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1 Corinthians 1-4
GOD’S WORD Translation
1 Corinthians 1-4
GOD’S WORD Translation
Greeting
1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother in the Christian faith.
2 To God’s church that was made holy by Christ Jesus and called to be God’s holy people in the city of Corinth and to people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Good will [a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!
4 I always thank God for you because Christ Jesus has shown you God’s good will. 5 Through Christ Jesus you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind. 6 Our message about Christ has been verified among you. 7 Therefore, you don’t lack any gift as you wait eagerly for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will continue to give you strength until the end so that no one can accuse you of anything on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
God’s Wisdom Is Better Than the World’s Wisdom
10 Brothers and sisters, I encourage all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to agree with each other and not to split into opposing groups. I want you to be united in your understanding and opinions. 11 Brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that you are quarreling among yourselves. 12 This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” [b] or “I follow Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 I thank God that [c] I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I also baptized Stephanas and his family. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ didn’t send me to baptize. Instead, he sent me to spread the Good News. I didn’t use intellectual arguments. That would have made the cross of Christ lose its meaning.
18 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 Scripture says,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
I will reject the intelligence of intelligent people.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn’t God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense? 21 The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe. 22 Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish. 24 But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes. 27 But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. 28 God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. 29 As a result, no one can brag in God’s presence. 30 You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. 31 As Scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.”
2 Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I didn’t speak about God’s mystery [d] as if it were some kind of brilliant message or wisdom. 2 While I was with you, I decided to deal with only one subject—Jesus Christ, who was crucified. 3 When I came to you, I was weak. I was afraid and very nervous. 4 I didn’t speak my message with persuasive intellectual arguments. I spoke my message with a show of spiritual power 5 so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.
6 However, we do use wisdom to speak to those who are mature. It is a wisdom that doesn’t belong to this world or to the rulers of this world who are in power today and gone tomorrow. 7 We speak about the mystery of God’s wisdom. It is a wisdom that has been hidden, which God had planned for our glory before the world began. 8 Not one of the rulers of this world has known it. If they had, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as Scripture says:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
the things that God has prepared
for those who love him.”
10 God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God. 11 After all, who knows everything about a person except that person’s own spirit? In the same way, no one has known everything about God except God’s Spirit. 12 Now, we didn’t receive the spirit that belongs to the world. Instead, we received the Spirit who comes from God so that we could know the things which God has freely given us. 13 We don’t speak about these things using teachings that are based on intellectual arguments like people do. Instead, we use the Spirit’s teachings. We explain spiritual things to those who have the Spirit.[e]
14 A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them. 15 Spiritual people evaluate everything but are subject to no one’s evaluation.
16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord
so that he can teach him?”
However, we have the mind of Christ.
You Belong to Christ
3 Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as people still influenced by your corrupt nature. You were infants in your faith in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink. I didn’t give you solid food because you weren’t ready for it. Even now you aren’t ready for it 3 because you’re still influenced by your corrupt nature.
When you are jealous and quarrel among yourselves, aren’t you influenced by your corrupt nature and living by human standards? 4 When some of you say, “I follow Paul” and others say, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting like ⌞sinful⌟ humans? 5 Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are servants who helped you come to faith. Each did what the Lord gave him to do. 6 I planted, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is important because ⌞only⌟ God makes it grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own work. 9 We are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field.
You are God’s building. 10 As a skilled and experienced builder, I used the gift [f] that God gave me to lay the foundation ⌞for that building⌟. However, someone else is building on it. 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 foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 People may build on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. 13 The day will make what each one does clearly visible because fire will reveal it. That fire will determine what kind of work each person has done. 14 If what a person has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If his work is burned up, he will suffer ⌞the loss⌟. However, he will be saved, though it will be like going through a fire.
16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him because God’s temple is holy. You are that holy temple!
18 Don’t deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise in the ways of this world, you should give up that wisdom in order to become really wise. 19 The wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. That’s why Scripture says, “God catches the wise in their cleverness.” 20 Again Scripture says, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are pointless.”
21 So don’t brag about people. Everything belongs to you. 22 Whether it is Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life or death, present or future things, everything belongs to you. 23 You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
The Work of the Apostles
4 People should think of us as servants of Christ and managers who are entrusted with God’s mysteries. 2 Managers are required to be trustworthy.
3 It means very little to me that you or any human court should cross-examine me. I don’t even ask myself questions. 4 I have a clear conscience, but that doesn’t mean I have God’s approval. It is the Lord who cross-examines me. 5 Therefore, don’t judge anything before the appointed time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will also bring to light what is hidden in the dark and reveal people’s motives. Then each person will receive praise from God.
6 Brothers and sisters, I have applied this to Apollos and myself for your sake. You should learn from us not to go beyond what is written in Scripture. Then you won’t arrogantly place one of us in opposition to the other.
7 Who says that you are any better than other people? What do you have that wasn’t given to you? If you were given what you have, why are you bragging as if it weren’t a gift?
8 You already have what you want! You’ve already become rich! You’ve become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you.
9 As I see it, God has placed us apostles last in line, like people condemned to die. We have become a spectacle for people and angels to look at. 10 We have given up our wisdom for Christ, but you have insight because of Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. 11 To this moment, we are hungry, thirsty, poorly dressed, roughly treated, and homeless. 12 We wear ourselves out doing physical labor. When people verbally abuse us, we bless them. When people persecute us, we endure it. 13 When our reputations are attacked, we remain courteous. Right now we have become garbage in the eyes of the world and trash in the sight of all people.
14 I’m not writing this to make you feel ashamed but to instruct you as my dear children. 15 You may have countless Christian guardians, but you don’t have many ⌞spiritual⌟ fathers. I became your father in the Christian life by telling you the Good News about Christ Jesus. 16 So I encourage you to imitate me. 17 That’s why I’ve sent Timothy to you to help you remember my Christian way of life as I teach it everywhere in every church. Timothy is my dear child, and he faithfully does the Lord’s work.
18 Some of you have become arrogant because you think I won’t pay you a visit. 19 If it’s the Lord’s will, I’ll visit you soon. Then I’ll know what these arrogant people are saying and what power they have. 20 God’s kingdom is not just talk, it is power.
21 When I come to visit you, would you prefer that I punish you or show you love and a gentle spirit?
1 Corinthians 1-4
New International Version
1 Corinthians 1-4
New International Version
1 Paul, called to be an apostle(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,(B) and our brother Sosthenes,(C)
2 To the church of God(D) in Corinth,(E) to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called(F) to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name(G) of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.(H)
Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you(I) because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched(J) in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge(K)— 6 God thus confirming our testimony(L) about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift(M) as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.(N) 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless(O) on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.(P) 9 God is faithful,(Q) who has called you(R) into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.(S)
A Church Divided Over Leaders
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a](T) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,(U) but that you be perfectly united(V) in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household(W) have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;(X) another, “I follow Apollos”;(Y) another, “I follow Cephas[b]”;(Z) still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?(AA) 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus(AB) and Gaius,(AC) 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household(AD) of Stephanas;(AE) beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize,(AF) but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom(AG) and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness(AH) to those who are perishing,(AI) but to us who are being saved(AJ) it is the power of God.(AK) 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c](AL)
20 Where is the wise person?(AM) Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?(AN) Has not God made foolish(AO) the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world(AP) through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save(AQ) those who believe.(AR) 22 Jews demand signs(AS) and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified:(AT) a stumbling block(AU) to Jews and foolishness(AV) to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called,(AW) both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God(AX) and the wisdom of God.(AY) 25 For the foolishness(AZ) of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness(BA) of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.(BB) Not many of you were wise(BC) by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose(BD) the foolish(BE) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not(BF)—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.(BG) 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,(BH) who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,(BI) holiness(BJ) and redemption.(BK) 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[d](BL)
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom(BM) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[e] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.(BN) 3 I came to you(BO) in weakness(BP) with great fear and trembling.(BQ) 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,(BR) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,(BS) 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(BT)
God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,(BU) but not the wisdom of this age(BV) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.(BW) 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery(BX) that has been hidden(BY) and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age(BZ) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(CA) 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[f]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—(CB)
10 these are the things God has revealed(CC) to us by his Spirit.(CD)
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts(CE) except their own spirit(CF) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit(CG) of the world,(CH) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom(CI) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[g] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God(CJ) but considers them foolishness,(CK) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit(CL) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
But we have the mind of Christ.(CN)
The Church and Its Leaders
3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit(CO) but as people who are still worldly(CP)—mere infants(CQ) in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food,(CR) for you were not yet ready for it.(CS) Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling(CT) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”(CU) are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos?(CV) And what is Paul? Only servants,(CW) through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed,(CX) Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.(CY) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service;(CZ) you are God’s field,(DA) God’s building.(DB)
10 By the grace God has given me,(DC) I laid a foundation(DD) as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.(DE) 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is,(DF) because the Day(DG) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.(DH) 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.(DI) 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.(DJ)
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple(DK) and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?(DL) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise(DM) by the standards of this age,(DN) you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness(DO) in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[i];(DP) 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[j](DQ) 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders!(DR) All things are yours,(DS) 22 whether Paul or Apollos(DT) or Cephas[k](DU) or the world or life or death or the present or the future(DV)—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ,(DW) and Christ is of God.
The Nature of True Apostleship
4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants(DX) of Christ and as those entrusted(DY) with the mysteries(DZ) God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience(EA) is clear, but that does not make me innocent.(EB) It is the Lord who judges me.(EC) 5 Therefore judge nothing(ED) before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.(EE) He will bring to light(EF) what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.(EG)
6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”(EH) Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.(EI) 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?(EJ) And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!(EK) You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die(EL) in the arena. We have been made a spectacle(EM) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ,(EN) but you are so wise in Christ!(EO) We are weak, but you are strong!(EP) You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.(EQ) 12 We work hard with our own hands.(ER) When we are cursed, we bless;(ES) when we are persecuted,(ET) we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage(EU) of the world—right up to this moment.
Paul’s Appeal and Warning
14 I am writing this not to shame you(EV) but to warn you as my dear children.(EW) 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father(EX) through the gospel.(EY) 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.(EZ) 17 For this reason I have sent to you(FA) Timothy,(FB) my son(FC) whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.(FD)
18 Some of you have become arrogant,(FE) as if I were not coming to you.(FF) 19 But I will come to you very soon,(FG) if the Lord is willing,(FH) and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of(FI) talk but of power.(FJ) 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline,(FK) or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 11 and 26; and in 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 10:1; 11:33; 12:1; 14:6, 20, 26, 39; 15:1, 6, 50, 58; 16:15, 20.
- 1 Corinthians 1:12 That is, Peter
- 1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
- 1 Corinthians 1:31 Jer. 9:24
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 Psalm 94:11
- 1 Corinthians 3:22 That is, Peter
1 Corinthians 1-4
King James Version
1 Corinthians 1-4
King James Version
1 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:
3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's;
22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's;
23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
4 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
15 For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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