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1 Corinthians 12:12-18
Contemporary English Version
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
Contemporary English Version
One Body with Many Parts
12 (A) The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. 13 Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.[a]
14 Our bodies don't have just one part. They have many parts. 15 Suppose a foot says, “I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? 16 Or suppose an ear says, “I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? 17 If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. 18 But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.
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- 12.13 Some of us are Jews … that same Spirit: Verse 13 may also be translated, “God's Spirit is inside each of us, and all around us as well. So it doesn't matter that some of us are Jews and others are Gentiles and that some are slaves and others are free. Together we are one body.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
New International Version
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
New International Version
Unity and Diversity in the Body
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,(A) so it is with Christ.(B) 13 For we were all baptized(C) by[a] one Spirit(D) so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free(E)—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.(F) 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.(G)
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed(H) the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.(I)
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
King James Version
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
King James Version
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
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New International Version (NIV) 
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