² We are sending this letter to you, the members of God’s church in Corinth. You have been made holy because you belong to Christ Jesus. God has chosen you to be his holy people. He has done the same for all people everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is their Lord and ours.

³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Gives Thanks

⁴ I always thank my God for you. I thank him because of the grace he has given to you who belong to Christ Jesus. ⁵ You have been blessed in every way because of him. You have been blessed in all your speech and knowledge. ⁶ God has shown that what we have spoken to you about Christ is true. ⁷ There is no gift of the Holy Spirit that you don’t have. You are full of hope as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come again. ⁸ God will also keep you strong in faith to the very end. Then you will be without blame on the day our Lord Jesus Christ returns. ⁹ God is faithful. He has chosen you to share life with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ Rose From the Dead

15 Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it and have put your faith in it. ² Because you believed the good news, you are saved. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. If you don’t, you have believed it for nothing.

³ What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. ⁴ He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. ⁵ He appeared to Peter. Then he appeared to the 12 apostles. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still living. But some have died. ⁷ He appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, he also appeared to me. I was like someone who wasn’t born at the right time.

⁹ I am the least important of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle. I tried to destroy God’s church. ¹⁰ But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me. ¹¹ So this is what we preach, whether I or the other apostles who preached to you. And that is what you believed.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

12 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ² You know that at one time you were unbelievers. You were somehow drawn away to worship statues of gods that couldn’t even speak. ³ So I want you to know that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “May Jesus be cursed.” And without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say, “Jesus is Lord.”

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. ⁶ There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.

⁷ The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. ⁸ To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. ⁹ To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. ¹⁰ To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. ¹¹ All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.

One Body but Many Parts

¹² There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. ¹³ We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.

¹⁵ Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? ¹⁸ God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. ¹⁹ If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.

²¹ The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. ²³ The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. ²⁴ The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. ²⁵ In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.

²⁷ You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ First, God has placed apostles in the church. Second, he has placed prophets in the church. Third, he has placed teachers in the church. Then he has given to the church miracles and gifts of healing. He also has given the gift of helping others and the gift of guiding the church. God also has given the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. ²⁹ Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages? ³¹ But above all, you should want the more important gifts.

Love Is Necessary

But now I will show you the best way of all.

13 Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. ² Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. ³ Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all.

⁴ Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. ⁶ Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. ⁷ It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.

⁸ Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away. ⁹ What we know now is not complete. What we prophesy now is not perfect. ¹⁰ But when what is complete comes, the things that are not complete will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a foggy mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.

¹³ The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.