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1 Corinthians 3
Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus Christ, Our Foundation

3 And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to (A)spiritual men, but as to (B)fleshly men, 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 receive it. Indeed, even now you are still not 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 [a](G)like mere men? 4 For when (H)one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere (I)men?

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? (J)Servants through whom you believed, even (K)as the Lord gave 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 he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will (O)receive his own [b]reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s (P)fellow workers; you are God’s [c](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 man 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, [d]precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 (W)each man’s work will become evident, for (X)the day will indicate it because it is revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [e]the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will (Y)receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet (Z)so as through fire.

16 (AA)Do you not know that (AB)you are a [f]sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the [g]sanctuary of God, God will destroy him, for the [h]sanctuary of God is holy, and [i]that is what you are.

18 (AC)Let no man deceive himself. (AD)If any man 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 before God. For it is written, “He is (AG)the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “(AH)The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then (AI)let no one boast in men. For (AJ)all things belong to you, 22 (AK)whether Paul or Apollos or 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. 1 Corinthians 3:3 Lit according to man
  2. 1 Corinthians 3:8 Or wages
  3. 1 Corinthians 3:9 Or cultivated land
  4. 1 Corinthians 3:12 Or costly
  5. 1 Corinthians 3:13 Lit of what sort each man’s work is
  6. 1 Corinthians 3:16 The inner part of the temple
  7. 1 Corinthians 3:17 The inner part of the temple
  8. 1 Corinthians 3:17 The inner part of the temple
  9. 1 Corinthians 3:17 Lit who you are
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1 Corinthians 3
EasyEnglish Bible

God wants his people to grow as believers

3 My Christian friends, I could not teach you as I would teach people who have God's Spirit. I had to teach you as people who belong only to this world. You were like little children who could not understand the message about Christ very well. 2 I had to teach you things that were easy to understand, like a mother gives milk to a baby. You were not yet ready to receive proper food. And you are still not ready to receive God's complete message! 3 You still do what your human nature wants to do. You are jealous of each other, and you quarrel with each other. Yes! This shows that you do what your human nature wants to do. You live like people who do not know God. 4 Some of you say, ‘Paul is my leader.’ And other people say, ‘Apollos is my leader.’ When you speak like that, you are talking like people who belong to this world.

5 Is Apollos important? Is Paul important? No! We are God's servants. We told you God's good news and you believed it. Each of us is doing the job which the Lord has given to us. 6 When I told you God's good news, I was like someone who planted seeds. Then Apollos was like someone who gave water to the young plants. But it was God who caused everything to grow. 7 The person who plants the seeds is not important. The person who gives water to the plants is not important. The important person is God, because he causes everything to grow. 8 The person who plants and the person who gives water both have the same purpose. God will pay each person what is right for their work. 9 Apollos and I work together as God's servants. You are like God's field that we work in.

You are also like a building that belongs to God. 10 I am like a good builder. God has given that job to me and he has helped me to do it well. I was the person who built the foundation. Now other people are building on that foundation.[a] But each person must be careful how he builds. 11 God has already put Jesus Christ as the only foundation of this building. So nobody can put any other foundation there.

12 People may build on this foundation with gold, silver or valuable stones. Or they may build on it with wood, dry grass or leaves. 13 One day, God will show clearly how good each builder's work is. God will put each person's work into a fire on that great day.[b] The fire will show whether their work is good or bad. 14 If the fire does not destroy the work, then that builder will receive good things from God. 15 But if the fire destroys a builder's work, that person will lose everything. The person himself will be safe. But he will be like someone who has run through the fire to a safe place.

16 You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you. 17 If anyone destroys God's special house, then God will destroy that person. And you are like that house. You belong to God in a special way.

18 Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool. 19 People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible:

    ‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’[c]
20 In another place, the Bible says:
    ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of wise people have no value.’[d]

21 Because of that, you should not be proud of any human leader. All leaders are there to serve you, as God's people. 22 Do not be proud of Paul, Apollos or Peter. We belong to you. All of this world, and life and death belong to you. The things of today and tomorrow belong to you. Everything belongs to you, 23 you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Footnotes

  1. 3:10 Paul was the first person to tell God's good news to the people in Corinth. Other people, like Apollos, helped the believers to understand more about God's message.
  2. 3:13 That is the day when Christ will return and judge everyone.
  3. 3:19 See Job 5:13.
  4. 3:20 See Psalms 94:11.
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1 Corinthians 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 3

1 [a]Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people,[b] as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it. Indeed, you are still not able, even now,(A) 3 for you are still of the flesh. While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,[c] are you not of the flesh and behaving in an ordinary human way?(B) 4 Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?(C)

The Role of God’s Ministers.[d] 5 What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers[e] through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.(D) 7 Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. 9 For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.(E)

10 [f]According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, 11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day[g] will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.(F) 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,[h] but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?(G) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.[i]

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.(H) 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written:(I)

“He catches the wise in their own ruses,”

20 and again:

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”(J)

21 [j]So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,(K) 22 Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, 23 and you to Christ, and Christ to God.

