Bakorintha I 1
1 Lokwalo lo lo tswang kwa go Paulo, yo o tlhophilweng ke Modimo go nna morongwa wa ga Jesu Keresete, le mokaulengwe Sosethenese.
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.
2 A kwalela: Bakeresete ba ba kwa Korinta, ba ba biditsweng ke Modimo go nna batho ba one ba ba itshepisitsweng ke Keresete Jesu. Le go: botlhe Bakeresete gongwe le gongwe, ba ba bitsang leina la ga Jesu Keresete, Morena wa rona le wa bone.
[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.
3 A Modimo Rraetsho le Morena Jesu Keresete a lo segofatse, a lo neye kagiso e kgolo ya pelo le mowa.
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.
4 Ga ke ka ke ka khutlisa go leboga Modimo kaga dineo tse dintle tse o di lo neileng, gore jaanong lo bo lo le ba ga Keresete.
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.
5 O humisitse botshelo jwa lona jotlhe. O lo neile nonofo ya go bua kaga gagwe le go lo naya go tlhaloganya boammaaruri.
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.
6 Se ke se lo boleletseng gore Keresete o ka se lo direla se diragetse!
In that way, [he] confirmed to you that what we [(exc)] proclaimed about Christ is true.
7 Jaanong lo na le letlhogonolo le tshegofatso; mpho nngwe le nngwe ya semowa le nonofo go dira go rata ga one, dilo tse ke tsa lona mo lobakeng lono lwa go letela go bowa ga Morena wa rona Jesu.
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].
8 O tlaa lo tlhomamisa go ya bokhutlong gore lo tlhokisiwe boleo le molato ka letsatsi le o tlaa bowang ka lone.
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].
9 Modimo ruri o tlaa lo direla se, gonne o dira ka metlha yotlhe se o se buang, ebile ke one o o lo bileditseng mo botsalanong jo bontle jo le Morwa one, e leng ene Keresete Morena wa rona.
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.
10 Mme bakaulengwe ba ba tlotlegang, ke a lo kopa mo leineng la Morena wa rona Jesu Keresete go khutlisa dikganetsano mo gareng ga lona. A go nne le kutlwano e e siameng gore go se ka ga nna le dikgaogano mo phuthegong. Ke a lo kopa gore lo nne mogopolo mongwe fela, lo kopane mo kgopolong le mo boikaelelong.
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.
11 Gonne bangwe ba ba nnang kwa tlung ya ga Keloe ba mpoleletse ka dikgane-tsano le dikgogakgogano tsa lona, bakaulengwe ba ba rategang.
My fellow believers, [I urge this] because some members of Chloe’s household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves.
12 Bangwe ba lona ba re, “Ke molatedi wa ga Paulo,” ba bangwe ba re ke balatedi ba ga, Apolose kgotsa Petere, ba bangwe mo bojosing jwa bone ba re ke balatedi ba boammaaruri ba ga Keresete.
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].”
13 Mme jalo, e tswa e le ruri lo kgaogantse Keresete. Mme a nna Paulo, ke swetse dibe tsa lona? A go na le mongwe wa lona yo o kolobeditsweng mo leineng la me?
[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]
14 Ke leboga thata ka nako e ka gore ga ke a kolobetsa ope wa lona fa e se Kerisepo le Gaio fela.
I thank [God] that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized.
15 Gonne jaanong ga go na ope yo o ka akanyang gore ke ne ke batla go simolola sengwe se sesha; ke simolola “phuthego ya ga Paulo.”
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).”
16 Ee, ke kolobeditse ba ntlo ya ga Setefanase. Ga ke gakologelwe gore a ke kile ka kolobetsa mongwe o sele.
[Now I remember that] I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else [there].
17 Gonne Keresete ga a nthomela go tla go kolobetsa, fa e se go rera Mafoko a a Molemo; mme le thero ya me e utlwala e le bokoa, gonne ga ke tlatse thero ya me ka mafoko a a boteng le tumo ya megopolo e e kwa godimo, ke tshaba go tima nonofo e kgolo e e mo molaetseng o o motlhofo wa mokgoro wa ga Jesu Keresete.
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.
18 Ke itse sentle gore go utlwala go le boeleele thata mo go ba ba latlhegang, fa ba utlwa gore Jesu o swetse go ba boloka. Mme rona ba re bolokilweng re lemoga molaetsa o e le nonofo ya Modimo.
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].
19 Gonne Modimo wa re, “Ke tlaa senya maano otlhe a batho a poloko, ga go re sepe gore a a ka bo a lebega a le botlhale go le kae, le go tlhokomologa megopolo e e botoka ya batho, le e leng batlhalefi tota.”
[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.
20 Jaanong go ka tweng ka batho ba ba botlhale, barutegi ba, bakanoki ba ba botlhale ba dilo tse di kgolo tsa lefatshe le? Modimo o ba dirile gore botlhe ba lebege e le dieleele, wa ba wa supa botlhale jwa bone bo sena mosola. (aiōn g165)
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)
21 Gonne Modimo mo botlhaleng jwa one o bone gore lefatshe ga le kitla le bona Modimo ka botlhale jwa motho; mme wa tsena wa boloka botlhe ba ba dumetseng molaetsa wa one o lefatshe le o bitsang boeleele le bomatla.
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.
22 Go bonala go le boeleele mo Bajuteng ka gore ba batla sesupo se se tswang legodimong e le tshupo ya gore se se rerwang ke boammaaruri; mme ke boeleele mo go Badichaba ka gore ba dumela fela se se dumalanang le botlhale jwa bone le go re se lebega se le sentle mo go bone.
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.
23 Jalo fa re rera kaga Keresete jaaka a swetse go ba boloka, Bajuta ba a kgopisega mme Badichaba bone ba re ke diphirimisi fela.
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.
24 Mme Modimo o butse matlho a ba ba batlang poloko, Bajuta mmogo le Badichaba go bona gore Keresete ke nonofo e kgolo ya Modimo go ba boloka; Keresete ka bo ene ke pinagare ya leano la Modimo mo polokong ya bone.
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.
25 Leano le la Modimo le go tweng ke “Boeleele” le botlhale thata go gaisa leano la batlhalefi, mme Modimo mo bokoeng jwa one, jwa gore Keresete a swe mo mokgorong o nonofile go gaisa batho botlhe.
[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.
26 Lemogang mo go lona, bakaulengwe ba ba tlotlegang, gore ba se kae fela ba lona ba ba latelang Keresete ba na le maina a magolo kgotsa nonofo kgotsa dikhumo.
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.
27 Mo boemong jwa moo, Modimo o tlhophile ka bomo fela go dirisa ditlhaloganyo tse batho ba lefatshe ba di bonang di le boeleele, ebile di sena mosola, e le go tlhabisa ditlhong batho ba lefatshe le ba ba bonwang ba tlhalefile thata, ebile ba le bagolo.
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.
28 O tlhophile leano le le nyaditsweng ke lefatshe, le le kailweng e se sepe, mme a le dirisa go latofatsa batho ba lefatshe le ba tlotlang,
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].
29 gore gongwe le gongwe ope a se ka a ikgantsha fa pele ga Modimo.
[He did that] in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important.
30 Gonne go tswa fela kwa Modimong gore lo nne le botshelo ka Jesu Keresete. O re bontshitse leano la Modimo la poloka; ke ene yo o dirileng gore re amogelesege mo Modimong; o re itshekisitse a bo a re itshepisa a bo a intsha thekololo ya poloko ya rona.
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].
31 Jaaka mo dikwalong go twe, “Fa mongwe a ikgantsha a a ikgantshe fela kaga se Morena o se dirileng.”
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].
