1 Corinthians 3–4

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 ¹conciliate; we have ^abecome as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴I do not write these things to ^ashame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^bchildren.

¹⁵For if you were to have countless ^atutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^bChrist Jesus I ^cbecame your father through the ^dgospel.

¹⁶Therefore I exhort you, be ^aimitators of me.

¹⁷For this reason I ^ahave sent to you ^bTimothy, who is my ^cbeloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^djust as I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸Now some have become ^1aarrogant, as though I were not ^bcoming to you.

¹⁹But I ^awill come to you soon, ^bif the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the ¹words of those who are ^carrogant but their power.

²⁰For the kingdom of God does ^anot consist in ¹words but in power.

²¹What do you desire? ^aShall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?