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, called an 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 being in Corinth, to the sanctified in Christ Jesus, to the called saints, along with all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours:

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 to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord 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.

I give thanks to my God always in your behalf, for the grace of God given unto 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.

because in everything you are enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge;

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

as the testimony of Christ is 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 are deficient in no spiritual gift; awaiting 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 establish you unblamable unto the end 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, through whom you have been called unto the fellowship of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

But I exhort you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may all speak the same things, and that there may be no schisms among you; but you may be perfected in the same mind and in the same disposition.

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

For it has been revealed to me concerning you, my brethren, by those who are of the house of Chloe, 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].”

And I say this, that each one says, I indeed am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I 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]

Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

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

I thank God that I baptized none 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).”

in order that no one may say that you are baptized in my name.

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

But I baptized also the family of Stephanas: besides, I know not if I baptized any other.

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.

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with the wisdom of speech, in order that the cross of Christ may not be made of none effect.

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].

For the word of the cross is foolishness indeed to those who are lost; but to those who are 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 has been written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nought the understanding 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 man? where is the scribe? where is the investigator of this age? has not God rendered the wisdom of the world foolishness? (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 by wisdom knew not God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

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 indeed the Jews ask for miracles, and the 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 preach Christ having been crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness;

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.

but to you who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ 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.

For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many influential, not many high-born:

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 may confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world, that he may confound the strong;

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 base-born of the world, and those of no reputation, the things which are not, that He may set at nought the things which are,

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

in order that no flesh can boast in the sight of God.

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].

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God was made unto us wisdom, and 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].

in order that, as it has been written, Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord.