1

1 From Paul, called by God's will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Sosthenes our brother.

2 To God's church that is in Corinth: To those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to be God's people. Together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place--he's their Lord and ours!

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving for the Corinthians

4 I thank my God always for you, because of God's grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus.

5 That is, you were made rich through him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge,

6 in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you.

7 The result is that you aren't missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

8 He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Rival groups in Corinth

10 Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don't be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose.

11 My brothers and sisters, Chloe's people gave me some information about you, that you're fighting with each other.

12 What I mean is this: that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul,""I belong to Apollos,""I belong to Cephas,""I belong to Christ."

13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul's name?

14 Thank God that I didn't baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

15 so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name!

16 Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too. Otherwise, I don't know if I baptized anyone else.

17 Christ didn't send me to baptize but to preach the good news. And Christ didn't send me to preach the good news with clever words so that Christ's cross won't be emptied of its meaning. Human wisdom versus the cross

18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

19 It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent.

20 Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today's debaters? Hasn't God made the wisdom of the world foolish?

21 In God's wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn't come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching.

22 Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,

23 but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

24 But to those who are called--both Jews and Greeks--Christ is God's power and God's wisdom.

25 This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters! By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class.

27 But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong.

28 And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life--what is considered to be nothing--to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing.

29 So no human being can brag in God's presence.

30 It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus. He became wisdom from God for us. This means that he made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us.

31 This is consistent with what was written: The one who brags should brag in the Lord!

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1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn't come preaching God's secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom.

2 I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified.

3 I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking.

4 My message and my preaching weren't presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

5 I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God. Definition of wisdom

6 What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn't a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today's leaders who are being reduced to nothing.

7 We talk about God's wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory.

8 It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory!

9 But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven't crossed the mind of any human being.

10 God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God.

11 Who knows a person's depths except their own spirit that lives in them? In the same way, no one has known the depths of God except God's Spirit.

12 We haven't received the world's spirit but God's Spirit so that we can know the things given to us by God.

13 These are the things we are talking about--not with words taught by human wisdom but with words taught by the Spirit--we are interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people.

14 But people who are unspiritual don't accept the things from God's Spirit. They are foolishness to them and can't be understood, because they can only be comprehended in a spiritual way.

15 Spiritual people comprehend everything, but they themselves aren't understood by anyone.

16 Who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him? But we have the mind of Christ. Wisdom applied to divisions in the church

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1 Brothers and sisters, I couldn't talk to you like spiritual people but like unspiritual people, like babies in Christ.

2 I gave you milk to drink instead of solid food, because you weren't up to it yet.

3 Now you are still not up to it because you are still unspiritual. When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren't you unspiritual and living by human standards?

4 When someone says, "I belong to Paul," and someone else says, "I belong to Apollos," aren't you acting like people without the Spirit?

5 After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord:

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow.

7 Because of this, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow.

8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together, but each one will receive their own reward for their own labor.

9 We are God's coworkers, and you are God's field, God's building.

10 I laid a foundation like a wise master builder according to God's grace that was given to me, but someone else is building on top of it. Each person needs to pay attention to the way they build on it.

11 No one can lay any other foundation besides the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 So, whether someone builds on top of the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, or hay,

13 each one's work will be clearly shown. The day will make it clear, because it will be revealed with fire--the fire will test the quality of each one's work.

14 If anyone's work survives, they'll get a reward.

15 But if anyone's work goes up in flames, they'll lose it. However, they themselves will be saved as if they had gone through a fire.

16 Don't you know that you are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in you?

17 If someone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person, because God's temple is holy, which is what you are.

18 Don't fool yourself. If some of you think they are worldly-wise, then they should become foolish so that they can become wise.

19 This world's wisdom is foolishness to God. As it's written, He catches the wise in their cleverness.

20 And also, The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are silly.

21 So then, no one should brag about human beings. Everything belongs to you--

22 Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, things in the present, things in the future--everything belongs to you,

23 but you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Paul's role as an apostle

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1 So a person should think about us this way--as servants of Christ and managers of God's secrets.

