1 Corinthians 1
1
Greetings from Paul
1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.
2I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,#1:2a Corinth was the capital city of Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula. to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,#1:2b Or because you belong to Christ Jesus. just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
3May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
4I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,#1:10 Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26. by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,#1:12 Greek Cephas.” or “I follow only Christ.”
13Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16(Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17For 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
18The 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. 19As the Scriptures say,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”#1:19 Isa 29:14.
20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,#1:24 Greek and Greeks. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy#1:26 Or high born. when God called you. 27Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28God chose things despised by the world,#1:28 Or God chose those who are low born. things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
30God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”#1:31 Jer 9:24.
Currently Selected:
1 Corinthians 1: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
1 Corinthians 1
1
Greeting
1Paul,#Ac 13:9 called as an apostle#Rm 1:1 of Christ Jesus by God’s will,#2Co 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 2Tm 1:1 and Sosthenes our brother:#Ac 18:17
2To the church of God at Corinth,#Ac 18:1; 19:1; 2Co 1:1,23; 2Tm 4:20 to those sanctified#Ac 20:32; 26:18; 1Co 6:11; Heb 10:10 in Christ Jesus, called#Rm 1:6–7 as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name#Gn 4:26; Ps 79:6; Jn 10:25; Ac 9:14; 15:14; Rv 14:1 of Jesus Christ our Lord — both their Lord and ours.
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father#Rm 1:7; 2Co 1:2; Gl 1:3; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; 2Th 1:2; Ti 1:4 and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4I always thank#Rm 1:8; Php 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Th 1:2; 2Th 1:3; 2Tm 1:3; Phm 4 my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, 5that you were enriched in him#2Co 8:9; 9:11 in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.#Rm 15:14; 1Co 12:8; 2Co 8:7; 1Jn 2:20 6In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,#2Th 1:10; 1Tm 2:6; 2Tm 1:8; Rv 1:2 7so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait#Lk 17:30; Rm 8:19; Php 3:20; Heb 9:28; 2Pt 3:12 for the revelation#1Pt 4:13 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end,#Php 1:6; 1Th 3:13 so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.#Lk 17:24; 1Co 5:5; 2Co 1:14; Php 2:16; Col 1:22 9God is faithful;#Dt 7:9; Is 49:7; 1Co 10:13; 2Co 1:18 you were called by him#Rm 8:28 into fellowship with his Son,#Jn 5:19; Heb 1:2; 1Jn 1:3 Jesus Christ our Lord.
Divisions at Corinth
10Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. 11For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry#Ti 3:9 among you. 12What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”#Ti 3:13 or “I belong to Cephas,”#Jn 1:42 or “I belong to Christ.”#Mt 23:9–10 13Is Christ divided?#1Co 12:5; 2Co 11:4; Eph 4:5 Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14I thank God#1:14 Other mss omit God#1:14 Or I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus#Ac 18:8 and Gaius,#Rm 16:23 15so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16I did, in fact, baptize the household#Rm 16:5 of Stephanas;#1Co 16:15,17 beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross#Lk 23:26; Php 3:18 of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.#Ac 19:11; Rm 1:16; 2Co 13:4 19For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent. # 1:19 Is 29:14 #
Is 29:14
20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law?#1:20 Or scholar Where is the debater of this age?#Lk 16:8 Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. 22For the Jews ask for signs#Mt 12:38 and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified,#Lk 23:26; 1Co 2:2; Gl 3:1; 5:11 a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.#1:23 Other mss read Greeks 24Yet to those who are called,#Rm 1:6 both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Boasting Only in the Lord
26Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective,#1:26 Lit wise according to the flesh not many powerful,#Ac 25:5 not many of noble birth. 27Instead, God has chosen#Mt 24:22; Eph 1:4 what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world#Lk 18:9 — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29so that no one#1:29 Lit that not all flesh may boast in his presence.#Ac 7:46 30It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness,#Mt 6:33; Rm 1:17; 2Pt 1:1 sanctification,#1Th 4:3 and redemption#Eph 1:7 — 31in order that, as it is written:#Mk 1:2 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.#1:31Jr 9:24#Jr 9:23–24
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers