²⁰ So there are many parts but one body.

²¹ An eye can’t say to a hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² The opposite is true. The parts of the body that we think are weaker are the ones we really need. ²³ The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we give special honor. So our unpresentable parts are made more presentable. ²⁴ However, our presentable parts don’t need this kind of treatment. God has put the body together and given special honor to the part that doesn’t have it. ²⁵ God’s purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness.

²⁷ You are Christ’s body and each of you is an individual part of it.