1 Corinthians 3-11

Contemporary English Version

Working Together for God

3 My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That's why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. ^2 (A) So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, ³ because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves you are not spiritual and you are acting like the people of this world.

^4 (B) Some of you say you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn't this how ordinary people behave? ⁵ Apollos and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith. It was the Lord who made it all happen. ^6 (C) I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow. ⁷ What matters isn't those who planted or watered, but God who made the plants grow. ⁸ The one who plants is just as important as the one who waters. And each one will be paid for what they do. ⁹ Apollos and I work together for God, and you are God's garden and God's building.

Only One Foundation

¹⁰ God treated me with undeserved grace and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build, ¹¹ because Christ is the only foundation. ^12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. ¹⁴ We will be rewarded if our building is left standing. ¹⁵ But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.

^16 (D) All of you surely know you are God's temple and his Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷ Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.

¹⁸ Don't fool yourselves! If any of you think you are wise in the things of this world, you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise. ^19 (E) This is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish. It is just as the Scriptures say, “God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him.” ^20 (F) The Scriptures also say, “The Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless.” ^21-22 So stop bragging about what anyone has done. Paul and Apollos and Peter^[a] all belong to you. In fact, everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you, ²³ and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

The Work of the Apostles

4 Think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God's mysterious ways. ² And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for, ³ it doesn't matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law. In fact, I don't judge myself. ⁴ I don't know of anything against me, but this doesn't prove I am right. The Lord is my judge. ⁵ So don't judge anyone until the Lord returns. He will show what is hidden in the dark and what is in everyone's heart. Then God will be the one who praises each of us.

⁶ Friends, I have used Apollos and myself as examples to teach you the meaning of the saying, “Follow the rules.” I want you to stop saying one of us is better than the other. ⁷ What is so special about you? What do you have that you were not given? And if it was given to you, how can you brag? ⁸ Are you already satisfied? Are you now rich? Have you become kings while we are still nobodies? I wish you were kings. Then we could have a share in your kingdom.

⁹ It seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place. We are like prisoners on their way to death. Angels and the people of this world just laugh at us. ¹⁰ Because of Christ we are thought of as fools, but Christ has made you wise. We are weak and hated, but you are powerful and respected. ¹¹ Even today we go hungry and thirsty and don't have anything to wear except rags. We are mistreated and don't have a place to live. ^12 (G) We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient. ¹³ When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world.

¹⁴ I am not writing to embarrass you. I want to help you, just as parents help their own dear children. ¹⁵ Ten thousand people may teach you about Christ, but I am your only father. You became my children when I told you about Christ Jesus, ^16 (H) and I want you to be like me. ¹⁷ This is why I sent Timothy to you. I love him like a son, and he is a faithful servant of the Lord. Timothy will tell you what I do to follow Christ and how it agrees with what I always teach about Christ in every church.

¹⁸ Some of you think I am not coming for a visit, and so you are bragging. ¹⁹ But if the Lord lets me come, I will soon be there. Then I will find out if the ones who are doing all this bragging really have any power. ²⁰ God's kingdom isn't just a lot of words. It is power. ²¹ What do you want me to do when I arrive? Do you want me to be hard on you or to be kind and gentle?

Immoral Followers

5 ^(I) I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than Gentiles. A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother.^{[b] 2} You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like this.

^3-4 I am with you only in my thoughts. But in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man, as though I were with you in person. So when you meet together and the power of the Lord Jesus is with you, I will be there too. ⁵ You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.

^6 (J) Stop being proud! Don't you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough? ^7 (K) Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and this is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed. ^8 (L) So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.

⁹ In my other letter^[c] I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people. ¹⁰ But I wasn't talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols. ¹¹ I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them! ¹² Why should I judge outsiders? Aren't we supposed to judge only church members? ^13 (M) God judges everyone else. The Scriptures say, “Chase away any of your own people who are evil.”

Taking Each Other to Court

6 When one of you has a complaint against another, do you take your complaint to a court of sinners? Or do you take it to God's people? ² Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? And if you are going to judge the world, can't you settle small problems? ³ Don't you know we will judge angels? And if this is so, we can surely judge everyday matters. ⁴ Why do you take everyday complaints to judges who are not respected by the church? ⁵ I say this to your shame. Aren't any of you wise enough to act as a judge between one follower and another? ⁶ Why should one of you take another to be tried by unbelievers?

⁷ When one of you takes another to court, all of you lose. It would be better to let yourselves be cheated and robbed. ⁸ But instead, you cheat and rob other followers.

