⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

¹⁷ And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

²⁵ So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

¹⁹ and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,

One Body with Many Parts

¹² The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,^[a] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.^[b]

¹⁴ Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

³³ I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.

Paul’s Work for the Church

²⁴ I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.

³⁰ And we are members of his body.