1 Corinthians 1–2

Greeting

1Paul, ^acalled to be an apostle of Jesus Christ ^bthrough the will of God, and ^cSosthenes our brother,

²To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who ^dare ¹sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^ecalled to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ ^four Lord, ^gboth theirs and ours:

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

Spiritual Gifts at Corinth

⁴ⁱI thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, ⁵that you were enriched in everything by Him ^jin all ²utterance and all knowledge, ⁶even as ^kthe testimony of Christ was confirmed ³in you, ⁷so that you come short in no gift, eagerly ^lwaiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^8mwho will also confirm you to the end, ⁿthat you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9oGod is faithful, by whom you were called into ^pthe fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sectarianism is Sin

¹⁰Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^qthat you all ⁴speak the same thing, and that there be no ⁵divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are ⁶contentions among you. ¹²Now I say this, that ^reach of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of ^sApollos,” or “I am of ^tCephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ^13uIs Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized ^vnone of you except ^wCrispus and ^xGaius, ¹⁵lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶Yes, I also baptized the household of ^yStephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^znot with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸For the ⁷message of the cross is ^afoolishness to ^bthose who are perishing, but to us ^cwho are being saved it is the ^dpower of God. ¹⁹For it is written:

^e“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

^20fWhere is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ⁸disputer of this age? ^gHas not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹For since, in the ^hwisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²²For ⁱJews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³but we preach Christ crucified, ^jto the Jews a ⁹stumbling block and to the ¹Greeks ^kfoolishness, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^lthe power of God and ^mthe wisdom of God. ²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Glory Only in the Lord

²⁶For ²you see your calling, brethren, ⁿthat not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many ³noble, are called. ²⁷But ^oGod has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸and the ⁴base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and ^prighteousness and sanctification and redemption—³¹that, as it is written, ^q“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Christ Crucified

2And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the ¹testimony of God. ²For I determined not to know anything among you ^aexcept Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ^3bI was with you ^cin weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching ^dwere not with persuasive words of ²human wisdom, ^ebut in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the ^fpower of God.

Spiritual Wisdom

⁶However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ³ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸which none of the rulers of this age knew; for ^ghad they known, they would not have ^hcrucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written:

ⁱ“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰But ^jGod has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹For what man knows the things of a man except the ^kspirit of the man which is in him? ^lEven so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but ^mthe Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the ⁴Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ⁿBut the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶For ^o“who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” ^pBut we have the mind of Christ.