1

1 From Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

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

3 grace to you, and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which has been given to you in Christ Jesus,

5 because you have been enriched in him in everything, in all speech and in all knowledge,

6 in accordance with the fact that the testimony of Christ has been confirmed in you,

7 so that you are not lacking in any gracious gift, as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8 who will also secure you up to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

10 And I exhort you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak with one voice, and that there should not be any divisions among you, and that you should be equipped with the same mind and with the same purpose.

11 For concerning you, my brothers, it has been shown to me by those of Chloe's household that there are controversies among you.

12 Now I say this, that each of you is saying, “I am of the school of Paul,” and, “I of Apollo,” and, “I of Cephas,” and, “I of Christ.”

13 Is Christ divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in Paul's name?

14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

15 so that no-one should say that I baptized in my own name.

16 But I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Other than 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 linguistic wisdom, so that the cross of Christ should not be made void.

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are on the road to perdition, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

19 For it stands written, “I will demolish the wisdom of the wise, and dismiss the intelligence of the intellectuals.”

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

21 For since the world, in the wisdom of God, did not know God through its wisdom, it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of the proclamation of the gospel.

22 Indeed so, seeing that the Jews ask for a sign, and the Greeks seek wisdom,

23 while we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks,

24 but to those themselves who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,

25 because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For you see your calling, brothers, and that not many who are wise according to the flesh, that not many who are powerful, that not many who are of noble birth are called,

27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world, in order that he might put the wise to shame, and God has chosen the weak things of the world, in order that he might put the strong things to shame,

28 and God has chosen the ignoble things of the world, and the despised things, and the non-existent things, in order to nullify the existing things,

29 in order that no flesh should boast in God's presence.

30 But by virtue of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became our wisdom from God, both righteousness and holiness, and redemption,

31 in order that, as it stands written, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

2

1 And as for me, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come in extravagance of speech or wisdom when I proclaimed the testimony of God to you.

2 For I decided not to know anything 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 with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in an exhibition of spirit and power,

5 in order that your faith should not be in men's wisdom, but in the power of God.

6 But we speak wisdom among those who are complete – wisdom not 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, wisdom which has been hidden, which God pre-ordained before the ages for our glory,

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

9 But, as it stands written, “What the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, and what has not arisen in the heart of man are what God has prepared for those who love him.”

10 And God has revealed them to us through his spirit. For the spirit enquires about all things, including the deep things of God.

11 For who among men knows the concerns of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? And likewise, no-one knows the concerns of God except the spirit of God.

12 But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, in order that we might know the things graciously given to us by God.

13 And we also speak of these things, not with subject matter taught by human wisdom, but with subject matter taught by holy spirit, as we compare spiritual things with spiritual things.

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 spiritually evaluated.

15 But the spiritual person evaluates everything, but he himself is not evaluated by anyone.

16 For who has known the mind of the Lord and can instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

3

1 Yet I myself, brothers, was not able to speak to you as one does to spiritual people, but only as one does to carnal people, as to infants in Christ.

2 I have given you milk to drink rather than food, for you were not yet able to take it, and even now you still can't,

3 for you are still carnal, for where there is rivalry among you, and strife, and dissensions, are you not carnal and do you not walk according to man?

4 For whenever a person says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

5 Well who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you came to believe, and each has a ministry according to what the Lord gave him?

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

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

8 But he who plants and he who waters are one agency. And each will receive his own reward according to his own labour.

9 For we are God's co-workers; you are God's cultivated field – God's building.

10 I have laid a foundation as a wise master-builder, according to the grace of God given to me, and another is building on it. But let each one watch how he builds on it.

11 For no-one can lay any other foundation than the one which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 But if anyone builds gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw on this foundation,

13 each person's work will become manifest. For the day will show it, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will prove what kind of work each person's is.

14 If anyone's work which he has built on remains, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but this is how: as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are the sanctuary of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you?

17 If anyone spoils the sanctuary of God, God will spoil him. For the sanctuary of God is holy, which is what you are.

18 Let no-one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself to be wise in this age, let him become foolish, in order that he may become wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it stands written, “He catches the wise with their own cunning.”

20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise – that they are vain.”

21 So let no-one among men boast, for all things are yours,

22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death, whether present or future – everything is yours,

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

4

1 In this way let a man consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover it is required in stewards that a person is found to be faithful.

3 And it is the least of my concerns that I should be examined by you or by the probings of the day of man. But neither do I examine myself.

4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I do not stand justified by that. And he who examines me is the Lord.

5 As a result, do not judge anything before its time, until the Lord comes, who will also bring the hidden things of darkness to light, and he will make the motives of people's hearts manifest, and then each one will have praise from God.

6 And, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos on your account, so that you who are among us might learn not to speculate beyond what stands written, so that you aren't self-opinionated – one person above another to the detriment of someone else.

7 For who gives you distinct characteristics? And what do you possess that you did not receive? But if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn't receive it?

8 You have already become satiated, you have already become rich, you have started reigning without us – and if only you really had started reigning, so that we too might reign with you.

9 For I consider that God has exhibited us, the apostles, last, as people subject to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men.

10 We are foolish for the sake of Christ, whereas you are wise in Christ. We are weak, whereas you are strong. You are esteemed, whereas we are without honour.

11 Up to the present hour we have been hungry and thirsty and been poorly clothed and have been knocked about and have been without a fixed address,

12 and we have toiled, working with our own hands. When railed at, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;

13 when slandered, we speak in good cheer. We have become like the scum of the world – the off-scouring of all sorts – up to the present time.

14 I do not write these things to put you to shame, but I warn you about it as my beloved children.

15 For even if you had ten thousand tutors in Christ, you still would not have many fathers. For I have begotten you in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

16 So I exhort you: be imitators of me.

17 For this reason I have sent you Timothy, who is a beloved child of mine, and faithful in the Lord, and who will remind you of my ways in Christ – how I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Some of you are complacent, as though I were not coming to you.

19 And I will come to you quickly, if the Lord wishes it, and get to know not the talk of those who are complacent, but the power,

20 for the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power.

21 What do you want? For me to come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of meekness?

5

1 It is heard – very much so – that there is fornication among you, and fornication of such a kind that is not even named among the Gentiles, that someone should have his father's wife.

2 And you are complacent, and have not rather mourned, so that he who committed this act should be removed from your company.

3 Well I, being absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already reached a decision on him who actually did this, as if I were present,

4 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, while you are gathered together (as is also my spirit) with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 to deliver a man like this to Satan, for destruction of the flesh, in order that the spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.

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

7 Clear out the old leaven, in order to be a new lump, since you are unleavened. For indeed, our Passover has been sacrificed for us – Christ –

8 so let us keep the feast, not in old leaven, nor in leaven of wickedness and evil, but in unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I have written to you in the epistle not to associate with fornicators,

10 and not at all with the fornicators of this world, or with the fraudsters, or the rapacious or idolaters, since then you would have to depart from the world.

11 And I have written to you now not to associate with anyone if he is called a brother but is a fornicator or fraudsters or an idolater or is abusive or drunk or rapacious, and not to eat with such a person.

12 But what business is it of mine to also judge those outside? Is it not those inside whom you judge?

13 But God will judge those outside. However you shall remove the wicked person from your own group.

6

1 Does anyone among you dare, if you have a case against another, to go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And that if the world is judged by you, then you are unsuited for the least of the courts?

3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? So surely not commonplace matters!

4 So if you have commonplace court cases, appoint those who are considered nobodies in the church.

5 I speak to your shame. Is there not even one wise person among you, then, who will be able to judge between one of his brothers and another,

6 while instead a brother goes to law with a brother, and that before unbelievers?

7 So you are already wholly at fault in that you have law-suits with each other. Why do you not rather suffer the injustice? Why do you not rather suffer being defrauded?

8 But you commit injustice and perpetrate fraud, and against brothers at that.

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

10 nor fraudsters, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor the abusive, nor the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And so were some of you. But you have had yourselves washed, and you have been sanctified, and you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God.

12 Everything is permitted me, but not everything is profitable. Everything is permitted me, but I will not be put under authority by anyone.

13 Food for the stomach and the stomach for food – but God will bring both of these to nothing. And the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

14 And God has raised the Lord and will also raise us 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 the members of a prostitute? May it not be so!

16 Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? “For the two,” he says, “will be one flesh.”

17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Whatever sin a man commits is separate from the body. But he who fornicates sins against his own body.

19 Or do you not know that your body is the sanctuary of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God? And you are not your own,

20 for you have been bought at a price. Glorify God, therefore, in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

7

1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 But because of the danger of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and each woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband fulfil the romance due to the wife, and similarly also the wife to her husband.

