1 Corinthians 12:12-30

Contemporary English Version

One Body with Many Parts

^12 (A) The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.^[a]

¹⁴ Our bodies don't have just one part. They have many parts. ¹⁵ Suppose a foot says, “I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? ¹⁶ Or suppose an ear says, “I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? ¹⁷ If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. ¹⁸ But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.

¹⁹ A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. ²⁰ It takes many parts to make a single body. ²¹ That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. ²² In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. ²³ We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, ²⁴ but we don't have to be modest about other parts.

God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. ²⁵ He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. ²⁶ If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.

²⁷ Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body. ^28 (B) First, God chose some people to be apostles and prophets and teachers for the church. But he also chose some to work miracles or heal the sick or help others or be leaders or speak different kinds of languages. ²⁹ Not everyone is an apostle. Not everyone is a prophet. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone can work miracles. ³⁰ Not everyone can heal the sick. Not everyone can speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone can tell what these languages mean.