1 Corinthians 1–4

Chapter 1

Appeal to Unity

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

²To ^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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁰Now ^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.

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

¹²Now 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.”

¹³¹Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you ^abaptized ²in the name of Paul?

¹⁴¹I thank God that I ^abaptized none of you except Crispus and ^bGaius,

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

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

^17aFor 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

¹⁸For 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.

¹⁹For it is written,

“^aI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

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

^20aWhere 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?

²¹For 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

²⁸and 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,

²⁹so that ^ano ¹man may boast before God.

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

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

Chapter 2

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

¹And when I came to you, brethren, I ^adid not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you ^bthe ¹testimony of God.

²For I determined to know nothing among you except ^aJesus Christ, and Him crucified.

³I was with you in ^aweakness and in ^bfear and in much trembling,

⁴and my ¹message and my preaching were ^anot in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^bthe Spirit and of power,

⁵so that your faith would not ¹rest on the wisdom of men, but on ^athe power of God.

⁶Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are ^amature; a wisdom, however, not of ^bthis age nor of the rulers of this age, who are ^cpassing away;

⁷but we speak God’s wisdom in a ^amystery, the hidden wisdom which God ^bpredestined before the ^cages to our glory;

⁸the wisdom ^awhich none of the rulers of ^bthis age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified ^cthe Lord of glory;

⁹but just as it is written,

“^aThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,

And which have not entered the heart of man,

All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

^101aFor to us God revealed them ^bthrough the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the ^cdepths of God.

¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the ^aspirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we ^ahave received, not the spirit of ^bthe world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

¹³which things we also speak, ^anot in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, ¹combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

¹⁴But ¹a ^anatural man ^bdoes not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^cfoolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually ²appraised.

¹⁵But he who is ^aspiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

¹⁶For ^awho has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But ^bwe have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3

Foundations for Living

¹And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to ^aspiritual men, but as to ^bmen of flesh, as to ^cinfants in Christ.

²I gave you ^amilk to drink, not solid food; for you ^bwere not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

³for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^ajealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^1blike mere men?

⁴For when ^aone says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere ^bmen?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^aServants through whom you believed, even ^bas the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

^6aI planted, ^bApollos watered, but ^cGod was causing the growth.

⁷So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

⁸Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will ^areceive his own ¹reward according to his own labor.

⁹For we are God’s ^afellow workers; you are God’s ^1bfield, God’s ^cbuilding.

¹⁰According to ^athe grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^bI laid a foundation, and ^canother is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

¹¹For no man can lay a ^afoundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹²Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, ¹precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

^13aeach man’s work will become evident; for ^bthe day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ¹the quality of each man’s work.

¹⁴If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^areceive a reward.

¹⁵If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet ^aso as through fire.

^16aDo you not know that ^byou are a ¹temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

¹⁷If any man destroys the ¹temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and ²that is what you are.

^18aLet no man deceive himself. ^bIf any man among you thinks that he is wise in ^cthis age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

¹⁹For ^athe wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is ^bthe one who catches the wise in their craftiness”;

²⁰and again, “^aThe Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”

²¹So then ^alet no one boast in men. For ^ball things belong to you,

^22awhether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or ^blife or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,

²³and ^ayou belong to Christ; and ^bChrist belongs to God.

Chapter 4

Servants of Christ

¹Let a man regard us in this manner, as ^aservants of Christ and ^bstewards of ^cthe mysteries of God.

²In this case, moreover, it is required ¹of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

³But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human ¹court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.

⁴For I ^aam conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this ^bacquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

⁵Therefore ^ado not go on ¹passing judgment before ²the time, but wait ^buntil the Lord comes who will both ^cbring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s ^dpraise will come to him from God.

⁶Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed ^awhat is written, so that no one of you will ^bbecome ¹arrogant ^cin behalf of one against the other.

⁷For who regards you as superior? ^aWhat do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸You are ^aalready filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.

⁹For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men ^acondemned to death; because we ^bhave become a spectacle to the world, ¹both to angels and to men.

¹⁰We are ^afools for Christ’s sake, but ^byou are prudent in Christ; ^cwe are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

¹¹To this present hour we are both ^ahungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless;

¹²and we toil, ^aworking with our own hands; when we are ^breviled, we bless; when we are ^cpersecuted, we endure;

¹³when we are slandered, we try to ¹…