1 Corinthians 3
New King James Version
Sectarianism Is Carnal
3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to (A)babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with (B)milk and not with solid food; (C)for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and [a]behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
Watering, Working, Warning
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but (D)ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 (E)I planted, (F)Apollos watered, (G)but God gave the increase. 7 So then (H)neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, (I)and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For (J)we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are (K)God’s building. 10 (L)According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid (M)the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than (N)that which is laid, (O)which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day (P)will declare it, because (Q)it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 (R)Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone [b]defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Avoid Worldly Wisdom
18 (S)Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, (T)“He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, (U)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For (V)all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And (W)you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 Lit. walking according to man
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 destroys
1 Corinthians 3
English Standard Version
Divisions in the Church
3 But I, brothers,[a] could not address you as (A)spiritual people, but as (B)people of the flesh, as (C)infants in Christ. 2 (D)I fed you with milk, not solid food, for (E)you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is (F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For (G)when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” (H)are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? (I)Servants through whom you believed, (J)as the Lord assigned to each. 6 (K)I planted, (L)Apollos watered, (M)but God gave the growth. 7 So (N)neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each (O)will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are (P)God's fellow workers. You are God's field, (Q)God's building.
10 (R)According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[b] master builder I laid a (S)foundation, and (T)someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a (U)foundation other (V)than that which is laid, (W)which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 (X)each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed (Y)by fire, and (Z)the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, (AA)he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, (AB)but only as through fire.
16 (AC)Do you not know that you[c] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For (AD)God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 (AE)Let no one deceive himself. (AF)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For (AG)the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, (AH)“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, (AI)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So (AJ)let no one boast in men. For (AK)all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and (AL)you are Christ's, and (AM)Christ is God's.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters
- 1 Corinthians 3:10 Or wise
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17
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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