⁹ Don't you know that evil people won't have a share in the blessings of God's kingdom? Don't fool yourselves! No one who is immoral or worships idols or is unfaithful in marriage or is a pervert or behaves like a homosexual ¹⁰ will share in God's kingdom. Neither will any thief or greedy person or drunkard or anyone who curses and cheats others. ¹¹ Some of you used to be like that. But now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God's Spirit have washed you and made you holy and acceptable to God.

Honor God with Your Body

^12 (N) Some of you say, “We can do anything we want to.” But I tell you not everything is good for us. So I refuse to let anything have power over me. ¹³ You also say, “Food is meant for our bodies, and our bodies are meant for food.” But I tell you that God will destroy them both. We are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies. We are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies. ¹⁴ God will raise us from death by the same power he used when he raised our Lord to life.

¹⁵ Don't you know that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? Is it right for me to join part of the body of Christ to a prostitute? No, it isn't! ^16 (O) Don't you know that a man who does that becomes part of her body? The Scriptures say, “The two of them will be like one person.” ¹⁷ But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him.

¹⁸ Don't be immoral in matters of sex. That is a sin against your own body in a way no other sin is. ^19 (P) You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. ²⁰ God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.

Questions about Marriage

7 Now I will answer the questions you asked in your letter. You asked, “Is it best for people not to marry?”^{[d] 2} Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. ³ Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. ⁴ A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. ⁵ So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter. ⁷ I wish all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.

⁸ My advice for the unmarried and for widows is that it is acceptable for them to remain single, just as I am. ⁹ But if you don't have enough self-control, then go ahead and get married. After all, it is better to marry than to burn with desire.^[e]

^10 (Q) I instruct married couples to stay together, and this is exactly what the Lord himself taught. A wife who leaves her husband ¹¹ should either stay single or go back to her husband. And a husband should not leave his wife.

¹² I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice. If your wife isn't a follower of the Lord, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce her. ¹³ If your husband isn't a follower, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce him. ¹⁴ Your husband or wife who isn't a follower is made holy by having you as a partner. This also makes your children holy and keeps them from being unclean in God's sight.

¹⁵ If your husband or wife isn't a follower of the Lord and decides to divorce you, then you should agree to it. You are no longer bound to that person. After all, God chose you and wants you to live at peace. ¹⁶ And besides, how do you know if you will be able to save your husband or wife who isn't a follower?

Obeying the Lord at All Times

¹⁷ In every church I tell the people to stay as they were when the Lord Jesus chose them and God called them to be his own. Now I say the same thing to you. ^18 (R) If you are already circumcised, don't try to change it. If you are not circumcised, don't get circumcised. ¹⁹ Being circumcised or uncircumcised isn't really what matters. The important thing is to obey God's commands. ²⁰ So don't try to change what you were when God chose you. ²¹ Are you a slave? Don't let that bother you. But if you can win your freedom, you should. ²² When the Lord chooses slaves, they become his free people. And when he chooses free people, they become slaves of Christ. ²³ God paid a great price for you. So don't become slaves of anyone else. ²⁴ Stay what you were when God chose you.

Unmarried People

²⁵ I don't know of anything the Lord said about people who have never been married.^[f] But I will tell you what I think. And you can trust me, because the Lord has treated me with kindness. ²⁶ We are now going through hard times, and I think it is best for you to stay as you are. ²⁷ If you are married, stay married. If you are not married, don't try to get married. ²⁸ It isn't wrong to marry, even if you have never been married before. But those who marry will have a lot of trouble, and I want to protect you from this.

²⁹ My friends, what I mean is that the Lord will soon come,^[g] and it won't matter if you are married or not. ³⁰ It will be all the same if you are crying or laughing, or if you are buying or are completely broke. ³¹ It won't make any difference how much good you are getting from this world or how much you like it. This world as we know it is now passing away.

³² I want all of you to be free from worry. An unmarried man worries about how to please the Lord. ³³ But a married man has more worries. He must worry about the things of this world, because he wants to please his wife. ³⁴ So he is pulled in two directions. Unmarried women and women who have never been married^[h] worry only about pleasing the Lord, and they keep their bodies and minds pure. But a married woman worries about the things of this world, because she wants to please her husband. ³⁵ What I am saying is for your own good—it isn't to limit your freedom. I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else.

³⁶ But suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married, and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married. Then go ahead and marry.^[i] There is nothing wrong with that. ³⁷ But it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry. ³⁸ It is perfectly all right to marry, but it is better not to get married at all.

