1 Corinthians 1–4

1Paul, ^acalled to be an apostle of Jesus Christ ^bthrough the will of God, and ^cSosthenes our brother, ²Unto the church of God which is at ^dCorinth, ^eto them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^fcalled to be ^gsaints, with all that in every place ^hcall upon the name of Jesus Christ ⁱour Lord, ^jboth theirs and ours: ^3kGrace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

^4lI thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; ⁵That in every thing ye are enriched by him, ^min all utterance, and in all ^mnknowledge; ⁶Even as ^othe testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: ⁷So that ye come behind in no gift; ^pwaiting for the ^†coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: ^8qWho shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be ^rblameless ^rrin the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9sGod is faithful, ^ssby whom ye were called unto ^tthe fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now ^uI beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^vthat ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no ^†divisions among you; but that ye be ^wperfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them ^xwhich are of the house of Chloe, that there are ^ycontentions among you. ¹²Now this I say, that ^zevery one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of ^aApollos; and I of ^bCephas; and I of Christ. ^13cIs Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye ^dbaptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that ^eI baptized none of you, but ^fCrispus and ^gGaius; ¹⁵Lest any should say that I had ^dbaptized in mine own name. ¹⁶And I baptized also the household of ^hStephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

¹⁷For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: ⁱnot with wisdom of ^||words, lest the cross of Christ should be ^kmade of none effect. ¹⁸For the preaching of the cross is to ^lthem that perish ^mfoolishness; but unto us ⁿwhich are saved it is ^othe power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, ^pI will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will ^qbring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ²⁰Where is the wise? ^rwhere is ^sthe scribe? where is the disputer ^ssof this world? ^thath not God ^umade foolish the wisdom ^uuof this world? ^21vFor after that ^pin the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, ^vvit pleased God by the ^mfoolishness of preaching to save them that believe. ²²For ^wthe Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: ²³But ^wwwe preach Christ crucified, ^xunto the Jews a ^ystumblingblock, and unto the Greeks ^mfoolishness; ²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^othe power of God, and ^zthe wisdom of God. ²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ²⁶For ^aye see your ^bcalling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, ^cnot many ^dmighty, not many ^enoble, are called: ²⁷But ^fGod hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and ^gthings which are not, ^hto bring to nought things that are: ²⁹ⁱThat no flesh should glory in his presence. ³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us ^zwisdom, and ^krighteousness, and ^lsanctification, and ^mredemption: ³¹That, according as it is written, ⁿHe that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

2And I, brethren, when I came to you, ^acame not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you ^bthe testimony of God. ²For I determined not to know any thing among you, ^csave Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³And ^dI was with you ^ein weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching was ^anot with ^||enticing words of man’s wisdom, but ^fin demonstration of the Spirit and of power: ⁵That your faith should not ^†stand in the wisdom of men, but ^gin the power of God.

⁶Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are ^hperfect: yet ^anot the wisdom ⁱof this world, nor of the ^pprinces of this world, ^kthat come to nought: ⁷But we speak the wisdom of God ^lin a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, ^mwhich God ordained ⁿbefore the world unto our glory: ^8oWhich none of the ^pprinces ⁱof this world knew: for ^qhad they known it, they would not have crucified ^rthe Lord of glory. ⁹But as it is written, ^sEye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have ^tentered into the heart of man, the things which God hath ^uprepared for them that love him. ¹⁰But ^xGod hath revealed them unto us ^yby his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ^11zFor what man knoweth the things of a man, ^asave the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but ^bthe Spirit of God. ¹²Now ^cwe have received, not the spirit of the world, but ^cthe spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¹³Which things also we speak, ^dnot in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; ^ecomparing spiritual things with spiritual. ^14fBut the ^gnatural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: ^hfor they are foolishness unto him: ⁱneither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵But ^khe that is spiritual ^||ljudgeth all things, yet he himself is ^||ljudged of no man. ^16mFor who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he ^†may instruct him? But ⁿwe have the mind of Christ.

3And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto ^abspiritual, but as unto ^accarnal, even as unto ^dbabes in Christ. ²I have fed you with ^emilk, and not with meat: ^ffor hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. ³For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you ^genvying, and ^ghstrife, and ^||divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk ^†as men? ⁴For ⁱwhile one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of ^jApollos; are ye not carnal?

⁵Who then is Paul, and who is ^jApollos, but ^kministers by whom ^lye believed, ^meven as the Lord gave to every man? ⁶ⁿI have planted, ^joApollos watered; ^pbut God gave the increase. ⁷So then ^qneither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. ⁸Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: ^rand every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. ⁹For ^swe are labourers together with God: ye are God’s ^||husbandry, ye are ^tGod’s building. ^10uAccording to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, ^xI have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. ¹¹For ^yother foundation can no man lay than that is laid, ^zwhich is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; ^13aEvery man’s work shall be made manifest: for ^bthe day ^cshall declare it, because ^dit ^†shall be revealed ^eby fire; and ^ethe fire shall ^ftry every man’s work of what sort it is. ¹⁴If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, ^ahe shall receive a reward. ¹⁵If any man’s work shall be burned, ^ghe shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as ^ehby fire. ¹⁶ⁱKnow ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that ^jthe Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ¹⁷If any man ^||defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. ^18kLet no man deceive himself. ^lIf any man among you seemeth to be wise in ^mthis world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. ¹⁹For ⁿthe wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ^oHe taketh the wise in their own ^pcraftiness. ²⁰And again, ^qThe Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. ²¹Therefore ^rlet no man glory ^sin men. For ^tall things are yours; ²²Whether Paul, or ^uApollos, or ^uCephas, or the world, or life, or death, or ^xthings present, or things to come; all are yours; ²³And ^yye are Christ’s; and ^zChrist is God’s.

4Let a man so account of us, as of ^athe ministers of Christ, and ^bstewards of ^cthe mysteries of God. ²Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found ^dfaithful. ³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be ^ejudged of you, or of man’s ^†judgment: yea, I ^ejudge not mine own self. ⁴For ^fI know nothing by myself; ^gyet am I not hereby justified: but he that ^ejudgeth me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore ^hjudge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, ⁱwho both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and ^kthen shall every man have ^lpraise of God.

⁶And these things, brethren, ^mI have ⁿin a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us ^onot to think of men above that which is written, ^pthat no one of you ^qbe puffed up for one against another. ⁷For who ^†rmaketh thee to differ from another? and ^swhat hast thou that thou didst not ^treceive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? ⁸Now ye are full, ^unow ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and ^xI would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. ⁹For ^yI think that God hath set forth ^||us the apostles last, ^zas it were appointed to death: for ^awe are made a ^†spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. ^10bWe are fools for Christ’s sake, but ^bbye are wise in Christ; ^cwe are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. ¹¹Even unto this present hour we both ^dhunger, and ^dthirst, and ^deare naked, and ^fare buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; ¹²And ^glabour, working with our own hands: ^hbeing reviled, we bless; ⁱbeing persecuted, we suffer it: ¹³Being defamed, we intreat: we are made ^jas the filth of the world, and are ^kthe offscouring of all things unto this day. ¹⁴I write not these things to ^lshame you, but ^mas my beloved sons I…