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.
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1 Corinthians 1
1
1 Corinthians 1
1¶ Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,
2unto the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of God which is at Corinth, to those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
3Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you in Christ Jesus,
5that in every thing ye are enriched in him in all word and in all knowledge,
6with which the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in you,
7so that ye lack nothing in any gift, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8who shall also confirm that ye shall remain unimpeachable unto the end, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9God is faithful, by whom ye were called into 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 perfect, joined together in the same understanding and in the same perception.
11For it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by those of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12In other words, that each one of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.
13Is the Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?
14¶ I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius,
15lest any should say that ye were baptized into my name.
16And 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 {Gr. stauros – stake} of Christ should be made void.
18For the word of the cross {Gr. stauros – stake} is foolishness to those that perish, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God.
19For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the philosopher of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21For in the wisdom of God, since the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe.
22For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
23but we preach Christ crucified, {Gr. Stauroo – hung on a stake} unto the Jews a stumblingblock and unto the Gentiles foolishness;
24but unto those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25For that which is foolish of God is wiser than men, and that which is weak of God is stronger than men.
26For look upon your vocation, brothers, that ye are not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,
27but rather God has chosen that which is the foolishness of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen that which is the weakness of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28and that which is vile of the world and that which is despised God has chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are,
29that no flesh should glory in his presence.
30But of him ye are reborn in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31that, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International