1 Corinthians 12:26-15:24

English Standard Version

²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, ^(A)all rejoice together.

²⁷ Now ^(B)you are the body of Christ and individually ^(C)members of it. ²⁸ And ^(D)God has appointed in the church first ^(E)apostles, second ^(F)prophets, third teachers, then ^(G)miracles, then ^(H)gifts of healing, ^(I)helping, ^(J)administrating, and ^(K)various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But ^(L)earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have ^(M)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, ^(N)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ^3 (O)If I give away all I have, and ^(P)if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

^4 (Q)Love is patient and ^(R)kind; love ^(S)does not envy or boast; it ^(T)is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It ^(U)does not insist on its own way; it ^(V)is not irritable or resentful;^{[b] 6} it ^(W)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but ^(X)rejoices with the truth. ^7 (Y)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ^(Z)endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For ^(AA)we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but ^(AB)when the perfect comes, the 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 gave up childish ways. ¹² For ^(AC)now we see in a mirror dimly, but ^(AD)then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as ^(AE)I have been fully known.

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

Prophecy and Tongues

14 ^(AF)Pursue love, and ^(AG)earnestly desire the ^(AH)spiritual gifts, especially that you may ^(AI)prophesy. ² For ^(AJ)one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding 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 want you all to speak in tongues, but ^(AK)even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

⁶ Now, brothers,^[c] if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some ^(AL)revelation or knowledge or prophecy or ^(AM)teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And ^(AN)if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be ^(AO)speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be ^(AP)a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

¹³ Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; ^(AQ)I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will ^(AR)sing with my mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider^[d] say ^(AS)“Amen” to ^(AT)your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brothers, ^(AU)do not be children in your thinking. ^(AV)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be ^(AW)mature. ^21 (AX)In the Law it is written, ^(AY)“By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign^[e] not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, ^(AZ)will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ^25 (BA)the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, ^(BB)falling on his face, he will worship God and ^(BC)declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has ^(BD)a hymn, ^(BE)a lesson, ^(BF)a revelation, ^(BG)a tongue, or ^(BH)an interpretation. ^(BI)Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in ^(BJ)a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others ^(BK)weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, ^(BL)let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of ^(BM)confusion but of peace.

As in ^(BN)all the churches of the saints, ^34 (BO)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but ^(BP)should be in submission, as ^(BQ)the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ^37 (BR)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brothers, ^(BS)earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ^40 (BT)But all things should be done decently and ^(BU)in order.

The Resurrection of Christ

15 Now I would remind you, brothers,^[f] of the gospel ^(BV)I preached to you, which you received, ^(BW)in which you stand, ² and by which ^(BX)you are being saved, if you ^(BY)hold fast to the word I preached to you—^(BZ)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(CA)I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died ^(CB)for our sins ^(CC)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised ^(CD)on the third day ^(CE)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(CF)he appeared to Cephas, then ^(CG)to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to ^(CH)James, then ^(CI)to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, ^(CJ)he appeared also to me. ⁹ For ^(CK)I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because ^(CL)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. On the contrary, ^(CM)I worked harder than any of them, ^(CN)though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, ^(CO)how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, ^(CP)then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that ^(CQ)he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that 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 and ^(CR)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who ^(CS)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope^[g] in this life only, ^(CT)we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact ^(CU)Christ has been raised from the dead, ^(CV)the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as ^(CW)by a man came death, ^(CX)by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(CY)as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then ^(CZ)at his coming ^(DA)those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers ^(DB)the kingdom to God the Father after destroying ^(DC)every rule and every authority and power.