4 It is not the wife who has authority over her own body, but the husband. And similarly, neither is it the man who has authority over his own body, but the wife.

5 Do not withhold from one another, except perhaps in agreement for a while, in order that you may be at leisure for fasting and prayer, and come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you through lack of control on your part.

6 But I say this sympathetically, not by commandment.

7 For I wish that all men were as I myself am, but each has his own gracious gift from God – one of this kind, one of that kind.

8 But I say to those who are unmarried and to the widows, that it is good for them if they remain as I am.

9 But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to be ardently desirous.

10 And to those married, I command, though not I, but the Lord, that a woman should not separate from her husband.

11 But if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or let her be reconciled to her husband. And I command a husband not to divorce his wife.

12 And to the rest, I, not the Lord, speak. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, let him not divorce her.

13 And as for a wife who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not divorce him.

14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified by the husband, since otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

15 But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let him be separate. A brother or sister is not tied down in such cases. And God has called us in peace.

16 For how do you know, you wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, you husband, whether you will save your wife?

17 But as God has distributed to everyone – as the Lord has called everyone – so let him walk. And this is what I command in all the churches.

18 Is anyone who is circumcised called? Let him not be drawn away. Is anyone in uncircumcision called? Let him not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision isn't anything, nor is uncircumcision anything, but rather keeping the commandments of God is quite something.

20 Let each person remain in the particular calling in which he is called.

21 Have you, as a slave, been called? Don't let it be a concern to you. But even so, if you can become free, it is preferable to make use of it.

22 For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord's freedman. Likewise too, the called free man is Christ's servant.

23 You have been bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

24 Brothers, let everyone remain with God in the circumstances in which he has been called.

25 Now concerning virgins, I do not have a commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who has received mercy from the Lord, so as to be faithful.

26 So I consider this to be right, on account of the present constrained circumstances: that it is right for a man to stay as he is.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek dissolution. Have you been released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. However, such will have tribulation in the flesh. But I spare you.

29 And I say this, brothers: the time has drawn in. From now on it is for even those who have wives to be as if they do not have wives,

30 and for those who weep to be as if they do not weep, and for those who rejoice to be as if they do not rejoice, and for those who make purchases to be as if they don't possess anything,

31 and for those who use this world to be as if they don't exploit it, for the system of this world is passing away.

32 And I would like you to be free from anxiety. He who is not married cares about the affairs of the Lord, about how he can please the Lord,

33 but he who is married cares about the affairs of the world, about how he can please his wife.

34 There is also a distinction between a married woman and a virgin. An unmarried woman cares about the affairs of the Lord, in order that she may be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman cares about the affairs of the world, about how she can please her husband.

35 And I say this for the benefit of yourselves, not in order to put a noose round you, but for the sake of what is seemly and with willing devotion to the Lord without distraction.

36 But if anyone thinks he is behaving in an improper way towards his virgin daughter, if she is passing the prime of life, and if he thinks it has to be this way, let him do what he wants – he is not sinning – let them marry.

37 But he who stands steadfast in his heart, not being under compulsion, but who has control over his own will, and who has so decided in his heart to keep his virgin daughter at home – he does well.

38 So that he who gives her in marriage also does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.

39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband falls asleep, she is free to marry whom she wishes, except that it must be in the Lord.

40 But she is more blessed if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I also consider I have the spirit of God.

8

1 Now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs a person up, whereas love edifies.

2 And if anyone thinks he knows anything, he has not yet come to knowledge of anything in the way it is necessary to know it.

3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.

4 Concerning food which has been offered to idols, then, we know that there is no idol in the universe, and that there is no other God besides the one.

5 For indeed, although there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

6 yet to us there is one God, the father, from whom all things come, including us for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things come, including us through him.

7 But knowledge is not prevalent among all. And some still eat that which has been offered to idols with consciousness of the idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

8 But food does not commend us to God. For neither if we eat do we gain anything, nor if we do not eat do we lose anything.

9 But watch out that your warrant does not itself become a cause of stumbling to those who are weak.

10 For if anyone sees you – you who have knowledge – reclining at table in an idolatrous temple, will not his conscience, with him being weak, be indoctrinated with the matter of eating things offered to idols?

