1 Corinthians 13-15

Common English Bible

Love: the universal spiritual gift

13 If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. ³ If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, ⁵ it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, ⁶ it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. ⁷ Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will be brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop. As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end. ⁹ We know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. ¹² Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. ¹³ Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.

Spiritual gifts and church order

14 Pursue love, and use your ambition to try to get spiritual gifts but especially so that you might prophesy. ² This is because those who speak in a tongue don’t speak to people but to God; no one understands it—they speak mysteries by the Spirit. ³ Those who prophesy speak to people, building them up, and giving them encouragement and comfort. ⁴ People who speak in a tongue build up themselves; those who prophesy build up the church. ⁵ I wish that all of you spoke in tongues, but I’d rather you could prophesy. Those who prophesy are more important than those who speak in tongues, unless they are able to interpret them so that the church might be built up. ⁶ After all, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation, some knowledge, a prophecy, or a teaching? ⁷ Likewise, things that aren’t alive like a harp or a lyre can make a sound, but if there aren’t different notes in the sounds they make, how will the tune from the harp or the lyre be recognized? ⁸ And if a trumpet call is unrecognizable, then who will prepare for battle? ⁹ It’s the same way with you: If you don’t use language that is easy to understand when you speak in a tongue, then how will anyone understand what is said? ¹⁰ It will be as if you are speaking into the air! There are probably many language families in the world, and none of them are without meaning. ¹¹ So if I don’t know the meaning of the language, then I will be like a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be like foreigners to me. ¹² The same holds true for you: since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, use your ambition to try to work toward being the best at building up the church.

¹³ Therefore, those who speak in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret. ¹⁴ If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind isn’t productive. ¹⁵ What should I do? I’ll pray in the Spirit, but I’ll pray with my mind too; I’ll sing a psalm in the Spirit, but I’ll sing the psalm with my mind too. ¹⁶ After all, if you praise God in the Spirit, how will the people who aren’t trained in that language say “Amen!” to your thanksgiving, when they don’t know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You may offer a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I’d rather speak five words in my right mind than speak thousands of words in a tongue so that I can teach others.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, don’t be like children in the way you think. Well, be babies when it comes to evil, but be adults in your thinking. ²¹ In the Law it is written: I will speak to this people with foreign languages and foreigners’ lips, but they will not even listen to me this way,^[a] says the Lord. ²² So then, tongues are a sign for those who don’t believe, not for those who believe. But prophecy is a sign for believers, not for those who don’t believe. ²³ So suppose that the whole church is meeting and everyone is speaking in tongues. If people come in who are outsiders or unbelievers, won’t they say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if everyone is prophesying when an unbeliever or outsider comes in, they are tested by all and called to account by all. ²⁵ The secrets of their hearts are brought to light. When that happens, they will fall on their faces and worship God, proclaiming out loud that truly God is among you!

²⁶ What is the outcome of this, brothers and sisters? When you meet together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All these things must be done to build up the church. ²⁷ If some speak in a tongue, then let two or at most three speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ However, if there is no interpreter, then they should keep quiet in the meeting. They should speak privately to themselves and to God. ²⁹ In the case of prophets, let two or three speak and have the rest evaluate what is said. ³⁰ And if some revelation comes to someone else who is sitting down, the first one should be quiet. ³¹ You can all prophesy one at a time so that everyone can learn and be encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are under the control of the prophets. ³³ God isn’t a God of disorder but of peace. Like in all the churches of God’s people, ³⁴ the women should be quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they need to get under control, just as the Law says. ³⁵ If they want to learn something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is disgraceful for a woman to talk during the meeting.

³⁶ Did the word of God originate with you? Has it come only to you? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that they are prophets or “spiritual people,” then let them recognize that what I’m writing to you is the Lord’s command. ³⁸ If someone doesn’t recognize this, they aren’t recognized. ³⁹ So then, brothers and sisters, use your ambition to try to get the gift of prophecy, but don’t prevent speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ Everything should be done with dignity and in proper order.

The resurrection

15 Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. ² You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing. ³ I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, ⁴ he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. ⁵ He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, ⁶ and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time. ⁹ I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church. ¹⁰ I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

¹² So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, “There’s no resurrection of the dead”? ¹³ If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. ¹⁴ If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. ¹⁵ We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised. ¹⁶ If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. ¹⁷ If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins, ¹⁸ and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever. ¹⁹ If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest^[b] of those who have died. ²¹ Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. ²² In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ. ²³ Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest,^[c] then those who belong to Christ at his coming, ²⁴ and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end. ²⁵ It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet.^{[d] 26} Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end, ²⁷ since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control. ²⁸ But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.

²⁹ Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren’t raised, then why are they being baptized for them? ³⁰ And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day? ³¹ Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I’m facing death every day. ³² From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren’t raised, let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’ll die.^{[e] 33} Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character. ³⁴ Sober up by acting like you should and don’t sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?” ³⁶ Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies. ³⁷ What you put in the ground doesn’t have the shape that it will have, but it’s a bare grain of wheat or some other seed. ³⁸ God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape. ³⁹ All flesh isn’t alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory). ⁴² It’s the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won’t ever decay. ⁴³ It’s degraded when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in glory. It’s weak when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in power. ⁴⁴ It’s a physical body when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised as a spiritual body.

If there’s a physical body, there’s also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person,^[f] and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. ⁴⁶ But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward. ⁴⁷ The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven. ⁴⁸ The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people. ⁴⁹ We will look like^[g] the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.

⁵⁰ This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom. Something that rots can’t inherit something that doesn’t decay. ⁵¹ Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. ⁵³ It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die. ⁵⁴ And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen:

(⁵⁶ Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.) ⁵⁷ Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸ As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord.