1 Corinthians 3
New American Standard Bible
Foundations for Living
3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as (A)spiritual people, but only as (B)fleshly, as to (C)infants in Christ. 2 I gave you (D)milk to drink, not solid food; for you (E)were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is (F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking (G)like ordinary people? 4 For when (H)one person says, “I am [a]with Paul,” and another, “I am [b]with Apollos,” are you not ordinary (I)people?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? (J)Servants through whom you believed, even (K)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 (L)I planted, (M)Apollos watered, but (N)God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will (O)receive his own [c]reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s (P)fellow workers; you are God’s [d](Q)field, God’s (R)building.
10 According to (S)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder (T)I laid a foundation, and (U)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay a (V)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 (W)each one’s work will become evident; for (X)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [e]the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will (Y)receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only (Z)so as through fire.
16 (AA)Do you not know that (AB)you are a [f]temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the [g]temple of God, God will destroy [h]that person; for the [i]temple of God is holy, [j]and that is what you are.
18 (AC)Take care that no one deceives himself. (AD)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in (AE)this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For (AF)the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is (AG)the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; 20 and again, “(AH)The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then, (AI)no one is to be boasting in people. For (AJ)all things belong to you, 22 (AK)whether Paul or Apollos or [k]Cephas, or the world or (AL)life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and (AM)you belong to Christ, and (AN)Christ belongs to God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:4 Lit of
- 1 Corinthians 3:4 Lit of
- 1 Corinthians 3:8 Or wages
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 Or cultivated land
- 1 Corinthians 3:13 Lit of what sort each man’s work is
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 Or sanctuary
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 Or sanctuary
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 Lit this
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 Or sanctuary
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 Lit who you are
- 1 Corinthians 3:22 Peter’s Aramaic name
1 Corinthians 3
International Standard Version
Spiritual Immaturity
3 Brothers, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah.[a] 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren’t ready for it. And you’re still not ready! 3 That’s because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren’t you? 4 For when one person says, “I follow Paul,” and another person says, “I follow Apollos,” you’re following[b] your own human nature, aren’t you?
5 Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They’re merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept everything growing. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action. 9 For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s farmland and God’s building.
The Messiah is Our Foundation
10 As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah.[c] 12 Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment[d] will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action. 14 If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.[e] 15 If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.
16 You know that you are God’s sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you, don’t you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God’s sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!
True Wisdom
18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in the ways of[f] this world, he must become a fool to become really wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. For it is written,
“He catches the wise with their own trickery,”[g]
20 and again,
21 So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas,[j] the world, life, death, the present, or the future—everything belongs to you, 23 but you belong to the Messiah,[k] and the Messiah[l] belongs to God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:1 Or Christ
- 1 Corinthians 3:4 The Gk. lacks following
- 1 Corinthians 3:11 Or Christ
- 1 Corinthians 3:13 The Gk. lacks of judgment
- 1 Corinthians 3:14 Or receive wages
- 1 Corinthians 3:18 The Gk. lacks the ways of
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 MT source citation reads Lord
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 Ps 94:11
- 1 Corinthians 3:22 I.e. Peter
- 1 Corinthians 3:23 Or Christ
- 1 Corinthians 3:23 Or Christ
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