2 In this kind of situation, what is expected of a manager is that they prove to be faithful.

3 I couldn't care less if I'm judged by you or by any human court; I don't even judge myself.

4 I'm not aware of anything against me, but that doesn't make me innocent, because the Lord is the one who judges me.

5 So don't judge anything before the right time--wait until the Lord comes. He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people's motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God.

6 Brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit. I've done this so that you can learn what it means not to go beyond what has been written and so none of you will become arrogant by supporting one of us against the other.

7 Who says that you are better than anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive? And if you received it, then why are you bragging as if you didn't receive it?

8 You've been filled already! You've become rich already! You rule like kings without us! I wish you did rule so that we could be kings with you!

9 I suppose that God has shown that we apostles are at the end of the line. We are like prisoners sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle in the world, both to angels and to humans.

10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise through Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are dishonored!

11 Up to this very moment we are hungry, thirsty, wearing rags, abused, and homeless.

12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are insulted, we respond with a blessing; when we are harassed, we put up with it;

13 when our reputation is attacked, we are encouraging. We have become the scum of the earth, the waste that runs off everything, up to the present time.

14 I'm not writing these things to make you ashamed but to warn you, since you are my loved children.

15 You may have ten thousand mentors in Christ, but you don't have many fathers. I gave birth to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

16 so I encourage you to follow my example.

17 This is why I've sent Timothy to you; he's my loved and trusted child in the Lord; he'll remind you about my way of life in Christ Jesus. He'll teach the same way as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Some have become arrogant as if I'm not coming to see you.

19 But, if the Lord is willing, I'll come to you soon. Then I won't focus on what these arrogant people say, but I'll find out what power they possess.

20 God's kingdom isn't about words but about power.

21 Which do you want? Should I come to you with a big stick to punish you, or with love and a gentle spirit? Confronting sexual immorality in the church

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1 Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn't even heard of among the Gentiles--a man is having sex with his father's wife!

2 And you're proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community.

3 Though I'm absent physically, I'm present in the spirit and I've already judged the man who did this as if I were present.

4 When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, I'll be present in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus.

5 At that time we need to hand this man over to Satan to destroy his human weakness so that his spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord.

6 Your bragging isn't good! Don't you know that a tiny grain of yeast makes a whole batch of dough rise?

7 Clean out the old yeast so you can be a new batch of dough, given that you're supposed to be unleavened bread. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed,

8 so let's celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of honesty and truth, not with old yeast or with the yeast of evil and wickedness.

9 I wrote to you in my earlier letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

10 But I wasn't talking about the sexually immoral people in the outside world by any means--or the greedy, or the swindlers, or people who worship false gods--otherwise, you would have to leave the world entirely!

11 But now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls themselves "brother" or "sister" who is sexually immoral, greedy, someone who worships false gods, an abusive person, a drunk, or a swindler. Don't even eat with anyone like this.

12 What do I care about judging outsiders? Isn't it your job to judge insiders?

13 God will judge outsiders. Expel the evil one from among you! Confronting lawsuits in the church

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1 When someone in your assembly has a legal case against another member, do they dare to take it to court to be judged by people who aren't just, instead of by God's people?

2 Or don't you know that God's people will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to judge trivial cases?

3 Don't you know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary things?

4 So then if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint people as judges who aren't respected by the church?

5 I'm saying this because you should be ashamed of yourselves! Isn't there one person among you who is wise enough to pass judgment between believers?

6 But instead, does a brother or sister have a lawsuit against another brother or sister, and do they do this in front of unbelievers?

7 The fact that you have lawsuits against each other means that you've already lost your case. Why not be wronged instead? Why not be cheated?

8 But instead you are doing wrong and cheating--and you're doing it to your own brothers and sisters.

9 Don't you know that people who are unjust won't inherit God's kingdom? Don't be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse,

10 thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won't inherit God's kingdom.

11 That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Avoid sexual immorality

12 I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful. I have the freedom to do anything, but I won't be controlled by anything.

13 Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, and yet God will do away with both. The body isn't for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

14 God has raised the Lord and will raise us through his power.

15 Don't you know that your bodies are parts of Christ? So then, should I take parts of Christ and make them a part of someone who is sleeping around? No way!

