Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Divisions in the Church

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.

On Divisions in the Corinthian Church

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ.

For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and the sort of sexual immorality that is not found even among gentiles, for a man is living with his father’s wife.

If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?

The Life that the Lord Has Assigned

However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.

Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,

But if anyone is disposed to be contentious—we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.

What! Do you not have households to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.

Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.

Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

So with yourselves: since you are striving after spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them for building up the church.

nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

If, therefore, the entire church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God.

for God is a God not of disorder but of peace), as in all the churches of the saints.

Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate, as the law also says.

If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.