< 1 Corinthians 1 >
1 This letter comes from Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother.
To the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated by union with Christ Jesus and called to become his people, and also to all, wherever they may be, who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Master and ours,
2 It is sent to the church of God in Corinth, those who are being made right in Christ Jesus, called to live holy lives—and to everyone who worships the Lord Jesus Christ everywhere, the Lord both of them and of us.
from Paul, who has been called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our fellow follower of the Lord.
3 May you have grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.
4 I'm always thanking God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus.
I always thank God for you. I thank him for the blessing bestowed on you in Christ Jesus.
5 Through him you have been made rich in everything, in all that you say and every aspect of what you know.
For through union with him you were enriched in every way – in your power to preach, and in your knowledge of the truth;
6 In fact the testimony of Christ was proved valid in your experience,
and so became yourselves a confirmation of my testimony to the Christ.
7 so that you're not missing any spiritual gift as you wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no gift in which you are deficient, while waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
8 He will also keep you strong to the very end, so you will be kept right until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God himself will strengthen you to the end, so that at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ you may be found blameless.
9 God is trustworthy who called you to share together in fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord.
God will not fail you, and it is he who called you into communion with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
10 Brothers and sisters, I plead with you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree and that you're not divided. Instead develop a united attitude and purpose.
But I appeal to you, my friends, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree in what you profess, and not to allow divisions to exist among you, but to be united – of one mind and of one opinion.
11 For I have been told things about you, my brothers and sisters, by some of Chloe's people—that you are quarreling among yourselves.
For I have been informed, my friends, by the members of Chloe’s household, that party feeling exists among you.
12 Let me explain what I mean. You're all making different claims: “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow Christ.”
I mean this: that every one of you says either ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I Apollos,’ or ‘I Cephas,’ or ‘I Christ.’
13 Is Christ divided? Did Paul die on a cross for you? Was it in the name of Paul that you were baptized?
You have torn the Christ in pieces! Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I'm grateful to God that I didn't baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so nobody can claim they were baptized in my name.
so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
16 (Oh, and I also baptized the Stephanas family—I can't think of anyone else.)
I baptized also the household of Stephanas. I do not know that I baptized anyone else.
17 For Christ didn't send me out to baptize, but to spread the good news, and not with eloquent human wisdom, otherwise the cross of Christ would be made powerless.
My mission from Christ was not to baptize, but to tell the good news; not, however, in the language of philosophy, in case the cross of the Christ should be robbed of its meaning.
18 For the message of the cross is nonsense to those who are lost, but it's the power of God to those of us who are saved.
The message of the cross is indeed mere folly to those who are on the path to ruin, but to us who are on the path of salvation it is the power of God.
19 As Scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will wipe out the cleverness of the clever.”
For scripture says – ‘I will bring the philosophy of the philosophers to naught, and the shrewdness of the shrewd I will bring to nothing.’
20 So how about the wise, the writers, and the philosophers of this age? Hasn't God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness? (aiōn )
Where is the philosopher? Where the teacher of the Law? Where the disputant of today? Has not God shown the world’s philosophy to be folly? (aiōn )
21 Since God in his wisdom allowed the world in its wisdom not to know God, it was God's gracious plan that by the foolishness of the good news those who trusted in him would be saved.
For since the world, in God’s wisdom, did not by its philosophy learn to know God, God saw fit, by the ‘folly’ of our proclamation, to save those who believe in Christ!
22 The Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,
While Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks study philosophy,
23 but our message is of Christ killed on a cross—offensive to the Jews, and foolishness to the foreigners.
we are proclaiming Christ crucified! – to the Jews an obstacle, to the Gentiles mere folly,
24 However, for those who are called by God, both Jews and foreigners, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
but to those who have received the call, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God!
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than we are; and the weakness of God is stronger than we are.
For God’s ‘folly’ is wiser than people, and God’s ‘weakness’ is stronger than people.
26 Brothers and sisters, remember your calling—and that this did not include many who are wise, humanly speaking; not many who are powerful; not many who are important.
Look at the facts of your call, friends. There are not many among you who are wise, as people reckon wisdom, not many who are influential, not many who are high-born;
27 Instead God chose the things the world considers foolish to humiliate those who think they are wise. He chose the things the world considers weak to humiliate those who think they are strong.
but God chose what the world counts foolish to put its wise to shame, and God chose what the world counts weak to put its strong to shame,
28 He chose the things that are unimportant and despised by the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
and God chose what the world counts poor and insignificant – things that to it are unreal – to bring its ‘realities’ to nothing,
29 so that nobody should boast in God's presence.
so that in his presence no one should boast.
30 It's because of him that you live in Christ Jesus, who God made to be wisdom for us. He sets us right, keeps us right, and frees us.
But you, by your union with Christ Jesus, belong to God; and Christ, by God’s will, became not only our wisdom, but also our righteousness, holiness, and deliverance,
31 So as Scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast, let them boast in the Lord.”
so that – in the words of scripture – ‘Whoever boasts should boast of the Lord!’