16 Don't you know that anyone who is joined to someone who is sleeping around is one body with that person? The scripture says, The two will become one flesh.

17 The one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

18 Avoid sexual immorality! Every sin that a person can do is committed outside the body, except those who engage in sexual immorality commit sin against their own bodies.

19 Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don't you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don't belong to yourselves?

20 You have been bought and paid for, so honor God with your body. Marriage and celibacy

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1 Now, about what you wrote: "It's good for a man not to have sex with a woman."

2 Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband because of sexual immorality.

3 The husband should meet his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should do the same for her husband.

4 The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

5 Don't refuse to meet each other's needs unless you both agree for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 I'm saying this to give you permission; it's not a command.

7 I wish all people were like me, but each has a particular gift from God: one has this gift, and another has that one.

8 I'm telling those who are single and widows that it's good for them to stay single like me.

9 But if they can't control themselves, they should get married, because it's better to marry than to burn with passion.

10 I'm passing on the Lord's command to those who are married: A wife shouldn't leave her husband,

11 but if she does leave him, then she should stay single or be reconciled to her husband. And a man shouldn't divorce his wife.

12 I'm telling everyone else (the Lord didn't say this specifically): If a believer has a wife who doesn't believe, and she agrees to live with him, then he shouldn't divorce her.

13 If a woman has a husband who doesn't believe and he agrees to live with her, then she shouldn't divorce him.

14 The husband who doesn't believe belongs to God because of his wife, and the wife who doesn't believe belongs to God because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be contaminated by the world, but now they are spiritually set apart.

15 But if a spouse who doesn't believe chooses to leave, then let them leave. The brother or sister isn't tied down in these circumstances. God has called you to peace.

16 How do you know as a wife if you will save your husband? Or how do you know as a husband if you will save your wife?

17 Nevertheless, each person should live the kind of life that the Lord assigned when he called each one. This is what I teach in all the churches.

18 If someone was circumcised when called, he shouldn't try to reverse it. If someone wasn't circumcised when he was called, he shouldn't be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing; not being circumcised is nothing. What matters is keeping God's commandments.

20 Each person should stay in the situation they were in when they were called.

21 If you were a slave when you were called, don't let it bother you. But if you are actually able to be free, take advantage of the opportunity.

22 Anyone who was a slave when they were called by the Lord has the status of being the Lord's free person. In the same way, anyone who was a free person when they were called is Christ's slave.

23 You were bought and paid for. Don't become slaves of people.

24 So then, brothers and sisters, each of you should stay with God in the situation you were in when you were called.

25 I don't have a command from the Lord about people who have never been married, but I'll give you my opinion as someone you can trust because of the Lord's mercy.

26 So I think this advice is good because of the present crisis: Stay as you are.

27 If you are married, don't get a divorce. If you are divorced, don't try to find a spouse.

28 But if you do marry, you haven't sinned; and if someone who hasn't been married gets married, they haven't sinned. But married people will have a hard time, and I'm trying to spare you that.

29 This is what I'm saying, brothers and sisters: The time has drawn short. From now on, those who have wives should be like people who don't have them.

30 Those who are sad should be like people who aren't crying. Those who are happy should be like people who aren't happy. Those who buy something should be like people who don't have possessions.

31 Those who use the world should be like people who aren't preoccupied with it, because this world in its present form is passing away.

32 I want you to be free from concerns. A man who isn't married is concerned about the Lord's concerns--how he can please the Lord.

33 But a married man is concerned about the world's concerns--how he can please his wife.

34 His attention is divided. A woman who isn't married or who is a virgin is concerned about the Lord's concerns so that she can be dedicated to God in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the world's concerns--how she can please her husband.

35 I'm saying this for your own advantage. It's not to restrict you but rather to promote effective and consistent service to the Lord without distraction.

36 If someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward an unmarried woman whom he knows, and if he has strong feelings and it seems like the right thing to do, he should do what he wants--he's not sinning--they should get married.

37 But if a man stands firm in his decision, and doesn't feel the pressure, but has his own will under control, he does right if he decides in his own heart not to marry the woman.

38 Therefore, the one who marries the unmarried woman does right, and the one who doesn't get married will do even better.

39 A woman is obligated to stay in her marriage as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only it should be a believer in the Lord.