Footnotes

  1. 3:1–4 The Corinthians desire a sort of wisdom dialogue or colloquy with Paul; they are looking for solid, adult food, and he appears to disappoint their expectations. Paul counters: if such a dialogue has not yet taken place, the reason is that they are still at an immature stage of development (cf. 1 Cor 2:6).
  2. 3:1 Spiritual people…fleshly people: Paul employs two clusters of concepts and terms to distinguish what later theology will call the “natural” and the “supernatural.” (1) The natural person (1 Cor 2:14) is one whose existence, perceptions, and behavior are determined by purely natural principles, the psychē (1 Cor 2:14) and the sarx (flesh, a biblical term that connotes creatureliness, 1 Cor 3:1, 3). Such persons are only infants (1 Cor 3:1); they remain on a purely human level (anthrōpoi, 1 Cor 3:4). (2) On the other hand, they are called to be animated by a higher principle, the pneuma, God’s spirit. They are to become spiritual (pneumatikoi, 1 Cor 3:1) and mature (1 Cor 2:6) in their perceptions and behavior (cf. Gal 5:16–26). The culmination of existence in the Spirit is described in 1 Cor 15:44–49.
  3. 3:3–4 Jealousy, rivalry, and divisions in the community are symptoms of their arrested development; they reveal the immaturity both of their self-understanding (1 Cor 3:4) and of the judgments about their apostles (1 Cor 3:21).
  4. 3:5–4:5 The Corinthians tend to evaluate their leaders by the criteria of human wisdom and to exaggerate their importance. Paul views the role of the apostles in the light of his theology of spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Cor 12–14, where the charism of the apostle heads the lists). The essential aspects of all spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4–6 presents them as gifts of grace, as services, and as modes of activity) are exemplified by the apostolate, which is a gift of grace (1 Cor 3:10) through which God works (1 Cor 3:9) and a form of service (1 Cor 3:5) for the common good (elsewhere expressed by the verb “build up,” suggested here by the image of the building, 1 Cor 3:9). The apostles serve the church, but their accountability is to God and to Christ (1 Cor 4:1–5).
  5. 3:5 Ministers: for other expressions of Paul’s understanding of himself as minister or steward to the church, cf. 1 Cor 4:1; 9:17, 19–27; 2 Cor 3:6–9; 4:1; 5:18; 6:3–4; and 2 Cor 11:23 (the climax of Paul’s defense).
  6. 3:10–11 There are diverse functions in the service of the community, but each individual’s task is serious, and each will stand accountable for the quality of his contribution.
  7. 3:13 The Day: the great day of Yahweh, the day of judgment, which can be a time of either gloom or joy. Fire both destroys and purifies.
  8. 3:15 Will be saved: although Paul can envision very harsh divine punishment (cf. 1 Cor 3:17), he appears optimistic about the success of divine corrective means both here and elsewhere (cf. 1 Cor 5:5; 11:32 [discipline]). The text of 1 Cor 3:15 has sometimes been used to support the notion of purgatory, though it does not envisage this.
  9. 3:17 Holy: i.e., “belonging to God.” The cultic sanctity of the community is a fundamental theological reality to which Paul frequently alludes (cf. 1 Cor 1:2, 30; 6:11; 7:14).
  10. 3:21–23 These verses pick up the line of thought of 1 Cor 1:10–13. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise (1 Cor 3:18–20), their perceptions would be reversed, and they would see everything in the world and all those with whom they exist in the church in their true relations with one another. Paul assigns all the persons involved in the theological universe a position on a scale: God, Christ, church members, church leaders. Read from top to bottom, the scale expresses ownership; read from bottom to top, the obligation to serve. This picture should be complemented by similar statements such as those in 1 Cor 8:6 and 1 Cor 15:20–28.
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哥林多前书 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)

同是上帝的仆人

3 弟兄姊妹，以前我对你们讲话的时候，还不能把你们看作属灵的人，只能把你们看作属肉体的人，是在基督里的婴孩。 2 我只能用奶而不能用饭来喂养你们，因为你们当时不能消化，甚至现在也不能。 3 你们仍然是属肉体的人，因为你们中间有嫉妒、争斗。这岂不证明你们是属肉体的，行事为人和世人一样吗？ 4 你们有的说：“我是跟随保罗的”，有的说：“我是跟随亚波罗的”，这岂不证明你们和世人一样吗？

5 亚波罗算什么？保罗算什么？我们不过是上帝的仆人，各人照着主所赐的才干引导你们信靠上帝。 6 我栽种，亚波罗灌溉，但使之生长的是上帝。 7 所以栽种的和灌溉的都算不得什么，一切都在于使之生长的上帝。 8 其实栽种的人和浇灌的人目标都一样，各人将按照自己的付出得报酬。 9 因为我们是上帝的同工，你们是上帝的园地和建筑。

10 我照着上帝赐给我的恩典，好像一位有智慧的建筑师打稳了根基，然后让其他的工人在上面建造。但每个人建造的时候要小心， 11 因为除了那已经奠定的根基——耶稣基督以外，没有人能另立根基。 12 人们用金、银、宝石、草、木或禾秸在这根基上建造， 13 每个人的工程将来都会显明出来，因为到了审判的日子，必用火试验各人工程的品质。 14 人在这根基上所建造的工程若经得起考验，他必获得奖赏。 15 人的工程若被烧毁了，他必遭受损失，自己虽然可以得救，却像火里逃生一样。

16 岂不知你们就是上帝的殿，上帝的灵住在你们里面吗？ 17 若有人摧毁上帝的殿，上帝必摧毁那人，因为上帝的殿是神圣的，你们就是这殿。

18 你们不要自欺。如果你们有人自以为在世上有智慧，他应当变成愚人，好成为真正的智者。 19 因为这世上的智慧在上帝的眼中都是愚昧的，正如圣经上说：“上帝使智者中了自己的诡计。” 20 又说：“主知道智者的思想虚妄。” 21 因此，谁都不要仗着人夸耀，因为万物都属于你们， 22 无论是保罗、亚波罗、彼得、世界、生命、死亡、现在的事或将来的事都属于你们， 23 你们属于基督，基督属于上帝。

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