11 And the weak brother, for whose sake Christ died, will be lost when confronted with your knowledge.

12 And in this way, in sinning against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience, you would be sinning against Christ.

13 That is why if food causes offence to my brother, I certainly will never eat meat, in order not to cause offence to my brother.

9

1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you. For you in the Lord are the seal of my apostleship.

3 My defence to those who examine me is as follows.

4 Do we not have authority to eat and drink?

5 Do we not have authority to take a sister-lady around as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord do, and Cephas does?

6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have a warrant not to work?

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

8 Do I just say these things on a human level? Or does the law not say these things too?

9 For in the law of Moses it stands written, “You shall not muzzle an ox which threshes.” Is God really concerned about oxen?

10 Or does he say it entirely for our sakes? Well, it was written for our sakes, because he who ploughs should plough in hope, and he who threshes should share his hope in hope.

11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it anything extraordinary if we reap your material things?

12 If others share in this authority over you, should not we all the more? But we have not used this authority; rather, we endure all things, in order not to create any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

13 Do you not know that those who work on holy matters eat from the income of the temple, and that those who officiate at the altar take a share in the sacrifices of the altar?

14 In this way the Lord also made provision for those who proclaim the gospel to live from the gospel.

15 But I have not used any of these things, and I have not written these things in order for it to be like that in my case. For it is better for me to die than that anyone should make my exultation void.

16 For if I preach the gospel, I do not have anything to glory about, for necessity constrains me. But woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if unwillingly, then I have still been entrusted with a stewardship.

18 So what is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may present the gospel of Christ without expense being incurred, so as not to exploit my authority with the gospel.

19 For although I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over the greater number of people.

20 And I became as a Jew to the Jews, in order to win over the Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law, in order that I might win over those under the law;

21 to those who are without the law I became as one without the law (not being without the law to God, but subject in the law to Christ) in order that I might win over those without the law.

22 To the weak I became as one weak, in order to win over the weak. I have become all sorts of things to all kinds of people in order to save some in all sorts of ways.

23 I do this on account of the gospel, in order that I may be a fellow sharer of it.

24 Do you not know that those who run in a stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? Run so as to win!

25 Every contestant exerts himself in every way. So they do it in order to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable one.

26 So then, I run like that, not falteringly. I box like that, not beating the air,

27 but I deal severely with my body and bring it into subjection, in case, having proclaimed this to others, I myself become disqualified.

10

1 And, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.

2 And they all had themselves baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

3 and they all ate the same spiritual food,

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

5 But God was not pleased with most of them, as is evidenced by how they were strewn around in the desert.

6 But these things were depictments for us, so that we should not be intent on evil things, as they for their part were intent.

7 And do not become idolaters, as some of them did, as indeed it stands written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play around.”

8 And let us not fornicate, as some of them fornicated, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them put him to the test and were destroyed by the serpents.

10 And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and were killed by the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened to those people as depictments, but they have been written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have converged.

12 So he who thinks he is standing, let him watch out that he does not fall.

13 Temptation has not got a grip on you, except for the human kind. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can take, but rather will also make an escape route with the temptation so that you can endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

15 I speak as to the prudent; judge for yourselves what I say.

16 The cup of blessing which we bless – is it not fellowship with the blood of Christ? The bread which we break – is it not fellowship with the body of Christ?

17 Because although many, we are one loaf of bread, one body – for we all partake of one loaf of bread.

18 Look at Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices involved with the altar?

19 What, then, do I say? That an idol is anything? Or that that which is offered to an idol is anything?

20 No, but I say that what the Gentiles offer, they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become involved with the demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord as well as the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the demons' table.

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

23 Everything is permitted me, but not everything is profitable. Everything is permitted me, but not everything edifies.

24 Let no-one seek his own interest, but rather let each seek that of another.

25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat-market, not enquiring in any way for conscience's sake.

26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness of it.

27 If any of the unbelievers invites you round and you wish to go, eat everything laid before you, not enquiring in any way for conscience's sake.

28 But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered to idols,” do not eat it on account of him who informed you and conscience. For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness of it.

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

30 If I partake of grace, why should I be vilified for that for which I give thanks?

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

32 Be inoffensive to both Jews and Greeks as well as to the church of God,

33 as I also please everyone in respect of all things, not seeking my own benefit, but that of the many so that that they may be saved.

