1 Corinthians 12
12
Gifts from the Holy Spirit
1Now, brothers, I want you to understand about spiritual gifts. 2You remember the lives you lived before you were believers. You let yourselves be influenced and led away to worship idols—things that have no life. 3So I tell you that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.
4There are different kinds of gifts; but they are all from the same Spirit. 5There are different ways to serve; but all these ways are from the same Lord. 6And there are different ways that God works in people; but all these ways are from the same God. God works in us all in everything we do. 7Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, to help everyone. 8The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. And the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. 9The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And that one Spirit gives another gifts of healing. 10The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages and to another the ability to interpret those languages. 11One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what to give each person.
The Body of Christ
12A person’s body is one thing, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts to a body, but all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that too. 13Some of us are Jews, and some of us are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some of us are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit.
14And a person’s body has more than one part. It has many parts. 15The foot might say, “I am not a hand. So I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. 16The ear might say, “I am not an eye. So I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, the body would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, the body would not be able to smell anything. 18-19If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But truly God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one of them. 20And so there are many parts, but only one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” 22No! Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are really very important. 23And the parts of the body that we think are not worth much are the parts that we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we want to hide. 24The more beautiful parts of our body need no special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. 25God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. 26If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, then all the other parts share its honor.
27All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body. 28And in the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to lead, and those who can speak in different languages. 29Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles. 30Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different languages. Not all interpret those languages. 31But you should truly want to have the greater gifts.
Love
And now I will show you the best way of all.
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1 Corinthians 12: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
1 Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts
1Brothers and sisters, I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding concerning spiritual gifts. 2You know that when you were unbelievers, every time you were led to worship false gods you were worshiping gods who couldn’t even speak. 3So I want you to know that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is cursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. 6There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.
7The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone. 8The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. 9To another person the same Spirit gives ⌞courageous⌟ faith. To another person the same Spirit gives the ability to heal. 10Another can work miracles. Another can speak what God has revealed. Another can tell the difference between spirits. Another can speak in different kinds of languages. Another can interpret languages. 11There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person.
12For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we are Jewish or Greek, slave or free, God gave all of us one Spirit to drink.
14As you know, the human body is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. 15Suppose a foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body!” Would that mean it’s no longer part of the body? 16Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not a part of the body!” Would that mean it’s no longer part of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18So God put each and every part of the body together as he wanted it. 19How could it be a body if it only had one part? 20So there are many parts but one body.
21An eye can’t say to a hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22The opposite is true. The parts of the body that we think are weaker are the ones we really need. 23The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we give special honor. So our unpresentable parts are made more presentable. 24However, our presentable parts don’t need this kind of treatment. God has put the body together and given special honor to the part that doesn’t have it. 25God’s purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. 26If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness.
27You are Christ’s body and each of you is an individual part of it. 28In the church God has appointed first apostles, next prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, then those who have the gift of healing, then those who help others, those who are managers, and those who can speak in a number of languages. 29Not all believers are apostles, are they? Are all of them prophets? Do all of them teach? Do all of them perform miracles 30or have gifts of healing? Can all of them speak in other languages or interpret languages?
31You ⌞only⌟ want the better gifts, but I will show you the best thing to do.#12:31 Or “Desire the better gifts, and I will show you the best thing to do.”
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