1 Corinthians 4-8

New King James Version

Stewards of the Mysteries of God

4 Let a man so consider us, as ^(A)servants of Christ ^(B)and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human ^[a]court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. ^5 (C)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to ^(D)light the hidden things of darkness and ^(E)reveal the ^[b]counsels of the hearts. ^(F)Then each one’s praise will come from God.

Fools for Christ’s Sake

⁶ Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be ^[c]puffed up on behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who ^[d]makes you differ from another? And ^(G)what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸ You are already full! ^(H)You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a ^(I)spectacle ^[e]to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are ^(J)fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! ^(K)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ^12 (L)And we labor, working with our own hands. ^(M)Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we ^[f]entreat. ^(N)We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but ^(O)as my beloved children I warn you. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for ^(P)in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, ^(Q)imitate me. ¹⁷ For this reason I have sent ^(R)Timothy to you, ^(S)who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will ^(T)remind you of my ways in Christ, as I ^(U)teach everywhere ^(V)in every church.

^18 (W)Now some are ^[g]puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ^19 (X)But I will come to you shortly, ^(Y)if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. ²⁰ For ^(Z)the kingdom of God is not in word but in ^(AA)power. ²¹ What do you want? ^(AB)Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

Immorality Defiles the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even ^[h]named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s ^(AC)wife! ^2 (AD)And you are ^[i]puffed up, and have not rather ^(AE)mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. ^3 (AF)For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. ⁴ In the ^(AG)name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, ^(AH)with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^5 (AI)deliver such a one to ^(AJ)Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord ^[j]Jesus.

^6 (AK)Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that ^(AL)a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Therefore ^[k]purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed ^(AM)Christ, our ^(AN)Passover, was sacrificed ^[l]for us. ⁸ Therefore ^(AO)let us keep the feast, ^(AP)not with old leaven, nor ^(AQ)with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Immorality Must Be Judged

⁹ I wrote to you in my epistle ^(AR)not to ^[m]keep company with sexually immoral people. ¹⁰ Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go ^(AS)out of the world. ¹¹ But now I have written to you not to keep company ^(AT)with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—^(AU)not even to eat with such a person.

¹² For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore ^(AV)“put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Do Not Sue the Brethren

6 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the ^(AW)saints? ² Do you not know that ^(AX)the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³ Do you not know that we shall ^(AY)judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? ⁴ If then you have ^[n]judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? ⁵ I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? ⁶ But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

⁷ Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. ^(AZ)Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? ⁸ No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! ⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. ^(BA)Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ^[o]homosexuals, nor ^[p]sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were ^(BB)some of you. ^(BC)But you were washed, but you were ^[q]sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Glorify God in Body and Spirit

^12 (BD)All things are lawful for me, but all things are not ^[r]helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of ^[s]any. ^13 (BE)Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for ^(BF)sexual immorality but ^(BG)for the Lord, ^(BH)and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And ^(BI)God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up ^(BJ)by His power.

¹⁵ Do you not know that ^(BK)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ^(BL)“the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ^17 (BM)But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

^18 (BN)Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins ^(BO)against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(BP)do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, ^(BQ)and you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(BR)you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body ^[t]and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Principles of Marriage

7 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

^(BS)It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ² Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ^3 (BT)Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ^5 (BU)Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that ^(BV)Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I say this as a concession, ^(BW)not as a commandment. ⁷ For ^(BX)I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ^(BY)It is good for them if they remain even as I am; ⁹ but ^(BZ)if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Keep Your Marriage Vows

¹⁰ Now to the married I command, yet not I but the ^(CA)Lord: ^(CB)A wife is not to depart from her husband. ¹¹ But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

¹² But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³ And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise ^(CC)your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us ^(CD)to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, O wife, whether you will ^(CE)save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷ But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And ^(CF)so I ^[u]ordain in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? ^(CG)Let him not be circumcised. ^19 (CH)Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but ^(CI)keeping the commandments of God is what matters. ²⁰ Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. ²¹ Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. ²² For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is ^(CJ)the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is ^(CK)Christ’s slave. ^23 (CL)You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴ Brethren, let each one remain with ^(CM)God in that state in which he was called.

To the Unmarried and Widows

²⁵ Now concerning virgins: ^(CN)I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one ^(CO)whom the Lord in His mercy has made ^(CP)trustworthy. ²⁶ I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—^(CQ)that it is good for a man to remain as he is: ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.

²⁹ But ^(CR)this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, ³⁰ those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, ³¹ and those who use this world as not ^(CS)misusing it. For ^(CT)the form of this world is passing away.

³² But I want you to be without ^[v]care. ^(CU)He who is unmarried ^[w]cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. ³³ But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. ³⁴ There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman ^(CV)cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵ And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

³⁶ But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his ^[x]virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry. ³⁷ Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his ^[y]virgin, does well. ^38 (CW)So then he who gives ^[z]her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.

^39 (CX)A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, ^(CY)only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But she is happier if she remains as she is, ^(CZ)according to my judgment—and ^(DA)I think I also have the Spirit of God.

Be Sensitive to Conscience

8 Now ^(DB)concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have ^(DC)knowledge. ^(DD)Knowledge ^[aa]puffs up, but love ^[ab]edifies. ² And ^(DE)if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that ^(DF)an idol is nothing in the world, ^(DG)and that there is no other God but one. ⁵ For even if there are ^(DH)so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), ⁶ yet ^(DI)for us there is one God, the Father, ^(DJ)of whom are all things, and we for Him; and ^(DK)one Lord Jesus Christ, ^(DL)through whom are all things, and ^(DM)through whom we live.

⁷ However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, ^(DN)with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is ^(DO)defiled. ⁸ But ^(DP)food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹ But ^(DQ)beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become ^(DR)a ^[ac]stumbling block to those who are weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not ^(DS)the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? ¹¹ And ^(DT)because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? ¹² But ^(DU)when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(DV)if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.