1 Corinthians 12:12-21

Expanded Bible

The Body of Christ Works Together

¹² A person’s body is ·one thing [a unity; ^Lone], but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body ·through [by; in] one Spirit. And we were all made to ·share in [^Ldrink of] the one Spirit.

¹⁴ [^LFor] The ·human body [^Lbody] is not made up of one part, but of many. ¹⁵ The foot might say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. ¹⁶ The ear might say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the ear from being a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, ·it would not be able to [^Lhow would it…?] hear. If the whole body were an ear, ·it would not be able to [^Lhow would it…?] smell. If each part of the body were the same part, ·there would be no body [^Lwhere would the body be?]. But truly God put all the parts, each one of them, in the body as he wanted them. ²⁰ So then there are many parts, but only one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!”