1 Corinthians 1

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

I, Paul, [am writing this letter]. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with [me as I write it]. [God] appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus because that is what God desired.

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

[I am sending this letter] to all you who are God’s believers in Corinth [city]. You have been set apart [by God] {[God] has set you apart} for himself because (of your close relationship with/you belong to) Christ Jesus. God has appointed you to be his people and to live in a morally pure way, just like he has appointed all the people everywhere who belong to him to live in a morally pure way. You and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY]. He is their sovereign Lord as well as the sovereign Lord of all of us [(inc)] who have trusted in him.

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

We [(exc)] desire that God, who is our [heavenly] Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our sovereign Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to experience [inner] peace.

4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus.

I very often [HYP] thank God for you because he has acted toward you kindly, acting in ways that you do not deserve. He has done this because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ Jesus.

5 For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,

That is, [God] has [HYP] helped you spiritually very much because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ. Specifically, God has very much [HYP] enabled you to speak messages [that his Spirit revealed to you], and he has very much enabled you to know many things [HYP] that his Spirit revealed to you.

6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.

In that way, [he] confirmed to you that what we [(exc)] proclaimed about Christ is true.

7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As a result, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return, within your group you truly have [LIT] every ability that [God’s] Spirit gives [to believers].

8 He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God will also cause you to steadfastly [trust Christ to the very end of your lives] [EUP]. The result will be that God will not consider you guilty [of any sin] when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth [MTY].

9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

You can depend on God to do that. He is the one who chose you to become intimately associated with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.

10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.

My fellow believers, by the authority of [MTY] our Lord Jesus Christ, I urgently appeal to all of you to agree with one another. What I mean is, stop dividing into groups. Instead, be united [MET] concerning what you understand [about spiritual matters], and be united in what you decide.

11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

My fellow believers, [I urge this] because some members of Chloe’s household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves.

12 What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”

That is, some of you say, “Paul is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and others say, “Peter is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and still others say, “Christ is the one to whom we [are loyal].”

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

[It is ridiculous that] [RHQ] [you are quarreling and] dividing up [into groups instead of being loyal to] Christ alone. Christ certainly has not divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out [to groups of people who oppose each other]! [MET, RHQ] I, Paul, certainly did not die on the cross for you! [RHQ] When you were baptized {When someone baptized you}, you certainly did not promise that you were submitting to me! [RHQ]

14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

I thank [God] that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized.

15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.

As a result, no one [there in Corinth except those two] can say, “Paul baptized me so that I would become (his disciple/submissive to him).”

16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else.

[Now I remember that] I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else [there].

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ sent me not [primarily] to baptize people but to preach the good message about him. When I do that, he does not want me to use words that human philosophers [consider] wise [IRO]. I do not want the message about [what] he [accomplished when he was nailed to] the cross [MTY] to lose its power.

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Those who are perishing spiritually [because they do not believe that message consider] that the message [about what Christ accomplished when he was nailed to the] cross [MTY] [is] foolish. But to us who are being saved {whom [God] is saving} [spiritually because we believe that message], it [demonstrates that] God acts powerfully [in order to save us].

19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

[It is like what God said that] a prophet wrote long ago, [By the things that I will do], I will show that the ideas of those who [think] [IRO] they are wise are completely useless. I will ignore the ideas that they think are [IRO] so smart.

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (aiōn g165)

So, do you know [what God thinks] about what [RHQ] people who [IRO] consider themselves to be wise and scholars and philosophers say? [He does not pay attention to what they say, because] [RHQ] he has shown clearly that what unbelievers [think is] [IRO] wise is [not wise at all], but is really foolish. (aiōn g165)

21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

God, acting very wisely, made it impossible for unbelievers to know God by doing what they thought was [IRO] wise. Instead, he was happy to save those who trust [in Christ] as the result of their hearing [the message that] was proclaimed to them, a message that others consider to be foolish.

22 Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,

The Jews want [people to prove, by performing] miracles, [that their message is true]. The non-Jews want to hear only messages consisting of talk that they consider to be very wise.

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

As for us, we proclaim [the message about what] Christ [accomplished for us when] he was nailed {[when they] nailed him} to the cross. That message offends Jews [because they do not think that the Messiah will die, and] non-Jews think it is [IRO] a foolish message.

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

But to us whom God has chosen to belong to himself, both Jews and non-Jews, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely [by sending] Christ [to die] for us.

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

[Unbelievers may think] [IRO] [that] God was [acting] foolishly [by doing that], but [the truth is that] he was acting more wisely than unbelievers who [just think that] [IRO] they are wise. And unbelievers may think that God was [acting] weakly [by sending his son to die], but he was acting more powerfully than unbelievers who [just think] [IRO] [that they] act powerfully.

26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.

My fellow believers, remember what [kind of people you] were when God chose you. [Not many of you] whom he chose are people whom [unbelievers considered to be] wise. Very few of you were considered to be important. Very few of you came from families with a high social standing.

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Instead, it was [usually] those whom [unbelievers considered to be] foolish whom God chose. He did that in order to shame/discredit those whom [unbelievers consider] [IRO] wise. It was [usually] those [whom unbelievers] considered [IRO] unimportant whom God chose, in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider important.

28 He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

It was usually those who are despised and considered {whom [unbelievers] despise and consider} worthless whom God chose, in order to make completely ineffective [what unbelievers consider to be important].

29 so that no one may boast in His presence.

[He did that] in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important.

30 It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

It is because of what God [has done] that you (have a close relationship with/belong to) Christ Jesus. God [put into effect] his wise [plan to save us] by what Christ did for us. As a result of what Christ did, God erases the record of our sins, sets us apart for himself, and frees us from our being guilty [for our sins].

31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

So, it is the Lord whom we should boast about, [not about one spiritual leader being better than another]. We should do as ([a prophet/Jeremiah]) wrote [in the Scriptures that we should do]: Those who boast should boast [only] about what the Lord [has done].