40 But in my opinion, she will be happier if she stays the way she is. And I think that I have God's Spirit too. Meat sacrificed to false gods

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1 Now concerning meat that has been sacrificed to a false god: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds people up.

2 If anyone thinks they know something, they don't yet know as much as they should know.

3 But if someone loves God, then they are known by God.

4 So concerning the actual food involved in these sacrifices to false gods, we know that a false god isn't anything in this world, and that there is no God except for the one God.

5 Granted, there are so-called "gods," in heaven and on the earth, as there are many gods and many lords.

6 However, for us believers, ,There is one God the Father. All things come from him, and we belong to him. And there is one Lord Jesus Christ. All things exist through him, and we live through him.

7 But not everybody knows this. Some are eating this food as though it really is food sacrificed to a real idol, because they were used to idol worship until now. Their conscience is weak because it has been damaged.

8 Food won't bring us close to God. We're not missing out if we don't eat, and we don't have any advantage if we do eat.

9 But watch out or else this freedom of yours might be a problem for those who are weak.

10 Suppose someone sees you (the person who has knowledge) eating in an idol's temple. Won't the person with a weak conscience be encouraged to eat the meat sacrificed to false gods?

11 The weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed by your knowledge.

12 You sin against Christ if you sin against your brothers and sisters and hurt their weak consciences this way.

13 This is why, if food causes the downfall of my brother or sister, I won't eat meat ever again, or else I may cause my brother or sister to fall. Waiving rights for the gospel

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1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord?

2 If I'm not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I'm an apostle.

3 This is my defense against those who criticize me.

4 Don't we have the right to eat and drink?

5 Don't we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?

6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who don't have the right to not work for our living?

7 Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn't drink its milk?

8 I'm not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn't the Law itself say these things?

9 In Moses' Law it's written: You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing. Is God worried about oxen,

10 or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce.

11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you?

12 If others have these rights over you, don't we deserve them all the more? However, we haven't made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don't put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

13 Don't you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar?

14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel.

15 But I haven't taken advantage of this. And I'm not writing this so that it will be done for me. It's better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this!

16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I'm obligated to do it. I'm in trouble if I don't preach the gospel.

17 If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I'm forced to do it, then I've been charged with a responsibility.

18 What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That's why I don't use the rights to which I'm entitled through the gospel.

19 Although I'm free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them.

20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I'm under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law).

21 I act like I'm outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I'm not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ).

22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means.

23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.

24 Don't you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win.

25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies.

26 So now this is how I run--not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing.

27 Rather, I'm landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won't be disqualified after preaching to others. Warning from the wilderness generation

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1 Brothers and sisters, I want you to be sure of the fact that our ancestors were all under the cloud and they all went through the sea.

2 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

3 All ate the same spiritual food,

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

5 However, God was unhappy with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

6 These things were examples for us, so we won't crave evil things like they did.

7 Don't worship false gods like some of them did, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and they got up to play.

8 Let's not practice sexual immorality, like some of them did, and twenty-three thousand died in one day.

9 Let's not test Christ, like some of them did, and were killed by the snakes.

10 Let's not grumble, like some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

11 These things happened to them as an example and were written as a warning for us to whom the end of time has come.

12 So those who think they are standing need to watch out or else they may fall.

13 No temptation has seized you that isn't common for people. But God is faithful. He won't allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it. Avoid false gods to glorify God

14 So then, my dear friends, run away from the worship of false gods!

15 I'm talking to you like you are sensible people. Think about what I'm saying.

16 Isn't the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Isn't the loaf of bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

17 Since there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread.

18 Look at the people of Israel. Don't those who eat the sacrifices share from the altar?

19 What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to a false god is anything, or that a false god is anything?

20 No, but this kind of sacrifice is sacrificed to demons and not to God. I don't want you to be sharing in demons.

21 You can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you can't participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

22 Or should we make the Lord jealous? We aren't stronger than he is, are we?

23 Everything is permitted, but everything isn't beneficial. Everything is permitted, but everything doesn't build others up.