³⁹ A wife should stay married to her husband until he dies. Then she is free to marry again, but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord. ⁴⁰ However, I think I am obeying God's Spirit when I say she would be happier to stay single.

Food Offered to Idols

8 In your letter you asked me about food offered to idols. All of us know something about this subject. But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others. ² In fact, people who think they know so much don't know anything at all. ³ But God has no doubts about who loves him.

⁴ Even though food is offered to idols, we know that none of the idols in this world are alive. After all, there is only one God. ⁵ Many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and lords, but none of them really are gods or lords. ⁶ We have only one God, and he is the Father. He created everything, and we live for him. Jesus Christ is our only Lord. Everything was made by him, and by him life was given to us.

⁷ Not everyone knows these things. In fact, many people have grown up with the belief that idols have life in them. So when they eat meat offered to idols, they are bothered by a weak conscience. ⁸ But food doesn't bring us any closer to God. We are no worse off if we don't eat, and we are no better off if we do.

⁹ Don't cause problems for someone with a weak conscience, just because you have the right to eat anything. ¹⁰ You know all this, and so it doesn't bother you to eat in the temple of an idol. But suppose a person with a weak conscience sees you and decides to eat food that has been offered to idols. ¹¹ Then what you know has destroyed someone Christ died for. ¹² When you sin by hurting a follower with a weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ So if I hurt one of the Lord's followers by what I eat, I will never eat meat as long as I live.

The Rights of an Apostle

9 I am free. I am an apostle. I have seen the Lord Jesus and have led you to have faith in him. ² Others may think that I am not an apostle, but you are proof that I am an apostle to you.

³ When people question me, I tell them ⁴ that Barnabas and I have the right to our food and drink. ⁵ We each have the right to marry one of the Lord's followers and to take her along with us, just as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter^[j] do. ⁶ Are we the only ones who have to support ourselves by working at another job? ⁷ Do soldiers pay their own salaries? Don't people who raise grapes eat some of what they grow? Don't shepherds get milk from their own goats?

^8-9 (S) I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox? ¹⁰ No, he wasn't! He was talking about us. This was written in the Scriptures so that all who plow and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest.

^11 (T) When we told the message to you, it was like planting spiritual seed. So we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you. ¹² If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven't used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ.

^13 (U) Don't you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple? Don't you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered? ^14 (V) In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message.

¹⁵ But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this. ¹⁶ I don't have any reason to brag about preaching the good news. Preaching is something God told me to do, and if I don't do it, I am doomed. ¹⁷ If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don't want to, it is still something God has sent me to do. ¹⁸ What pay am I given? It is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher.

¹⁹ I am not anyone's slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so I can win as many people as possible. ²⁰ When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. ²¹ And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. ²² When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. ²³ I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.

A Race and a Fight

^24 (W) You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! ^25 (X) Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ I don't run without a goal. And I don't box by beating my fists in the air. ²⁷ I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others.

Don't Worship Idols

10 ^(Y) Friends, I want to remind you that all our ancestors walked under the cloud and went through the sea. ² This was like being baptized and becoming followers of Moses. ^3 (Z) All of them also ate the same spiritual food ^4 (AA) and drank the same spiritual drink, which flowed from the spiritual rock that followed them. That rock was Christ. ^5 (AB) But most of them did not please God. So they died, and their bodies were scattered all over the desert.

⁶ What happened to them is a warning to keep us from wanting to do the same evil things. ^7 (AC) They worshiped idols, just as the Scriptures say, “The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance around.” So don't worship idols. ^8 (AD) Some of those people did shameful things, and in a single day about 23,000 died. Don't do shameful things as they did. ^9 (AE) And don't try to test Christ,^[k] as some of them did and were later bitten by poisonous snakes. ^10 (AF) Don't even grumble, as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel. ¹¹ These things happened to them as a warning to us. All this was written in the Scriptures to teach us who live in these last days.

¹² Even if you think you can stand up to temptation, be careful not to fall. ^13 (AG) You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.

¹⁴ My friends, you must keep away from idols. ¹⁵ I am speaking to you as people who have enough sense to know what I am talking about. ^16 (AH) When we drink from the cup we ask God to bless, isn't that sharing in the blood of Christ? When we eat the bread we break, isn't that sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ By sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one body, even though there are many of us.

