1 Corinthians 3
World English Bible
3 Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now, 3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly?
5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? 6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7 So then 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 the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14 If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, 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, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”(A) 20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”(B) 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For 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 you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Problem of Immaturity
3 Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.(A) 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy(B) and strife[a](C) among you, are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers?[b] 4 For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,”(D) are you not unspiritual people?[c][d]
The Role of God’s Servants
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted,(E) Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers.[e] You are God’s field, God’s building.(F) 10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation(G) than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver,(H) costly stones,(I) wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious, for the day[f] will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire;(J) the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.(K) 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved;(L) yet it will be like an escape through fire.[g](M)
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary(N) and that the Spirit of God lives in you?(O) 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him;(P) for God’s sanctuary is holy,(Q) and that is what you are.
The Folly of Human Wisdom
18 No one should deceive(R) himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age,(S) he must become foolish(T) so that he can become wise.(U) 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness(V) with God, since it is written:(W) He catches the wise in their craftiness;(X)[h] 20 and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings(Y) of the wise are meaningless.(Z)[i] 21 So no one should boast in human leaders, for everything is yours(AA)— 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas(AB) or the world or life(AC) or death(AD) or things present or things to come(AE)—everything is yours, 23 and you belong to Christ,(AF) and Christ belongs to God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 Other mss add and divisions
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 Lit and walking according to man
- 1 Corinthians 3:4 Other mss read are you not carnal
- 1 Corinthians 3:4 Lit not [just] human
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 Or are coworkers belonging to God
- 1 Corinthians 3:13 The day of Christ’s judgment of believers
- 1 Corinthians 3:15 Lit yet so as through fire
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 Jb 5:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 Ps 94:11
1 Corinthians 3
New International Version
The Church and Its Leaders
3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit(A) but as people who are still worldly(B)—mere infants(C) in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food,(D) for you were not yet ready for it.(E) Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling(F) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”(G) are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos?(H) And what is Paul? Only servants,(I) through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed,(J) Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.(K) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service;(L) you are God’s field,(M) God’s building.(N)
10 By the grace God has given me,(O) I laid a foundation(P) as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.(Q) 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is,(R) because the Day(S) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.(T) 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.(U) 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.(V)
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple(W) and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?(X) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise(Y) by the standards of this age,(Z) you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness(AA) in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a];(AB) 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[b](AC) 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders!(AD) All things are yours,(AE) 22 whether Paul or Apollos(AF) or Cephas[c](AG) or the world or life or death or the present or the future(AH)—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ,(AI) and Christ is of God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 Psalm 94:11
- 1 Corinthians 3:22 That is, Peter
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.