24 No one should look out for their own advantage, but they should look out for each other.

25 Eat everything that is sold in the marketplace, without asking questions about it because of your conscience.

26 The earth and all that is in it belong to the Lord.

27 If an unbeliever invites you to eat with them and you want to go, eat whatever is served, without asking questions because of your conscience.

28 But if someone says to you, "This meat was sacrificed in a temple," then don't eat it for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.

29 Now when I say "conscience" I don't mean yours but the other person's. Why should my freedom be judged by someone else's conscience?

30 If I participate with gratitude, why should I be blamed for food I thank God for?

31 So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you should do it all for God's glory.

32 Don't offend either Jews or Greeks, or God's church.

33 This is the same thing that I do. I please everyone in everything I do. I don't look out for my own advantage, but I look out for many people so that they can be saved. n

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1 Follow my example, just like I follow Christ's. Appropriate dress in worship

2 I praise you because you remember all my instructions, and you hold on to the traditions exactly as I handed them on to you.

3 Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered shames his head.

5 Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head. It is the same thing as having her head shaved.

6 If a woman doesn't cover her head, then she should have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have short hair or to be shaved, then she should keep her head covered.

7 A man shouldn't have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is man's glory.

8 Man didn't have his origin from woman, but woman from man;

9 and man wasn't created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man.

10 Because of this a woman should have authority over her head, because of the angels.

11 However, woman isn't independent from man, and man isn't independent from woman in the Lord.

12 As woman came from man so also man comes from woman. But everything comes from God.

13 Judge for yourselves: Is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

14 Doesn't nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him;

15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? This is because her long hair is given to her for a covering.

16 But if someone wants to argue about this, we don't have such a custom, nor do God's churches. The community meal

17 Now I don't praise you as I give the following instruction because when you meet together, it does more harm than good.

18 First of all, when you meet together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it.

19 It's necessary that there are groups among you, to make it clear who is genuine.

20 So when you get together in one place, it isn't to eat the Lord's meal.

21 Each of you goes ahead and eats a private meal. One person goes hungry while another is drunk.

22 Don't you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on God's churches and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Will I praise you? No, I don't praise you in this.

23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread.

24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me."

25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me."

26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

27 This is why those who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord inappropriately will be guilty of the Lord's body and blood.

28 Each individual should test himself or herself, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way.

29 Those who eat and drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their own judgment.

30 Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died.

31 But if we had judged ourselves, we wouldn't be judged.

32 However, we are disciplined by the Lord when we are judged so that we won't be judged and condemned along with the whole world.

33 For these reasons, my brothers and sisters, when you get together to eat, wait for each other.

34 If some of you are hungry, they should eat at home so that getting together doesn't lead to judgment. I will give directions about the other things when I come. Spiritual gifts

12

1 Brothers and sisters, I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.

2 You know that when you were Gentiles you were often misled by false gods that can't even speak.

3 So I want to make it clear to you that no one says, "Jesus is cursed!" when speaking by God's Spirit, and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;

5 and there are different ministries and the same Lord;

6 and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good.

8 A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit,

9 faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit,

10 performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another.

11 All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person.

12 Christ is just like the human body--a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many.

13 We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink.

14 Certainly the body isn't one part but many.

15 If the foot says, "I'm not part of the body because I'm not a hand," does that mean it's not part of the body?

16 If the ear says, "I'm not part of the body because I'm not an eye," does that mean it's not part of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing? And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell?

18 But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted.

19 If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body?

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

21 So the eye can't say to the hand, "I don't need you," or in turn, the head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."

22 Instead, the parts of the body that people think are the weakest are the most necessary.

23 The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we honor the most. The private parts of our body that aren't presentable are the ones that are given the most dignity.

24 The parts of our body that are presentable don't need this. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the part with less honor

25 so that there won't be division in the body and so the parts might have mutual concern for each other.

26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it.

27 You are the body of Christ and parts of each other.

28 In the church, God has appointed first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, the ability to help others, leadership skills, different kinds of tongues.

29 All aren't apostles, are they? All aren't prophets, are they? All aren't teachers, are they? All don't perform miracles, do they?

30 All don't have gifts of healing, do they? All don't speak in different tongues, do they? All don't interpret, do they?

31 Use your ambition to try to get the greater gifts. And I'm going to show you an even better way. Love: the universal spiritual gift

13

1 If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don't have love, I'm a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don't have love, I'm nothing.

3 If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I've done but I don't have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever.

4 Love is patient, love is kind, it isn't jealous, it doesn't brag, it isn't arrogant,

5 it isn't rude, it doesn't seek its own advantage, it isn't irritable, it doesn't keep a record of complaints,

6 it isn't happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth.

7 Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will be brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop. As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end.

9 We know in part and we prophesy in part;

10 but when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end.

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I've put an end to childish things.

12 Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known.

13 Now faith, hope, and love remain--these three things--and the greatest of these is love. Spiritual gifts and church order

14

1 Pursue love, and use your ambition to try to get spiritual gifts but especially so that you might prophesy.

2 This is because those who speak in a tongue don't speak to people but to God; no one understands it--they speak mysteries by the Spirit.

3 Those who prophesy speak to people, building them up, and giving them encouragement and comfort.

4 People who speak in a tongue build up themselves; those who prophesy build up the church.

5 I wish that all of you spoke in tongues, but I'd rather you could prophesy. Those who prophesy are more important than those who speak in tongues, unless they are able to interpret them so that the church might be built up.

6 After all, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation, some knowledge, a prophecy, or a teaching?

7 Likewise, things that aren't alive like a harp or a lyre can make a sound, but if there aren't different notes in the sounds they make, how will the tune from the harp or the lyre be recognized?

8 And if a trumpet call is unrecognizable, then who will prepare for battle?

9 It's the same way with you: If you don't use language that is easy to understand when you speak in a tongue, then how will anyone understand what is said?

10 It will be as if you are speaking into the air! There are probably many language families in the world, and none of them are without meaning.

11 So if I don't know the meaning of the language, then I will be like a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be like foreigners to me.

12 The same holds true for you: since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, use your ambition to try to work toward being the best at building up the church.

13 Therefore, those who speak in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret.

14 If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind isn't productive.

15 What should I do? I'll pray in the Spirit, but I'll pray with my mind too; I'll sing a psalm in the Spirit, but I'll sing the psalm with my mind too.

16 After all, if you praise God in the Spirit, how will the people who aren't trained in that language say "Amen!" to your thanksgiving, when they don't know what you are saying?

17 You may offer a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, but the other person is not being built up.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

19 But in the church I'd rather speak five words in my right mind than speak thousands of words in a tongue so that I can teach others.

20 Brothers and sisters, don't be like children in the way you think. Well, be babies when it comes to evil, but be adults in your thinking.

21 In the Law it is written: I will speak to this people with foreign languages and foreigners' lips, but they will not even listen to me this way, says the Lord.

22 So then, tongues are a sign for those who don't believe, not for those who believe. But prophecy is a sign for believers, not for those who don't believe.

23 So suppose that the whole church is meeting and everyone is speaking in tongues. If people come in who are outsiders or unbelievers, won't they say that you are out of your minds?

24 But if everyone is prophesying when an unbeliever or outsider comes in, they are tested by all and called to account by all.

25 The secrets of their hearts are brought to light. When that happens, they will fall on their faces and worship God, proclaiming out loud that truly God is among you!

26 What is the outcome of this, brothers and sisters? When you meet together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All these things must be done to build up the church.

27 If some speak in a tongue, then let two or at most three speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.

28 However, if there is no interpreter, then they should keep quiet in the meeting. They should speak privately to themselves and to God.

29 In the case of prophets, let two or three speak and have the rest evaluate what is said.

30 And if some revelation comes to someone else who is sitting down, the first one should be quiet.

31 You can all prophesy one at a time so that everyone can learn and be encouraged.

32 The spirits of prophets are under the control of the prophets.

33 God isn't a God of disorder but of peace. Like in all the churches of God's people,

34 the women should be quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they need to get under control, just as the Law says.

35 If they want to learn something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is disgraceful for a woman to talk during the meeting.

36 Did the word of God originate with you? Has it come only to you?

37 If anyone thinks that they are prophets or "spiritual people," then let them recognize that what I'm writing to you is the Lord's command.

