1 P aul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother,

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

2 t o the assembly of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all those calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place -- both theirs and ours:

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.

3 G race to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

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

4 I give thanks to my God always concerning you for the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus,

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.

5 t hat in every thing ye were enriched in him, in all discourse and all knowledge,

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

6 a ccording as the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in you,

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

7 s o that ye are not behind in any gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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

8 w ho also shall confirm you unto the end -- unblamable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Christ will keep you strong until He comes again. No blame will be held against you.

9 f aithful God, through whom ye were called to the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

10 A nd I call upon you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the same thing ye may all say, and there may not be divisions among you, and ye may be perfected in the same mind, and in the same judgment,

Christian 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.

11 f or it was signified to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe, that contentions are among you;

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

12 a nd I say this, that each one of you saith, `I, indeed, am of Paul' -- `and I of Apollos,' -- `and I of Cephas,' -- `and I of Christ.'

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.”

13 H ath the Christ been divided? was Paul crucified for you? or to the name of Paul were ye baptized;

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

14 I give thanks to God that no one of you did I baptize, except Crispus and Gaius --

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

15 t hat no one may say that to my own name I did baptize;

No one can say that you were baptized in the name of Paul.

16 a nd I did baptize also Stephanas' household -- further, I have not known if I did baptize any other.

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

17 F or Christ did not send me to baptize, but -- to proclaim good news; not in wisdom of discourse, that the cross of the Christ may not be made of none effect;

Christ 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

18 f or the word of the cross to those indeed perishing is foolishness, and to us -- those being saved -- it is the power of God,

Preaching 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.

19 f or it hath been written, `I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nought;'

The 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.”

20 w here the wise? where the scribe? where a disputer of this age? did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?

Where 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.

21 f or, seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom knew not God, it did please God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing.

In 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.

22 S ince also Jews ask a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom,

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

23 a lso we -- we preach Christ crucified, to Jews, indeed, a stumbling-block, and to Greeks foolishness,

But 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.

24 a nd to those called -- both Jews and Greeks -- Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,

Christ 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.

25 b ecause the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men;

God’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

26 f or see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

Christian 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.

27 b ut the foolish things of the world did God choose, that the wise He may put to shame; and the weak things of the world did God choose that He may put to shame the strong;

But 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.

28 a nd the base things of the world, and the things despised did God choose, and the things that are not, that the things that are He may make useless --

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

29 t hat no flesh may glory before Him;

In that way, no man can be proud as he stands before God.

30 a nd of Him ye -- ye are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, righteousness also, and sanctification, and redemption,

God 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.

31 t hat, according as it hath been written, `He who is glorying -- in the Lord let him glory.'

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