(Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.)

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

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.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.

But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.

But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.

But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.

I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children.

But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power.

You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.

It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Avoiding Sexual Sin

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.

But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband.

But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.

(But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.)

Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it.

Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I will share it with you.

But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems.

But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage.

But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife.

His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband.

But if a man thinks that he’s treating his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin.

But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry.

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord.

But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when I say this.

Food Sacrificed to Idols

Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.

But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.

But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.

If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.

If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.

When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.

Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.

(But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.

It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?

But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.

Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.

For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.

And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.

But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.

Order at the Lord’s Supper

But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.

But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.

God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

One Body with Many Parts

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, 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.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

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

So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Love Is the Greatest

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Tongues and Prophecy

Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.

For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.

But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.

A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.

Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful.

But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.

For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.

You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.

But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.

Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.

It is written in the Scriptures: “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.

So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.

But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say.

A Call to Orderly Worship

Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately.

But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop.

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.

But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized.

But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

The Resurrection of the Dead

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?

And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

The Resurrection Body

But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”

And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.

It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.

Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.