1 Corinthians 1

1 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.

Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and brother Sosthenes,

2 [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.

to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, along with all those everywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord —yes, theirs and yours:

3 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.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Sovereign Jesus Christ.

4 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.

Concerning you, I always thank my God because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus;

5 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.

for in Him you were enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,

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

even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

7 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].

so that you lack no spiritual gift as you expectantly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8 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].

who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the Day of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

9 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.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 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.

Now I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be restored to the same mind and to the same purpose.

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

You see, my brothers, it has been reported to me concerning you, by some from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.

12 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].”

What I mean is that you are individually saying: “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ!”

13 [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]

Has Christ been divided? It was not Paul who was crucified for you, was it? You were not baptized into the name of Paul, were you?

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

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

15 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).”

lest anyone should say that I had baptized into my own name.

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

O yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanus; besides them I do not remember if I baptized anyone else.

17 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.

Because Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel—not with eloquent ‘wisdom’, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of power.

18 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].

The message of the cross, you see, is foolishness to those who are being wasted, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

19 [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.

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and confound the shrewdness of the intelligent.”

20 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)

Where is the wise one? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (aiōn g165)

21 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.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its ‘wisdom’ did not get to know God, it pleased God to save the believing ones through the ‘foolishness’ of what was preached—

22 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.

since Jews request a sign while Greeks seek after wisdom,

23 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.

but we proclaim a crucified Christ: an offense to Jews, foolishness to Greeks.

24 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.

Now to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

25 [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.

because the ‘foolishness’ of God is wiser than men, and the ‘weakness’ of God is stronger than men.

26 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.

Just look at your calling, brothers: not many are wise, not many are powerful, not many are of noble birth, by human standards;

27 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.

but God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might put the wise to shame, and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might put the strong things to shame;

28 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].

and God has chosen the lowly things of the world and the despised things—even the ‘nothings’—that He might nullify the ‘somethings’;

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

so that no flesh should boast in God's presence.

30 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].

It is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God—also righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

31 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].

so that, as it is written: “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”