants through whom you believed, ^(CK)as the Lord assigned to each. ^6 (CL)I planted, ^(CM)Apollos watered, ^(CN)but God gave the growth. ⁷ So ^(CO)neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one, and each ^(CP)will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹ For we are ^(CQ)God's fellow workers. You are God's field, ^(CR)God's building.

^10 (CS)According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled^[k] master builder I laid a ^(CT)foundation, and ^(CU)someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a ^(CV)foundation other ^(CW)than that which is laid, ^(CX)which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ^13 (CY)each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed ^(CZ)by fire, and ^(DA)the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ^(DB)he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, ^(DC)but only as through fire.

^16 (DD)Do you not know that you^[l] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For ^(DE)God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

^18 (DF)Let no one deceive himself. ^(DG)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For ^(DH)the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ^(DI)“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” ²⁰ and again, ^(DJ)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” ²¹ So ^(DK)let no one boast in men. For ^(DL)all things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and ^(DM)you are Christ's, and ^(DN)Christ is God's.

The Ministry of Apostles

4 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and ^(DO)stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ^4 (DP)For I am not aware of anything against myself, ^(DQ)but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore ^(DR)do not pronounce judgment before the time, ^(DS)before the Lord comes, ^(DT)who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. ^(DU)Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

⁶ I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,^[m] that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may ^(DV)be puffed up in favor of one against another. ⁷ For who sees anything different in you? ^(DW)What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! ⁹ For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, ^(DX)like men sentenced to death, because we ^(DY)have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. ^10 (DZ)We are fools for Christ's sake, but ^(EA)you are wise in Christ. ^(EB)We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. ¹¹ To the present hour ^(EC)we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and ^(ED)buffeted and ^(EE)homeless, ¹² and we ^(EF)labor, working with our own hands. ^(EG)When reviled, we bless; ^(EH)when persecuted, we endure; ¹³ when slandered, we entreat. ^(EI)We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, ^(EJ)the refuse of all things.

¹⁴ I do not write these things ^(EK)to make you ashamed, but to admonish you ^(EL)as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For ^(EM)though you have countless^[n] guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For ^(EN)I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ I urge you, then, ^(EO)be imitators of me. ¹⁷ That is why ^(EP)I sent^[o] you Timothy, ^(EQ)my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,^{[p] (ER)}as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some are ^(ES)arrogant, ^(ET)as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But ^(EU)I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰ For ^(EV)the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹ What do you wish? ^(EW)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is ^(EX)sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, ^(EY)for a man has his father's wife. ² And ^(EZ)you are arrogant! Ought you ^(FA)not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³ For though ^(FB)absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴ When you are assembled ^(FC)in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ you are ^(FD)to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so ^(FE)that his spirit may be saved ^(FF)in the day of the Lord.^[q]

^6 (FG)Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that ^(FH)a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^(FI)not with the old leaven, ^(FJ)the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter ^(FK)not to associate with sexually immoral people— ^10 (FL)not at all meaning ^(FM)the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, ^(FN)since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ^(FO)who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging ^(FP)outsiders? ^(FQ)Is it not those inside the church^[r] whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges^[s] those outside. ^(FR)“Purge the evil person from among you.”

Lawsuits Against Believers

6 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous ^(FS)instead of the saints? ² Or do you not know that ^(FT)the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ⁴ So if you have such cases, ^(FU)why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? ^5 (FV)I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶ but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? ⁷ To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^(FW)Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even ^(FX)your own brothers!^[t]

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous^[u] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: ^(FY)neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,^{[v] 10} nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And ^(FZ)such were some of you. But ^(GA)you were washed, ^(GB)you were sanctified, ^(GC)you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

^12 (GD)“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ^13 (GE)“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^(GF)and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^(GG)for the Lord, and ^(GH)the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And ^(GI)God raised the Lord and ^(GJ)will also raise us up ^(GK)by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that ^(GL)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined^[w] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^(GM)“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord ^(GN)becomes one spirit with him. ^18 (GO)Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin^[x] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^(GP)sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(GQ)do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^(GR)You are not your own, ^20 (GS)for you were bought with a price. ^(GT)So glorify God in your body.