1 Corinthians 1–2

1Paul, called to be an apostle^a of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^b and our brother Sosthenes,^c

²To the church of God^d in Corinth,^e to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called^f to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name^g of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

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

Thanksgiving

⁴I always thank my God for youⁱ because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For in him you have been enriched^j in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge^k—⁶God thus confirming our testimony^l about Christ among you. ⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift^m as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.^{n 8}He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless^o on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{p 9}God is faithful,^q who has called you^r into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.^s

A Church Divided Over Leaders

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^at in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,^u but that you be perfectly united^v in mind and thought. ¹¹My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household^w have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;^x another, “I follow Apollos”;^y another, “I follow Cephas^b”;^z still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?^{a 14}I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus^b and Gaius,^{c 15}so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(Yes, I also baptized the household^d of Stephanas;^e beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize,^f but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom^g and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness^h to those who are perishing,ⁱ but to us who are being saved^j it is the power of God.^{k 19}For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”^cl

²⁰Where is the wise person?^m Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?ⁿ Has not God made foolish^o the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world^p through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save^q those who believe.^{r 22}Jews demand signs^s and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified:^t a stumbling block^u to Jews and foolishness^v to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those whom God has called,^w both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God^x and the wisdom of God.^{y 25}For the foolishness^z of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness^a of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.^b Not many of you were wise^c by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose^d the foolish^e things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not^f—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him.^{g 30}It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,^h who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,ⁱ holiness^j and redemption.^{k 31}Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^dl

2And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom^m as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^{a 2}For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.^{n 3}I came to you^o in weakness^p with great fear and trembling.^{q 4}My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^r but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^{s 5}so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.^t

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,^u but not the wisdom of this age^v or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.^{w 7}No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery^x that has been hidden^y and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age^z understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.^{a 9}However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”^b—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—^b

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed^c to us by his Spirit.^d

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts^e except their own spirit^f within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²What we have received is not the spirit^g of the world,^h but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdomⁱ but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.^{c 14}The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God^j but considers them foolishness,^k and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵The person with the Spirit^l makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”^dm

But we have the mind of Christ.ⁿ