Following People Is Wrong

3 Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to ·spiritual people [or people who have the Spirit]. I had to talk to you as I would to ·people without the Spirit [unspiritual/carnal/fleshly people]—·babies [infants] in Christ. ² ·The teaching I gave you was like milk [^LI gave you milk to drink], not solid food, because you were not yet able to take solid food [^Cthe comparison is between basic and advanced teaching]. And even now you are not ready. ³ You are still ·not spiritual [carnal; fleshly; living by your sinful nature], because there is ·jealousy [envy] and ·quarreling [conflict; rivalry] among you, and this shows that you are ·not spiritual [carnal; fleshly; living by your sinful nature]. You are ·acting [living; ^Lwalking] ·like people of the world [or like ordinary/unsaved people; or on a merely human level; ^Laccording to man]. ⁴ One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” and another says, “I belong to Apollos.” When you say things like this, ·you are [^Lare you not…?] ·acting like people of the world [or living on a merely human level; ^Lpeople; human beings].

⁵ ·Is Apollos important? No! [^LWhat, then, is Apollos?] ·Is Paul important? No! [^LAnd what is Paul?] We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work the Lord gave us to do. ⁶ I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. ⁷ So the one who plants is not ·important [^Lanything], and the one who waters is not ·important [^Lanything], but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters ·have the same purpose [or are equal; ^Lare one], and each will ·be rewarded [receive wages] for his own work. ⁹ We are ·God’s workers, working together [coworkers belonging to God; coworkers in God’s service]; you are God’s ·farm [field], God’s building.

¹⁰ ·Using [or Because of] the ·gift [grace] God gave me, I laid the foundation of that building like an ·expert [skilled; wise] builder. Others are building on that foundation, but ·all people [^Leach one] should be careful how they build on it. ¹¹ The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ, and no one can lay down any other foundation. ¹² But if ·people [anyone; someone] build on that foundation, using gold, silver, ·jewels [precious stones], wood, ·grass [or hay], or straw, ¹³ their work will be ·clearly seen [or shown for what it is], because the ·day of judgment [^Lday] will make it ·visible [clear; obvious]. That day will ·appear [or reveal it; expose it] with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work to show what sort of work it was. ¹⁴ If the ·building that has been put on the foundation [^Lwork] still stands, the builder will get ·a reward [or wages]. ¹⁵ But if the ·building [^Lwork] is burned up, the builder will ·suffer loss [or be fined; or be punished]. The builder will be saved, but it will be as one who escaped ·from a fire [^Lthrough fire].

¹⁶ Don’t ·you [you all; ^Cthe verb is plural] know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you [^Cjust as God’s presence filled the tabernacle; Ex. 40:34–38]? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, because God’s temple is holy ·and you are that temple [or and you are holy; ^Lwhich is what you are].

¹⁸ Do not ·fool [deceive] yourselves. If you think you are wise in this ·world [age], you should become a fool so that you can become truly wise, ¹⁹ because the wisdom of this world is ·foolishness [folly] with God. [^LFor] It is written in the Scriptures, “He catches those who are wise in their own ·clever traps [craftiness; cunning; Job 5:13].” ²⁰ ·It is also written in the Scriptures [^LAnd again], “The Lord knows ·what wise people think [^Lthe thoughts/reasoning/machinations of the wise]. He knows their thoughts are ·worthless [pointless; useless; futile; Ps. 94:11].” ²¹ So you should not ·brag [boast] about ·human leaders [^Lpeople]. All things belong to you: ²² Paul, Apollos, and ·Peter [^LCephas; ^CPeter’s name in Aramaic; see 1:12]; the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these belong to you. ²³ And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.