Beginning

Paul Greets the Church in Corinth

1 From:^[a] Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah^[b] Jesus^[c] by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

² To: God’s church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah^[d] Jesus and called to be holy,^[e] together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah^[f]—their Lord^[g] and ours.

³ May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[h] be yours!

You are Rich

⁴ I always thank my^[i] God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiah^[j] Jesus. ⁵ For by him you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind— ⁶ while our testimony about the Messiah^[k] has been confirmed among you. ⁷ Therefore, you don’t lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah^[l] to be revealed. ⁸ He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.^{[m] 9} Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah,^[n] our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰ Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,^[o] I urge all of you to be in agreement^[p] and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. ¹¹ My brothers, some members of Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,”^[q] or “I belong to the Messiah.”^[r]

¹³ Is the Messiah^[s] divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you? ¹⁴ I thank God^[t] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For the Messiah^[u] did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah^[v] won’t be emptied of its power.

The Messiah is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. ¹⁹ For it is written,

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn’t he? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God,^[x] God was pleased to save those who believe through the nonsense of our preaching. ²² Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach the Messiah^[y] crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called,^[z] both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah^[aa] is God’s power and God’s wisdom. ²⁵ For God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom,^[ab] and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.^[ac]

²⁶ Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,^[ad] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed. ²⁸ And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something, ²⁹ so that no one^[ae] may boast in God’s presence. ³⁰ It is because of God^[af] that you are in union with the Messiah^[ag] Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written, “The person who boasts must boast in the Lord.”^[ah]

Preaching in the Power of God

2 When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come and tell you about God’s secret^[ai] with rhetorical language or wisdom. ² For while I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus the Messiah,^[aj] and him crucified. ³ It was in weakness, fear, and great trembling that I came to you. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not accompanied by clever, wise words, but by a display of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

God’s Spirit Reveals Everything

⁶ However, when we are among mature people, we do speak a message of^[ak] wisdom, but not the wisdom of this world or of the rulers of this world, who are passing off the scene. ⁷ Instead, we speak about God’s wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began^[al] for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this world understood it, because if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But as it is written,

¹⁰ But^[an] God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

¹¹ Is there anyone who can understand his own thoughts except his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God’s Spirit. ¹² Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God. ¹³ We don’t speak about these things with words taught us by human wisdom, but with words^[ao] taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual things to spiritual people.^{[ap] 14} A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the things of God’s Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can’t understand them because they are spiritually evaluated. ¹⁵ The spiritual person evaluates everything but is subject to no one else’s evaluation. ¹⁶ For

However, we have the mind of the Messiah.^[as]

Spiritual Immaturity

3 Brothers, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah.^{[at] 2} I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren’t ready for it. And you’re still not ready! ³ That’s because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren’t you? ⁴ For when one person says, “I follow Paul,” and another person says, “I follow Apollos,” you’re following^[au] your own human nature, aren’t you?

⁵ Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They’re merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept everything growing. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action. ⁹ For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s farmland and God’s building.

The Messiah is Our Foundation

¹⁰ As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah.^{[av] 12} Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment^[aw] will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action. ¹⁴ If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.^{[ax] 15} If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.

¹⁶ You know that you are God’s sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you, don’t you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God’s sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!

True Wisdom

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in the ways of^[ay] this world, he must become a fool to become really wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. For it is written,

²⁰ and again,

²¹ So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you, ²² whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas,^[bc] the world, life, death, the present, or the future—everything belongs to you, ²³ but you belong to the Messiah,^[bd] and the Messiah^[be] belongs to God.

Faithful Servants of the Messiah

4 Think of us as servants of the Messiah^[bf] and as servant managers entrusted with God’s secrets. ² Now it is required of servant managers that each one should prove to be trustworthy.^{[bg] 3} It is a very small thing to me that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even evaluate myself. ⁴ For my conscience is clear,^[bh] but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who examines me. ⁵ Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

Fools for the Messiah’s Sake

⁶ Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say.^[bi] Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another.

⁷ For who makes you superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it? ⁸ You already have all you want! You have already become rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at. ¹⁰ We are fools for the Messiah’s^[bj] sake, but you are wise in the Messiah.^[bk] We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. ¹¹ We are hungry, thirsty, dressed in rags, brutally treated, and homeless, right up to the present. ¹² We wear ourselves out from working with our own hands. When insulted, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. ¹³ When slandered, we answer with kind words. Even now we have become the filth of the world, the scum of the universe.

Fatherly Advice

¹⁴ I’m not writing this to make you feel ashamed, but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ You may have 10,000 mentors who work for the Messiah,^[bl] but not many fathers. For in the Messiah^[bm] Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶ So I urge you to imitate me. ¹⁷ That’s why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah^[bn] Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to evaluate^[bo] you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you soon if it’s the Lord’s will. Then I’ll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have, ²⁰ for the kingdom of God isn’t just talk, but also power. ²¹ Which do you prefer? Should I come to you with a stick, or with love and a gentle spirit?