11

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

2 But I praise you, brothers, because you remember me in all respects, and you hold on to the traditions as I handed them down to you.

3 And I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and that the head of the wife is the husband, and that the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man praying or prophesying with the head covered dishonours his head.

5 But every woman praying or prophesying with the head uncovered dishonours her head. For she and one shaven are one and the same.

6 For if a woman is not covered, let her have her hair cut. And if having her hair cut or being shaven is dishonouring to a woman, let her be covered.

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

8 For the man is not from the woman, but the woman is from the man.

9 For indeed, man was not created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man.

10 On account of this, the woman should have authority over her head, because of the angels.

11 Except that there is neither man without woman, nor woman without man, in the Lord.

12 For just as the woman is from the man, so is the man through the woman, but everything is from God.

13 Judge among yourselves. Is it becoming for a woman to pray to God uncovered?

14 Or does not even nature itself teach you that if a man lets his hair grow, it is to his dishonour?

15 But that if a woman lets her hair grow, it is to her honour. For hair has been given instead of a head-dress.

16 But if anyone is inclined to be contentious, we do not have any such custom, and neither do the churches of God.

17 Now as I advocate this, I don't praise you, because you meet together not for the better but for the worse.

18 For firstly, I hear that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you and to some extent I believe it.

19 For there must indeed be sects among you, in order that those who are approved might be made evident among you.

20 So when you meet together in one place, there is no question of eating the Lord's supper.

21 For each person first grabs his own supper when eating, and one goes hungry, while another becomes drunk.

22 For do you not have houses for eating and drinking in? Or do you despise the church of God, and put those who do not have anything to shame? What am I to say to you? Am I to praise you in this matter? I do not praise you.

23 For I had received from the Lord that which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus took bread on the night when he was betrayed.

24 And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take it and eat it. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

25 Similarly also saying of the cup after having supper, “This cup is the new covenant by my blood. Do this, and every time you drink, let it be in remembrance of me.”

26 For until he comes, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death.

27 So that whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

28 Let a man test himself then, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in this way.

29 For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment on himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.

30 This is why there are many weak and sick among you, and a fair number are falling asleep.

31 For if we were examining ourselves, we would not be being judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we should not be condemned with the world.

33 So, my brothers, when we meet together to eat, wait for each other.

34 And if anyone is famished, let him eat at home, so that you do not meet bringing on judgment. As for the remaining matters, when I come, I will sort them out.

12

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

2 You know how, when you were pagans, you were being drawn and led away to dumb idols.

3 So I am making it known to you that no-one speaking in the spirit of God says that Jesus is a curse, and no-one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by holy spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gracious gifts, but it is the same spirit involved.

5 And there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord is involved.

6 And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates everything in everyone.

7 But manifestation of the spirit is given to each person to be a benefit.

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

9 and to another it is faith by the same spirit, while to another it is gracious gifts of healing by the same spirit,

10 and to yet another the working of deeds of power, and to another prophecy, and to another discernings of spirits, and to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

11 One and the same spirit is active in all these things, apportioning to each individually as it wishes.

12 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts are of the one body, yet are many, whereas the body is one, so also is Christ.

13 For indeed, we have all been baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we have all been given drink at one spirit.

14 For indeed, the body is not one part, but many.

15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” surely it is not so, that on account of this it is not part of the body?

16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not a eye, I am not of the body,” surely it is not so, that on account of this it is not part of the body?

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

18 But as it is, God has appointed the parts – each one of them – in the body as he wished.

19 But if all were one part, where would the body be?

20 But as it is, there are many parts and one body.

21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you,” or again the head to the feet, “I don't need you.”

22 But how much more is it necessary that those parts of the body which seem to be weakest exist,

23 and that as for those parts of the body which we consider to be less honoured, that we invest them with all the more copious honour, then our uncomely parts have more copious comeliness,

24 while our comely parts do not need redress. But God composed the body, and gave more copious honour to that which lacked it,

25 in order that there should be no divisions in the body, but that the parts should care for each other in the same way.

26 And if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is glorified, all the parts rejoice with it.

27 And you are a body of Christ, and members individually.

28 And God appointed some in the church: firstly, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then deeds of power; then gracious gifts of healing, help, guidance, and various kinds of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of deeds of power?

