Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LSB

1 Corinthians 1
Legacy Standard Bible

Christ Is Undivided

1 Paul, (A)called as an apostle of Jesus Christ [a]by (B)the will of God, and (C)Sosthenes our (D)brother,

2 To (E)the church of God which is at (F)Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, (G)called as [b]saints, with all who in every place (H)call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

3 (I)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 (J)I thank [c]my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were (K)enriched in Him, in all (L)word and (M)all knowledge, 6 even as (N)the witness about Christ was confirmed [d]in you, 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, (O)eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 (P)who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in (Q)the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 (R)God is faithful, through whom you were (S)called into (T)fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 Now (U)I exhort you, (V)brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [e]agree and that there be no [f](W)divisions among you, but that you be [g]made complete in (X)the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that (Y)each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of (Z)Apollos,” and “I of (AA)Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 [h]Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you (AB)baptized [i]in the name of Paul? 14 [j]I thank God that I (AC)baptized none of you except (AD)Crispus and (AE)Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized [k]in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the (AF)household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 (AG)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, (AH)not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the word of the cross is (AI)foolishness to (AJ)those who [l]are perishing, but to us who [m]are being saved, it is (AK)the power of God. 19 For it is written,

“(AL)I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

20 (AM)Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of (AN)this age? Has not God (AO)made foolish the wisdom of (AP)the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, (AQ)the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, (AR)God was well-pleased, through the (AS)foolishness of the [n]message preached, to (AT)save those who believe. 22 For indeed (AU)Jews ask for [o]signs and Greeks search for wisdom, 23 but we preach [p](AV)Christ crucified, (AW)to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles (AX)foolishness, 24 but to those who are (AY)the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (AZ)the power of God and (BA)the wisdom of God. 25 Because the (BB)foolishness of God is wiser than men, and (BC)the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For [q]consider your (BD)calling, brothers, that there were (BE)not many wise according to [r]the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 27 But (BF)God has chosen the foolish things of (BG)the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of (BH)the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of (BI)the world and the despised God has chosen, (BJ)the things that are not, so that He may (BK)abolish the things that are, 29 so that (BL)no flesh may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in (BM)Christ Jesus, who became to us (BN)wisdom from God, [s]and (BO)righteousness and (BP)sanctification, and (BQ)redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “(BR)Let him who boasts, boast in the [t]Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:1 Lit through
  2. 1 Corinthians 1:2 Or holy ones
  3. 1 Corinthians 1:4 Two early mss omit my
  4. 1 Corinthians 1:6 Or among
  5. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Lit speak the same thing
  6. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Lit schisms
  7. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Or united
  8. 1 Corinthians 1:13 Or Christ has been divided! or Christ is divided!
  9. 1 Corinthians 1:13 Lit into
  10. 1 Corinthians 1:14 Two early mss I give thanks that
  11. 1 Corinthians 1:15 Lit into
  12. 1 Corinthians 1:18 Or perish
  13. 1 Corinthians 1:18 Or are saved
  14. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Lit preaching
  15. 1 Corinthians 1:22 Or attesting miracles
  16. 1 Corinthians 1:23 Messiah
  17. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Lit see
  18. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Human standards
  19. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Or both
  20. 1 Corinthians 1:31 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Jer 9:24
Close NLT

1 Corinthians 1
New Living Translation

Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.

2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,[a] to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,[b] just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

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

Paul Gives Thanks to God

4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,[c] by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,[d]” or “I follow only Christ.”

13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

The Wisdom of God

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[e]

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,[f] Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy[g] when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world,[h] things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”[i]

Footnotes

  1. 1:2a Corinth was the capital city of Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
  2. 1:2b Or because you belong to Christ Jesus.
  3. 1:10 Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26.
  4. 1:12 Greek Cephas.
  5. 1:19 Isa 29:14.
  6. 1:24 Greek and Greeks.
  7. 1:26 Or high born.
  8. 1:28 Or God chose those who are low born.
  9. 1:31 Jer 9:24.
Next
Romans 16
1 Corinthians 2
Next
dropdown
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.