Chapter 1

Appeal to Unity

1 Paul, acalled as an apostle of Jesus Christ 1by bthe will of God, and cSosthenes our dbrother,

2 To athe church of God which is at bCorinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1saints cby calling, with all who in every place dcall on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

3 aGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 aI thank 1my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

5 that in everything you were aenriched in Him, in all bspeech and ball knowledge,

6 even as athe testimony concerning Christ was confirmed 1in you,

7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, aawaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8 awho will also confirm you to the end, blameless in bthe day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 aGod is faithful, through whom you were bcalled into cfellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 Now aI exhort you, bbrethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all 1agree and that there be no 2cdivisions among you, but that you be 3made complete in dthe same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.

12 Now I mean this, that aeach one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of bApollos,” and “I of cCephas,” and “I of Christ.”

13 1Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you abaptized 2in the name of Paul?

14 1I thank God that I abaptized none of you except aCrispus and bGaius,

15 so that no one would say you were baptized 1in my name.

16 Now I did baptize also the ahousehold of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

17 aFor Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, bnot in 1cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

The Wisdom of God

18 For the word of the cross is afoolishness to bthose who 1are perishing, but to us who 2are being saved it is cthe power of God.

19 For it is written,

“aI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

20 aWhere is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of bthis age? Has not God cmade foolish the wisdom of dthe world?

21 For since in the wisdom of God athe world through its wisdom did not come to know God, bGod was well-pleased through the cfoolishness of the 1message preached to dsave those who believe.

22 For indeed aJews ask for 1signs and Greeks search for wisdom;

23 but we preach 1aChrist crucified, bto Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles cfoolishness,

24 but to those who are athe called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ bthe power of God and cthe wisdom of God.

25 Because the afoolishness of God is wiser than men, and bthe weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For 1consider your acalling, brethren, that there were bnot many wise according to 2the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

27 but aGod has chosen the foolish things of bthe world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of bthe world to shame the things which are strong,

28 and the base things of athe world and the despised God has chosen, bthe things that are not, so that He may cnullify the things that are,

29 so that ano 1man may boast before God.

30 But 1by His doing you are in aChrist Jesus, who became to us bwisdom from God, 2and crighteousness and dsanctification, and eredemption,

31 so that, just as it is written, “aLet him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”