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 and sent by Jesus Messiah in the good pleasure of God; and Sosthenes, a brother;

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 which is at Corinth, to the people called and sanctified, who are sanctified in Jesus Messiah; and to all them, in every place, who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Messiah, their and our Lord:

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 be with you, and peace; from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Messiah.

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 thank my God at all times on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given to you in Jesus Messiah;

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.

that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all discourse, and in all knowledge;

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

even as the testimony of Messiah was confirmed among 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 ye are not inferior in any one of his gifts; but are waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Messiah:

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 confirm you unto the end, so that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Messiah.

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 ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Messiah, 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.

And I beseech you, my Brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Messiah, that to you all there may be one language; and that there may be no divisions among you: but that ye may become perfectly of one mind, and of one way of thinking.

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

For concerning you, my Brethren, it hath been reported to me by 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 this I state: That one of you saith, I am of Paul; and another saith, I am of Apollos; and another saith, I am of Cephas; and another saith, I am of Messiah.

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]

Now was Messiah divided? Or was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye 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 my 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).”

lest any one should say, that I baptized in my own name.

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

I moreover baptized the household of Stephanas: but further, I know not that 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 Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach; not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Messiah should be inefficient.

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 a discourse concerning the cross is, to them who perish, foolishness; but to us who live, it is the energy 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 I will dissipate the intelligence of the sagacious.

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? Or where is the scribe? Or where is the disputant of this world? Lo, hath not God showed, that the wisdom of this world is folly? (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 in the wisdom of God, because the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to quicken them 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.

Because the Jews ask for signs, and the Gentiles demand 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 Messiah as crucified; which is a stumbling-block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles;

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 them who are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Messiah is the energy 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 feebleness 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 look also at your calling, my Brethren; that not many among you are wise, according to the flesh; and not many among you are mighty, and not many among you are of high birth.

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 hath chosen the foolish ones of the world, to shame the wise; and he hath chosen the feeble ones of the world, to shame the mighty;

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 he hath chosen those of humble birth in the world, and the despised, and them who are nothing, to bring to naught them who are something:

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

so that no flesh might, glory before him.

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].

And ye, moreover, are of him in Jesus Messiah; who hath become to us wisdom from God, 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].

according to that which is written: He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.