30 Do all have gracious gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

31 Be zealous for the best gracious gifts. And yet I show you a superior way.

13

1 If I speak in the languages of men and of the angels, but do not have love, I am sounding copper or a clanging cymbal.

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

3 And if I distribute all my belongings, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, I am not profited in any way.

4 Love is longsuffering; it is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not vaunt itself; it does not become puffed up.

5 It does not behave in an unseemly way; it does not seek its own interests; it is not provoked; it does not keep an account of evil.

6 It does not rejoice over injustice, but rejoices with truth.

7 It bears all things; it believes all things; it puts hope in all things, it endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will be abolished. And if there are tongues, they will cease. And if there is knowledge, it will cease to be applicable.

9 But we know in part, and prophesy in part.

10 But when the culmination arrives, then that which is in part will be abolished.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But since I have become a man, I have done away with childish things.

12 For now we see through a mirror enigmatically, but then it will be face to face. At present I know in part, but then I will know as I am also known.

13 And now there remain faith, hope and love – these three. But the greatest of these is love.

14

1 Pursue love, and be zealous for the spiritual gifts – preferably that you may prophesy.

2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no-one understands him; rather, he speaks mysteries by the spirit.

3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and encouragement and consolation to men.

4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

5 I would like you all to speak in tongues, but more so that you should prophesy. For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church receives edification.

6 And now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you, unless I speak to you either in the form of revelation or in knowledge or in prophecy or in teaching?

7 Likewise, when inanimate objects give sound, whether the flute or the harp, if they do not show a distinction in the tones, how will the flute-playing or harp-playing be identified?

8 For indeed, if a trumpet gives an unclear sound, who will prepare himself for war?

9 So you too, if you do not give clear speech through the tongue, how will that which is spoken be understood? For you will just be speaking into the air.

10 Now for all the kinds of languages which there might be in the world, not one of them is meaningless.

11 So if I do not know the force of the sound, I will be to him who is speaking a barbarian, and he who is speaking will be a barbarian to me.

12 So you too, since you are zealots for spiritual gifts, seek them so that you may excel in the edification of the church.

13 So let him 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 without fruit.

15 What is the issue then? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in my mind. I will sing psalms in the spirit, and I will also sing psalms in my mind.

16 Otherwise, if you bless in the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the layman say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

17 For you give thanks well, but the other person is not edified.

18 I give thanks to my God that I speak in tongues more than all of you,

19 but in the church I would rather speak five words mindfully, so that I might instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers, do not be children in mentality. However, act like an infant with regard to evil, but become fully mature in mentality.

21 In the law it stands written, “By those of another language and by foreign lips I will speak to this people, and not even in this way will they listen to me, says the Lord.”

22 So tongues are a sign not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophecy is not for unbelievers, but for believers.

23 So if the whole church meets together and all speak in tongues, and laymen or unbelievers come along, will they not say that you are mad?

24 But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or layman comes along, he is confronted by all – he is challenged by all.

25 And in this way the secret things of his heart become manifest, and so he will fall face-down and worship God, declaring that God really is among us.

26 What is the issue then, brothers? Whenever you meet, each of you has a psalm – has teaching, has a tongue, has revelation, has interpretation. Let everything be for edification.

27 And if anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be two on an occasion or at most three, and in turn, and let one interpret,

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

29 However, let two or three prophets speak, and let the others use their discernment.

30 And if anything is revealed to anyone else sitting there, let the first one be silent.

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

32 And the spiritual gifts of the prophets are under control of the prophets.

33 For God is not characterized by disorder, but peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

34 Let your women in the churches be silent. For it is not permitted for them to speak, but to be in subjection, as the law also says.

35 But if they wish to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

36 Or was it from you that the word of God went out? Or was it to you alone that it came?

37 If anyone considers himself to be a prophet or spiritual person, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord's commandments.

38 But if anyone is ignorant of them, let him be ignorant.

39 So, brothers, be zealous about prophesying, and do not prevent speaking in tongues.

40 Let everything take place decently and in an orderly way.

15

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

2 by which you are also being saved, if you hold on to the words with which I preached the gospel to you, unless you have come to believe in vain.

3 For I have passed on to you in the first place that which I for my part received, namely that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

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

5 and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

6 After that he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom the majority remain to the present time, but some have fallen asleep.

7 Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

8 and last of all he was also seen by me, one untimely born, as it were.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not fit 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 towards me has not been in vain, but I have toiled more inordinately than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me.

11 So whether it is I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

12 But if Christ is preached, namely that he has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.

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

15 And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified against God, that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if the dead really are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

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

18 In that case those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.

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

20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep.

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

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

23 But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruit, then those of Christ at his coming.

24 Then the end comes, when he delivers the kingdom to him who is God and father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

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

26 The last enemy which will be abolished is death.

27 For he has made everything subject under his feet. And when he says, “Everything has been subjected,” it is evident that it is with the exception of him who made everything subject to him.

28 And when everything has been subjected to him, then the son himself will be subjected to him who subjected everything to him, in order that God may be all in all.

29 For otherwise, what will they who are being baptized in connection with the state of the dead do? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized in connection with the state of the dead?

30 And why do we endanger ourselves all the time?

31 I die every day, I swear by the exultation over you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

32 If I, humanly speaking, have done battle with wild beasts in Ephesus, what advantage do I have if the dead are not raised? Then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

33 Do not be led astray: bad company corrupts good habits.

34 Sober up as is right and do not sin. For some are ignorant of God. I speak to your shame.

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?”

36 You fool, what you sow – surely it does not give life unless it dies?

37 And what you sow – you do not sow the body which will come, but a bare seed, whether it happens to be of wheat or of some other crop.

38 But God gives it a body as he has willed, that is, to each kind of seed, its own body.

39 Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one kind for men, but another kind of flesh for cattle, and another for fish, and another for birds.

40 And there are upper-heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the upper-heavenly ones is of one kind whereas that of the earthly ones is of another kind.

41 The glory of the sun is of one kind, and the glory of the moon is of another kind, and the glory of the stars is of yet another kind, for one star differs from another star in glory.

42 So is also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in perishability; it is raised in indefectibility.

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44 It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.

45 So it also stands written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam – a life-giving spirit.

46 But the spiritual was not first, but the natural, then came the spiritual.

47 The first man was of the earth – of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As the one of dust was, so also are those of dust. And as the upper-heavenly one is, so also are the upper-heavenly ones.

49 And just as we bore the image of the one of dust, so also let us bear the image of the upper-heavenly one.

50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does perishability inherit indefectibility.

51 Look, I will tell you a mystery. We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

52 in an unsplittable instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised as indefectible, and we will be changed.

53 For this perishable state must put on indefectibility, and this mortal state must put on immortality.

54 And when this perishable state puts on indefectibility, and this mortal state puts on immortality, then the word which stands written will apply: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?”

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 So then, my beloved brothers, be firmly seated, steadfast, always abounding in the Lord's work, knowing that your labour is not in vain with the Lord.

16

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I instructed the churches of Galatia, you do the same.

2 On each first day of the week let each one of you put something aside, and contribute to the treasury whatever accords with how he is prospering, so that there will not be collections when I come.

3 But when I arrive, I will send whomever you recommend in writing to take your gracious gift to Jerusalem.

4 And if it is appropriate that I too should go, they can go with me.

5 And I will come to you, when I cross Macedonia, for I am crossing Macedonia.

6 It may be that I stay with you, or even that I spend the winter with you, so that you may send me on my way to wherever I am going.

7 I do not want to see you in passing now, but I hope to stay on with you for some time, if the Lord permits.

8 And I will stay on in Ephesus, until Pentecost.

9 For a very auspicious door stands open for me, but also many adversaries.

10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he feels at ease with you, for he carries out the work of the Lord, as I do.

11 So do not let anyone make light of him. And send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

12 And concerning our brother Apollos, I have greatly encouraged him to come to you with the brothers. But it was not his will at all to come now, but he will come when there is a good opportunity.

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, show yourselves men, show yourselves strong.

14 Let all your deeds be done in love.

15 And I urge you, brothers – you know the household of Stephanas, how he is the firstfruit of Achaea, and how they appointed themselves to the ministry of the saints –

16 that you too be subject to people like this and to every co-worker and everyone who labours.

17 And I rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaichus, in that these men have supplied what you lacked.

18 For they gave rest to my spirit and yours. So do acknowledge such folk.

19 The churches in Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you profoundly in the Lord, as does the church in their various houses.

20 All the brothers greet you. Greet each other with a holy kiss.

21 Here is the greeting of Paul with my own hand.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be a curse. Maranatha.

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

24 May my love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.