1 Corinthians 1

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

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

2 to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:

To the Church of God in Corinth, men and women consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-- their Lord as well as ours.

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

May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

I thank my God continually on your behalf for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus--

5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;

that you have been so richly blessed in Him, with readiness of speech and fulness of knowledge.

6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

Thus my testimony as to the Christ has been confirmed in your experience,

7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed;

so that there is no gift of God in which you consciously come short while patiently waiting for the reappearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8 who will also strengthen you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

who will also keep you stedfast to the very End, so that you will be free from reproach on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

God is ever true to His promises, and it was by Him that you were, one and all, called into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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

Now I entreat you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to cultivate a spirit of harmony--all of you--and that there be no divisions among you, but rather a perfect union through your having one mind and one judgement.

11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.

For I have been distinctly informed, my brethren, about you by Chloe's people, that there are dissensions among you.

12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Cephas," and, "I follow Christ."

What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says "I belong to Paul;" another "I belong to Apollos;" a third "I belong to Peter;" a fourth "I belong to Christ."

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

Is the Christ in fragments? Is it Paul who was crucified on your behalf? Or were you baptized to be Paul's adherents?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

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

15 so that no one should say that you had been baptized into my own name.

for fear people should say that you were baptized to be my adherents.

16 (Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.)

I did, however, baptize Stephanas' household also: but I do not think that I baptized any one else.

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of the Christ would not be made void.

Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the Good News; and not in merely wise words--lest the Cross of Christ should be deprived of its power.

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

For the Message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are on the way to perdition, but it is the power of God to those whom He is saving.

19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will nullify."

For so it stands written, "I will exhibit the nothingness of the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nought."

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (aiōn g165)

Where is your wise man? Where your expounder of the Law? Where your investigator of the questions of this present age? Has not God shown the world's wisdom to be utter foolishness? (aiōn g165)

21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

For after the world by its wisdom--as God in His wisdom had ordained--had failed to gain the knowledge of God, God was pleased, by the apparent foolishness of the Message which we preach, to save those who accepted it.

22 For Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom,

Seeing that Jews demand miracles, and Greeks go in search of wisdom,

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the non-Jews,

while we proclaim a Christ who has been crucified--to the Jews a stumbling-block, to Gentiles foolishness,

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, 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 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than man's, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's.

Because that which the world deems foolish in God is wiser than men's wisdom, and that which it deems feeble in God is mightier than men's might.

26 For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise from a human perspective, not many mighty, not many of noble birth.

For consider, brethren, God's call to you. Not many who are wise with merely human wisdom, not many of position and influence, not many of noble birth have been called.

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

But God has chosen the things which the world regards as foolish, in order to put its wise men to shame; and God has chosen the things which the world regards as destitute of influence, in order to put its powerful things to shame;

28 And God chose the lowly of the world, and the despised, what is considered to be nothing, to bring to nothing what is considered to be something,

and the things which the world regards as base, and those which it sets utterly at nought--things that have no existence--God has chosen in order to reduce to nothing things that do exist;

29 that no flesh might boast before God.

to prevent any mortal man from boasting in the presence of God.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

But you--and it is all God's doing--are in Christ Jesus: He has become for us a wisdom which is from God, consisting of righteousness and sanctification and deliverance;

31 so that, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

in order that it may be as Scripture says, "He who boasts--let his boast be in the Lord."