1 Corinthians 1:26-31
New English Translation
26 Think about the circumstances of your call,[a] brothers and sisters.[b] Not many were wise by human standards,[c] not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.[d] 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose[e] what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus,[f] who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”[g]
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- 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:26 tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenēs) refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.
- 1 Corinthians 1:28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 tn Grk “of him you are in Christ Jesus.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:31 sn A quotation from Jer 9:24. The themes of Jer 9 have influenced Paul’s presentation in vv. 26-31. Jeremiah calls upon the wise, the strong, and the wealthy not to trust in their resources but in their knowledge of the true God—and so to boast in the Lord. Paul addresses the same three areas of human pride.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Lexham English Bible
Boast in the Lord
26 For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human standards,[a] not many were powerful, not many were well born. 27 But the foolish things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the strong, 28 and the insignificant of the world, and the despised, God chose, the things that are not, in order that he might abolish the things that are, 29 so that all flesh may not boast before God. 30 But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “The one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”[b]
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- 1 Corinthians 1:26 Literally “according to flesh”
- 1 Corinthians 1:31 A quotation from Jer 9:24
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