^18 (AI)(AJ) Aren't the people of Israel sharing in the worship when they gather around the altar and eat the sacrifices offered there? ¹⁹ Am I saying that either the idols or the food sacrificed to them is anything at all? ^20 (AK) No, I am not! This food is really sacrificed to demons and not to God. I don't want you to have anything to do with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink from the cup of demons and still drink from the Lord's cup. You cannot eat at the table of demons and still eat at the Lord's table. ^22 (AL) We would make the Lord jealous if we did this. And we are not stronger than the Lord.

Always Honor God

^23 (AM) Some of you say, “We can do whatever we want to!” But I tell you not everything may be good or helpful. ²⁴ We should think about others and not about ourselves. ²⁵ However, when you buy meat in the market, go ahead and eat it. Keep your conscience clear by not asking where the meat came from. ^26 (AN) The Scriptures say, “The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.”

²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to dinner, and you want to go, then go. Eat whatever you are served. Don't cause a problem for someone's conscience by asking where the food came from. ^28-29 But if you are told it has been sacrificed to idols, don't cause a problem by eating it. I don't mean a problem for yourself, but for the one who told you. Why should my freedom be limited by someone else's conscience? ³⁰ If I give thanks for what I eat, why should anyone accuse me of doing wrong?

³¹ When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God. ³² Don't cause problems for Jews or Greeks or anyone else who belongs to God's church. ³³ I always try to please others instead of myself, in the hope that many of them will be saved. 11 ^1 (AO) You must follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Rules for Worship

² I am proud of you, because you always remember me and obey the teachings I gave you. ³ Now I want you to know that Christ is the head of all men, and a man is the head of a woman. But God is the head of Christ. ⁴ This means that any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head brings shame to his head.

⁵ But any woman who prays or prophesies without something on her head brings shame to her head. In fact, she may as well shave her head.^{[l] 6} A woman should wear something on her head. It is a disgrace for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair. But if she refuses to wear something on her head, let her cut off her hair.

^7 (AP) Men were created to be like God and to bring honor to God. This means a man should not wear anything on his head. Women were created to bring honor to men. ^8 (AQ) It was the woman who was made from a man, and not the man who was made from a woman. ⁹ He wasn't created for her. She was created for him. ¹⁰ And so, because of this, and also because of the angels, a woman ought to wear something on her head, as a sign of her authority.^[m]

¹¹ As far as the Lord is concerned, men and women need each other. ¹² It is true that the first woman came from a man, but all other men have been given birth by women. Yet God is the one who created everything. ¹³ Ask yourselves if it is proper for a woman to pray without something on her head. ¹⁴ Isn't it unnatural and disgraceful for men to have long hair? ¹⁵ But long hair is a beautiful way for a woman to cover her head. ¹⁶ This is how things are done in all of God's churches,^[n] and this is why none of you should argue about what I have said.

Rules for the Lord's Supper

¹⁷ Your worship services do you more harm than good. I am certainly not going to praise you for this. ¹⁸ I am told you can't get along with each other when you worship, and I am sure that some of what I have heard is true. ¹⁹ You are bound to argue with each other, but it is easy to see which of you have God's approval.

²⁰ When you meet together, you don't really celebrate the Lord's Supper. ²¹ You even start eating before everyone gets to the meeting, and some of you go hungry, while others get drunk. ²² Don't you have homes where you can eat and drink? Do you hate God's church? Do you want to embarrass people who don't have anything? What can I say to you? I certainly cannot praise you.

The Lord's Supper

(Matthew 26.26-29; Mark 14.22-25; Luke 22.14-20)

²³ I have already told you what the Lord Jesus did on the night he was betrayed. And it came from the Lord himself.

He took some bread in his hands. ²⁴ Then after he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this and remember me.”

^25 (AR) After the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and said, “This is my blood, and with it God makes his new agreement with you. Drink this and remember me.”

²⁶ The Lord meant that when you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about his death until he comes.

²⁷ But if you eat the bread and drink the wine in a way that isn't worthy of the Lord, you sin against his body and blood. ²⁸ This is why you must examine the way you eat and drink. ²⁹ If you fail to understand that you are the body of the Lord, you will condemn yourselves by the way you eat and drink. ³⁰ This is why many of you are sick and weak and why a lot of others have died. ³¹ If we carefully judge ourselves, we won't be punished. ³² But when the Lord judges and punishes us, he does it to keep us from being condemned with the rest of the world.

³³ My dear friends, you should wait until everyone gets there before you start eating. ³⁴ If you really are hungry, you can eat at home. Then you won't condemn yourselves when you meet together.

After I arrive, I will instruct you about the other matters.