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1 Corinthians 3:1–4

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

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1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — The New International Version (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — English Standard Version (ESV)

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — New Century Version (NCV)

Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people without the Spirit—babies in Christ. The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food, because you were not able to take solid food. And even now you are not ready. You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and quarreling among you, and this shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” and another says, “I belong to Apollos.” When you say things like this, you are acting like people of the world.

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men? For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ. I have given you milk to drink, not meat, for ye have not yet been able, nor indeed are ye yet able; for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there are among you emulation and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk according to man? For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are ye not men?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as people still influenced by your corrupt nature. You were infants in your faith in Christ. I gave you milk to drink. I didn’t give you solid food because you weren’t ready for it. Even now you aren’t ready for it because you’re still influenced by your corrupt nature. 

When you are jealous and quarrel among yourselves, aren’t you influenced by your corrupt nature and living by human standards? When some of you say, “I follow Paul” and others say, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting like ⸤sinful⸥ humans?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers? For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,” are you not unspiritual people?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to fleshly people, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to eat it. But now you are still not able, for you are still fleshly. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and do you not live like unregenerate people? For whenever anyone says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t speak to you as if you were guided by the Holy Spirit. I had to speak to you as if you were following the ways of the world. You aren’t growing as Christ wants you to. You are still like babies. The words I spoke to you were like milk, not like solid food. You weren’t ready for solid food yet. And you still aren’t ready for it.

You are still following the ways of the world. Some of you are jealous. Some of you argue. So aren’t you following the ways of the world? Aren’t you acting like ordinary human beings? One of you says, “I follow Paul.” Another says, “I follow Apollos.” Aren’t you acting like ordinary human beings?

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?


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