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 as an apostle of Jesus Christ by 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.
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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 you were enriched in Him, in all speech 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 concerning 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 you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly 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 will also confirm you to the end, blameless 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 you were called into fellowship with 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 exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete 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 I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels 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 I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “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?
Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in 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 except Crispus and Gaius,
15 N o one can say that you were baptized in the name of Paul.
so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.
16 I remember I did baptize the family of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing any others.
Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know 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 did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. The Wisdom of God
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 foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being 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 cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
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 man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has 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 since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 T he Jews are looking for something special to see. The Greek people are looking for the answer in wisdom.
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for 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, to Jews a stumbling block and to 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 to those who are the 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 consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
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 has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which 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 despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29 I n that way, no man can be proud as he stands before God.
so that no man may boast 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 by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to 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.”
so that, just as it is written, “ Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”