38 If someone doesn't recognize this, they aren't recognized.

39 So then, brothers and sisters, use your ambition to try to get the gift of prophecy, but don't prevent speaking in tongues.

40 Everything should be done with dignity and in proper order. The resurrection

15

1 Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand.

2 You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing.

3 I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures,

4 he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.

5 He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve,

6 and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once--most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8 and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time.

9 I'm the least important of the apostles. I don't deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God's church.

10 I am what I am by God's grace, and God's grace hasn't been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others--that is, it wasn't me but the grace of God that is with me.

11 So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

12 So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, "There's no resurrection of the dead"?

13 If there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn't been raised either.

14 If Christ hasn't been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless.

15 We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn't raise him if it's the case that the dead aren't raised.

16 If the dead aren't raised, then Christ hasn't been raised either.

17 If Christ hasn't been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins,

18 and what's more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever.

19 If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He's the first crop of the harvest of those who have died.

21 Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.

22 In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ.

23 Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest, then those who belong to Christ at his coming,

24 and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end.

25 It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet.

26 Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end,

27 since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control.

28 But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren't raised, then why are they being baptized for them?

30 And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day?

31 Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I'm facing death every day.

32 From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren't raised, let's eat and drink because tomorrow we'll die.

33 Don't be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.

34 Sober up by acting like you should and don't sin. Some of you are ignorant about God--I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!

35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"

36 Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't come back to life unless it dies.

37 What you put in the ground doesn't have the shape that it will have, but it's a bare grain of wheat or some other seed.

38 God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape.

39 All flesh isn't alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind.

40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory.

41 The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory).

42 It's the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won't ever decay.

43 It's degraded when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in glory. It's weak when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in power.

44 It's a physical body when it's put into the ground, but it's raised as a spiritual body. If there's a physical body, there's also a spiritual body.

45 So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person, and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life.

46 But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one--the spiritual body comes afterward.

47 The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven.

48 The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people.

49 We will look like the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.

50 This is what I'm saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of heaven. Something that rots can't inherit something that doesn't decay.

51 Listen, I'm telling you a secret: All of us won't die, but we will all be changed--

52 in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won't decay, and we will be changed.

53 It's necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can't decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can't die.

54 And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory.

55 Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death? (

56 Death's sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.)

57 Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

58 As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn't going to be for nothing in the Lord. Collection for Jerusalem

16

1 Concerning the collection of money for God's people: You should do what I have directed the churches in Galatia to do.

2 On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside whatever you can afford from what you earn so that the collection won't be delayed until I come.

3 Then when I get there, I'll send whomever you approve to Jerusalem with letters of recommendation to bring your gift.

4 If it seems right for me to go too, they'll travel with me. Plans to visit

5 I'll come to you after I go through Macedonia, and because I'm going through Macedonia,

6 I may stay with you or even spend the winter there in Corinth so that you can send me on my way to wherever I'm off to next.

7 I don't want to make a quick visit to you, since I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord lets it happen.

8 I'll stay here in Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.

9 In spite of the fact that there are many opponents, a big and productive opportunity has opened up for my mission here.

10 If Timothy comes to you, be sure that he has no reason to be afraid while he's with you, because he does the work of the Lord just like I do.

11 So don't let anyone disrespect him, but send him on in peace so he can join me. I'm waiting for him along with the brothers and sisters.

12 Concerning Apollos our brother: I strongly encouraged him to visit you with the brothers and sisters, but he didn't want to go now. He'll come when he has an opportunity. Final greeting

13 Stay awake, stand firm in your faith, be brave, be strong.

14 Everything should be done in love.

15 Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to do something else. You know that the people in Stephanas' household were the first crop of the harvest to come from the mission to Achaia. They have dedicated themselves to the service of God's people.

16 So accept the authority of people like them and of anyone who cooperates and works hard.

17 I'm so happy that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived; they've made up for my missing you.

18 Indeed they've provided my spirit and yours with a much-needed rest. Therefore, give them proper recognition.

19 The churches in the province of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the church that meets in their house.

20 All the brothers and sisters greet you. You in turn should greet each other with a holy kiss.

21 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting--Paul.

22 A curse on anyone who doesn't love the Lord. Come, Lord!

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

24 My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus.