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1 Corinthians 1
New English Translation

Salutation

1 From Paul,[a] called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus[b] by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, 2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.[c] 3 Grace and peace to you[d] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving

4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 For you were made rich[e] in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge[f]— 6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you— 7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation[g] of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He[h] will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I urge you, brothers and sisters,[i] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together,[j] to end your divisions,[k] and to be united by the same mind and purpose.[l] 11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters,[m] that there are quarrels[n] among you. 12 Now I mean this, that[o] each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,”[p] or “I am with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he?[q] Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?[r] 14 I thank God[s] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.[t]

The Message of the Cross

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.”[u] 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law?[v] Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. 22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 23 but we preach about a crucified Christ,[w] a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,[x] and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.[y]

26 Think about the circumstances of your call,[z] brothers and sisters.[aa] Not many were wise by human standards,[ab] not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.[ac] 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose[ad] what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus,[ae] who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”[af]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
  2. 1 Corinthians 1:1 tc Many significant mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 M sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (P46 B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the earlier reading (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.
  3. 1 Corinthians 1:2 tn Grk “theirs and ours.”
  4. 1 Corinthians 1:3 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
  5. 1 Corinthians 1:5 sn Made rich refers to how God richly blessed the Corinthians with an abundance of spiritual gifts (cf. v. 7).
  6. 1 Corinthians 1:5 sn Speech and knowledge refer to the spiritual gifts God had blessed them with (as v. 7 confirms). Paul will discuss certain abuses of their gifts in chapters 12-14, but he thanks God for their giftedness.
  7. 1 Corinthians 1:7 sn The revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the Lord’s return, when he will be revealed (cf. the reference to the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in v. 8).
  8. 1 Corinthians 1:8 tn Grk “who,” referring to Christ. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  9. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
  10. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you all say the same thing.”
  11. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that there be no divisions among you.”
  12. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you be united in/by the same mind and in/by the same purpose.”
  13. 1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
  14. 1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”
  15. 1 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “And I say this because.”
  16. 1 Corinthians 1:12 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211). Both the Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” are related to words in each language which mean “rock.”
  17. 1 Corinthians 1:13 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “was he?”).
  18. 1 Corinthians 1:13 tn This third question marks a peak in which Paul’s incredulity at the Corinthians’ attitude is in focus. The words “in fact” have been supplied in the translation to make this rhetorical juncture clear.
  19. 1 Corinthians 1:14 tc The oldest and most significant witnesses to this text, as well as a few others (א* B 6 1739 sams bopt), lack the words τῷ θεῷ (tō theō, “God”), while the rest have them. An accidental omission could well account for the shorter reading, especially since θεῷ would have been written as a nomen sacrum (eucaristwtwqMw). However, one might expect to see, in some mss at least, a dropping of the article but not the divine name. Internally, the Pauline introductory thanksgivings elsewhere always include τῷ θεῷ after εὐχαριστῶ (eucharistō, “I thank”; cf. Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Phlm 4; in the plural, note Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2). However, both the fact that this is already used in 1 Cor 1:4 (thus perhaps motivating scribes to add it ten verses later), and that in later portions of his letters Paul does not consistently use the collocation of εὐχαριστῶ with τῷ θεῷ (Rom 16:4; 1 Cor 10:30), might give one pause. Still, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see a sentence begin with εὐχαριστῶ without an accompanying τῷ θεῷ. A decision is difficult, but on balance it is probably best to retain the words.
  20. 1 Corinthians 1:17 tn Grk “would not be emptied.”
  21. 1 Corinthians 1:19 sn A quotation from Isa 29:14.
  22. 1 Corinthians 1:20 tn Grk “the scribe.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateus) as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the Mosaic law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
  23. 1 Corinthians 1:23 tn Or “Messiah”; Grk “preach Christ [Messiah] crucified,” giving the content of the message.
  24. 1 Corinthians 1:25 tn Grk “than men.”
  25. 1 Corinthians 1:25 tn Grk “than men.”
  26. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”
  27. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
  28. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
  29. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenēs) refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.
  30. 1 Corinthians 1:28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  31. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tn Grk “of him you are in Christ Jesus.”
  32. 1 Corinthians 1:31 sn A quotation from Jer 9:24. The themes of Jer 9 have influenced Paul’s presentation in vv. 26-31. Jeremiah calls upon the wise, the strong, and the wealthy not to trust in their resources but in their knowledge of the true God—and so to boast in the Lord. Paul addresses the same three areas of human pride.
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1 Corinthians 1
Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament

1 Paul Paulos, called klētos to be an apostle apostolos of Christ Christos Jesus Iēsous by dia the will thelēma of God theos, and kai Sosthenes Sōsthenēs our ho brother adelphos, 2 to the ho church ekklēsia of ho God theos that ho is eimi in en Corinth Korinthos, to those sanctified hagiazō in en Christ Christos Jesus Iēsous and called klētos to be saints hagios together syn with all pas those ho in en every pas place topos who call epikaleō on the ho name onoma of ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos, both their autos Lord and kai ours hēmeis: 3 Grace charis to you hymeis and kai peace eirēnē from apo God theos our hēmeis Father patēr and kai the Lord kyrios Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos.

4 I am always pantote giving eucharisteō thanks to ho my egō God theos for peri you hymeis because epi of the ho grace charis of ho God theos that ho was given didōmi to you hymeis in en Christ Christos Jesus Iēsous, 5 that hoti in en every pas way you were enriched ploutizō in en him autos in en all pas speech logos and kai all pas knowledge gnōsis— 6 just kathōs as the ho testimony martyrion about ho Christ Christos was confirmed bebaioō among en you hymeis— 7 so hōste that you hymeis do not mē lack hystereō in en any mēdeis spiritual charisma gift as you wait apekdechomai for the ho revealing apokalypsis of ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos. 8 He hos · kai will keep bebaioō you hymeis steadfast to heōs the end telos, guiltless anenklētos in en the ho day hēmera of ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos. 9 God theos is faithful pistos, · ho by dia whom hos you were called kaleō into eis fellowship koinōnia with ho his autos Son hyios, Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos · ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios.

10 I appeal parakaleō to · de you hymeis, brothers adelphos, by dia the ho name onoma of ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos, that hina you all pas come to agreement ho and kai that there be eimi no mē divisions schisma among en you hymeis, but de that you be eimi united katartizō in en the ho same autos frame nous of mind and kai the ho same autos judgment gnōmē. 11 For gar it has been reported dēloō to me egō by hypo members of ho Chloe’s household that hoti there are eimi quarrels eris among en you hymeis, my egō brothers adelphos. 12 What I mean legō · de is this houtos: each hekastos of you hymeis is saying legō, “ I egō am eimi with Paul Paulos,” or de, “ I egō am with Apollos Apollōs,” or de, “ I egō am with Cephas Kēphas,” or de, “ I egō am with Christ Christos.” 13 Has Christ Christos been divided merizō? · ho Was Paul Paulos crucified stauroō for hyper you hymeis? Or ē were you baptized baptizō in eis the ho name onoma of Paul Paulos? 14 I thank eucharisteō · ho God theos that hoti I did baptizō not baptize baptizō any oudeis of you hymeis except ei mē Crispus Krispos and kai Gaius Gaios, 15 so hina that no mē one tis can say legō that hoti you were baptized baptizō in eis · ho my emos name onoma. 16 ( I also kai baptized baptizō · de the ho household oikos of Stephanas Stephanas; beyond loipos that I do not ou know oida if ei I baptized baptizō anyone tis else allos.) 17 For gar Christ Christos did not ou send apostellō me egō to baptize baptizō but alla to preach euangelizō the gospel , and not ou with en eloquent logos wisdom sophia, lest hina mē the ho cross stauros of ho Christ Christos be rendered ineffective kenoō.

18 For gar the ho message logos · ho of the ho cross stauros is eimi foolishness mōria to those ho who are perishing apollymi, but de to ho us hēmeis who are being saved sōzō it is eimi the power dynamis of God theos. 19 For gar it is written graphō, “ I will destroy apollymi the ho wisdom sophia of the ho wise sophos, and kai the ho shrewdness synesis of the ho intelligent synetos I will thwart atheteō.” 20 Where pou is the wise sophos person ? Where pou is the scholar grammateus? Where pou is the brilliant syzētētēs debater of ho this houtos age aiōn? Has not ouchi God theos made foolish mōrainō · ho the ho wisdom sophia of the ho world kosmos? 21 For gar since epeidē in en the ho wisdom sophia of ho God theos the ho world kosmos did not ou come to know ginōskō God theos through dia · ho wisdom sophia, · ho God theos was pleased eudokeō · ho through dia the ho foolishness mōria of ho what we preach kērygma to save sōzō those ho who believe pisteuō. 22 For epeidē · kai Jews Ioudaios demand aiteō signs sēmeion and kai Greeks Hellēn are looking for zēteō wisdom sophia, 23 but de we hēmeis preach kēryssō Christ Christos crucified stauroō, a stumbling block skandalon to Jews Ioudaios and de foolishness mōria to Gentiles ethnos. 24 Yet de to those autos who ho are called klētos, both te Jews Ioudaios and kai Greeks Hellēn, Christ Christos is the power dynamis of God theos and kai the wisdom sophia of God theos. 25 For hoti the ho foolishness mōros of ho God theos is eimi wiser sophos than the wisdom of ho men anthrōpos, and kai the ho weakness asthenēs of ho God theos is stronger ischuros than the strength of ho men anthrōpos.

26 Consider blepō · ho your hymeis calling klēsis, brothers adelphos: according to kata worldly standards sarx, not ou many polys of you were wise sophos, not ou many polys were influential dynatos, not ou many polys were of noble eugenēs birth . 27 But alla God theos chose eklegomai the ho foolish mōros things of the ho world kosmos · ho to hina shame kataischunō the ho wise sophos; · kai God theos chose eklegomai the ho weak asthenēs things of the ho world kosmos · ho to hina shame kataischunō the ho strong ischuros; 28 · kai God theos chose eklegomai the ho things that the ho world kosmos considers insignificant agenēs and kai · ho contemptible exoutheneō, · ho what ho is regarded eimi as nothing mē, to hina render useless katargeō the ho things that are eimi, 29 so hopōs that no mē one pas can boast kauchaomai in the presence enōpion of ho God theos. 30 But de you hymeis are eimi of ek him autos in en Christ Christos Jesus Iēsous, who hos became ginomai for us hēmeis wisdom sophia from apo God theos, and te righteousness dikaiosynē and kai sanctification hagiasmos and kai redemption apolytrōsis, 31 so hina that , as kathōs it is written graphō, “ Let kauchaomai the ho one who boasts kauchaomai, boast kauchaomai in en the Lord kyrios.”

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