1 T his letter is from Paul. I have been chosen by God to be a missionary of Jesus Christ. Sosthenes, a Christian brother, writes also.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 I write to God’s church in the city of Corinth. I write to those who belong to Christ Jesus and to those who are set apart by Him and made holy. I write to all the Christians everywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ. He is our Lord and their Lord also.

unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours:

3 M ay you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul Gives Thanks for Their Faith

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I am thankful to God all the time for you. I am thankful for the loving-favor God has given to you because you belong to Christ Jesus.

I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;

5 H e has made your lives rich in every way. Now you have power to speak for Him. He gave you good understanding.

that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge;

6 T his shows that what I told you about Christ and what He could do for you has been done in your lives.

even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

7 Y ou have the gifts of the Holy Spirit that you need while you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to come again.

so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;

8 C hrist will keep you strong until He comes again. No blame will be held against you.

who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 G od is faithful. He chose you to be joined together with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The Church in Corinth Is Divided

God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 C hristian brothers, I ask you with all my heart in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to agree among yourselves. Do not be divided into little groups. Think and act as if you all had the same mind.

Now I beseech you, brethren, through 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 perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 M y Christian brothers, I have heard from some of Chloe’s family that you are arguing among yourselves.

For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12 I hear that some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul,” and “I am a follower of Apollos,” and “I am a follower of Peter,” and “I am a follower of Christ.”

Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos: and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

13 H as Christ been divided? Was Paul put on a cross to die for your sins? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?

14 I am thankful to God that I baptized Crispus and Gaius only.

I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius;

15 N o one can say that you were baptized in the name of Paul.

lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name.

16 I remember I did baptize the family of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing any others.

And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

17 C hrist did not send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the Good News. I did not use big sounding words when I preached. If I had, the power of the cross of Christ would be taken away. Christ Is the Power and Wisdom of God

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

18 P reaching about the cross sounds foolish to those who are dying in sin. But it is the power of God to those of us who are being saved from the punishment of sin.

For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.

19 T he Holy Writings say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise people. I will put aside the learning of those who think they know a lot.”

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.

20 W here is the man who is wise? Where is the man who thinks he knows a lot? Where is the man who thinks he has all the answers? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21 I n His wisdom, He did not allow man to come to know Him through the wisdom of this world. It pleased God to save men from the punishment of their sins through preaching the Good News. This preaching sounds foolish.

For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

22 T he Jews are looking for something special to see. The Greek people are looking for the answer in wisdom.

Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom:

23 B ut we preach that Christ died on a cross to save them from their sins. These words are hard for the Jews to listen to. The Greek people think it is foolish.

but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness;

24 C hrist is the power and wisdom of God to those who are chosen to be saved from the punishment of sin for both Jews and Greeks.

but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

25 G od’s plan looked foolish to men, but it is wiser than the best plans of men. God’s plan which may look weak is stronger than the strongest plans of men. God’s Wisdom—Human Wisdom

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 C hristian brothers, think who you were when the Lord called you. Not many of you were wise or powerful or born into the family of leaders of a country.

For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 B ut God has chosen what the world calls foolish to shame the wise. He has chosen what the world calls weak to shame what is strong.

but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;

28 G od has chosen what is weak and foolish of the world, what is hated and not known, to destroy the things the world trusts in.

and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:

29 I n that way, no man can be proud as he stands before God.

that no flesh should glory before God.

30 G od Himself made the way so you can have new life through Christ Jesus. God gave us Christ to be our wisdom. Christ made us right with God and set us apart for God and made us holy. Christ bought us with His blood and made us free from our sins.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

31 I t is as the Holy Writings say, “If anyone is going to be proud of anything, he should be proud of the Lord.”

that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.