Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant^[a] of the church at ^(A)Cenchreae, ² that you ^(B)may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³ Greet ^(C)Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also ^(D)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was ^(E)the first convert^[b] to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia,^[c] my kinsmen and my ^(F)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,^[d] and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those ^(G)who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers^[e] who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ^16 (H)Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(I)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(J)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(K)their own appetites,^[f] and ^(L)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For ^(M)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you ^(N)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ^20 (O)The God of peace ^(P)will soon crush Satan under your feet. ^(Q)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

^21 (R)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, ^(S)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

^23 (T)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.^[g]

Doxology

^25 (U)Now to him who is able to strengthen you ^(V)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(W)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(X)that was kept secret for ^(Y)long ages ²⁶ but ^(Z)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, ^(AA)to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to ^(AB)the only wise God ^(AC)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(AD)called ^(AE)by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those ^(AF)sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^(AG)called to be saints together with all those who in every place ^(AH)call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

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

Thanksgiving

⁴ I ^(AJ)give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way ^(AK)you were enriched in him in all ^(AL)speech and all knowledge— ⁶ even as ^(AM)the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you ^(AN)wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^8 (AO)who will sustain you to the end, ^(AP)guiltless ^(AQ)in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9 (AR)God is faithful, by whom you were called into the ^(AS)fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers,^[h] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no ^(AT)divisions among you, but that you be united ^(AU)in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is ^(AV)quarreling among you, my brothers. ¹² What I mean is that ^(AW)each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow ^(AX)Apollos,” or “I follow ^(AY)Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ^13 (AZ)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you ^(BA)baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except ^(BB)Crispus and ^(BC)Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (I did baptize also ^(BD)the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and ^(BE)not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is ^(BF)folly to ^(BG)those who are perishing, but to us ^(BH)who are being saved it is ^(BI)the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

^20 (BK)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^(BL)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[i] to save those who believe. ²² For ^(BM)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ ^(BN)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(BO)the power of God and ^(BP)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: ^(BQ)not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[j] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But ^(BR)God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^(BS)God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^(BT)things that are not, to ^(BU)bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so ^(BV)that no human being^[k] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[l] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^(BW)wisdom from God, ^(BX)righteousness and ^(BY)sanctification and ^(BZ)redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, ^(CA)“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,^{[m] (CB)}did not come proclaiming to you ^(CC)the testimony^[n] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except ^(CD)Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And ^(CE)I was with you ^(CF)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^(CG)the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men^[o] but ^(CH)in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

⁶ Yet among ^(CI)the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not ^(CJ)a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, ^(CK)who are doomed to pass away. ⁷ But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, ^(CL)which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of ^(CM)the rulers of this age understood this, for ^(CN)if they had, they would not have crucified ^(CO)the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,

¹⁰ these things ^(CS)God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even ^(CT)the depths of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person's thoughts ^(CU)except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now ^(CV)we have received not ^(CW)the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³ And we impart this ^(CX)in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, ^(CY)interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.^[p]

¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^(CZ)folly to him, and ^(DA)he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The ^(DB)spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ^16 (DC)“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But ^(DD)we have the mind of Christ.