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1 Corinthians
1 |
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Paul,
called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our
brother Sosthenes, {2} To the church of God in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all
those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their
Lord and ours: {3} Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. {4} I always thank God for you because of
his grace given you in Christ Jesus. {5} For in him you have been
enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--
{6} because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. {7}
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for
our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. {8} He will keep you strong
to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. {9} God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. {10} I appeal to you,
brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree
with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that
you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. {11} My
brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are
quarrels among you. {12} What I mean is this: One of you says, "I
follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas ";
still another, "I follow Christ." {13} Is Christ divided? Was
Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul? {14}
I am thankful that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and
Gaius, {15} so no one can say that you were baptised into my
name. {16} (Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas;
beyond that, I don't remember if I baptised anyone else.) {17}
For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel--not
with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its
power. {18} For the message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
{19} For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the
intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." {20} Where is
the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? {21} For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know
him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to
save those who believe. {22} Jews demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, {23} but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, {24} but to
those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. {25} For the foolishness of God is wiser
than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's
strength. {26} Brothers, think of what you were when you were
called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. {27} But God chose the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things
of the world to shame the strong. {28} He chose the lowly things
of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to
nullify the things that are, {29} so that no one may boast before
him. {30} It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who
has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness
and redemption. {31} Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who
boasts boast in the Lord." |
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1 Corinthians
2 |
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When
I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior
wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. {2} For I
resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and
him crucified. {3} I came to you in weakness and fear, and with
much trembling. {4} My message and my preaching were not with
wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's
power, {5} so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but
on God's power. {6} We do, however, speak a message of wisdom
among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of
this age, who are coming to nothing. {7} No, we speak of God's
secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for
our glory before time began. {8} None of the rulers of this age
understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord
of glory. {9} However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear
has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who
love him"-- {10} but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. {11} For
who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within
him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit
of God. {12} We have not received the spirit of the world but the
Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given
us. {13} This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human
wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in
spiritual words. {14} The man without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to
him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
discerned. {15} The spiritual man makes judgments about all
things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: {16}
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But
we have the mind of Christ. |
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1 Corinthians 3 |
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Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere
infants in Christ. {2} I gave you milk, not solid food, for you
were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. {3}
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among
you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? {4}
For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are
you not mere men? {5} What, after all, is Apollos? And what is
Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has
assigned to each his task. {6} I planted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but God made it grow. {7} So neither he who plants
nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
{8} The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and
each will be rewarded according to his own labour. {9} For we are
God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. {10}
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder,
and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how
he builds. {11} For no one can lay any foundation other than the
one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. {12} If any man builds
on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or
straw, {13} his work will be shown for what it is, because the
Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire
will test the quality of each man's work. {14} If what he has
built survives, he will receive his reward. {15} If it is burned
up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one
escaping through the flames. {16} Don't you know that you
yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? {17}
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's
temple is sacred, and you are that temple. {18} Do not deceive
yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this
age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. {19}
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is
written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; {20} and
again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
{21} So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,
{22} whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death
or the present or the future--all are yours, {23} and you are of
Christ, and Christ is of God. |
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1 Corinthians 4 |
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So
then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those
entrusted with the secret things of God. {2} Now it is required
that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. {3} I
care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I
do not even judge myself. {4} My conscience is clear, but that
does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. {5}
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord
comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose
the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise
from God. {6} Now, brothers, I have applied these things to
myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the
meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will
not take pride in one man over against another. {7} For who makes
you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not
receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did
not? {8} Already you have all you want! Already you have become
rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you
really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! {9}
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of
the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been
made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
{10} We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are
weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! {11}
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are
brutally treated, we are homeless. {12} We work hard with our own
hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure
it; {13} when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this
moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
{14} I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear
children. {15} Even though you have ten thousand guardians in
Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your
father through the gospel. {16} Therefore I urge you to imitate
me. {17} For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom
I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of
life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every
church. {18} Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not
coming to you. {19} But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord
is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people
are talking, but what power they have. {20} For the kingdom of
God is not a matter of talk but of power. {21} What do you
prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle
spirit? |
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1 Corinthians
5 |
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It is
actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a
kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.
{2} And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with
grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? {3}
Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit.
And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I
were present. {4} When you are assembled in the name of our Lord
Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is
present, {5} hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful
nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
{6} Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast
works through the whole batch of dough? {7} Get rid of the old
yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. {8} Therefore let
us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and
wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and
truth. {9} I have written you in my letter not to associate with
sexually immoral people-- {10} not at all meaning the people of
this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.
In that case you would have to leave this world. {11} But now I
am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself
a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer,
a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. {12}
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you
not to judge those inside? {13} God will judge those outside.
"Expel the wicked man from among you." |
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1 Corinthians 6 |
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If any
of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly
for judgment instead of before the saints? {2} Do you not know
that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world,
are you not competent to judge trivial cases? {3} Do you not know
that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! {4}
Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as
judges even men of little account in the church! {5} I say this
to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough
to judge a dispute between believers? {6} But instead, one
brother goes to law against another--and this in front of unbelievers!
{7} The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have
been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not
rather be cheated? {8} Instead, you yourselves cheat and do
wrong, and you do this to your brothers. {9} Do you not know that
the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male
prostitutes nor homosexual offenders {10} nor thieves nor the
greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. {11} And that is what some of you were. But you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. {12} "Everything
is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is
permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. {13}
"Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy
them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the
Lord, and the Lord for the body. {14} By his power God raised the
Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. {15} Do you not
know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take
the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! {16}
Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one
with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."
{17} But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in
spirit. {18} Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man
commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his
own body. {19} Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God
with your body. |
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1 Corinthians 7 |
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Now
for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
{2} But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his
own wife, and each woman her own husband. {3} The husband should
fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her
husband. {4} The wife's body does not belong to her alone but
also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong
to him alone but also to his wife. {5} Do not deprive each other
except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote
yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not
tempt you because of your lack of self-control. {6} I say this as
a concession, not as a command. {7} I wish that all men were as I
am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another
has that. {8} Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is
good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. {9} But if they cannot
control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to
burn with passion. {10} To the married I give this command (not
I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. {11}
But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her
husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. {12} To the
rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not
a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
{13} And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is
willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. {14} For the
unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the
unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.
Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
{15} But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or
woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in
peace. {16} How do you know, wife, whether you will save your
husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
{17} Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the
Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I
lay down in all the churches. {18} Was a man already circumcised
when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man
uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. {19}
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's
commands is what counts. {20} Each one should remain in the
situation which he was in when God called him. {21} Were you a
slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you
can gain your freedom, do so. {22} For he who was a slave when he
was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a
free man when he was called is Christ's slave. {23} You were
bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. {24} Brothers,
each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God
called him to. {25} Now about virgins: I have no command from the
Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is
trustworthy. {26} Because of the present crisis, I think that it
is good for you to remain as you are. {27} Are you married? Do
not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. {28}
But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries,
she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this
life, and I want to spare you this. {29} What I mean, brothers,
is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live
as if they had none; {30} those who mourn, as if they did not;
those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if
it were not theirs to keep; {31} those who use the things of the
world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form
is passing away. {32} I would like you to be free from concern.
An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can
please the Lord. {33} But a married man is concerned about the
affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- {34} and his
interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about
the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body
and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this
world--how she can please her husband. {35} I am saying this for
your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way
in undivided devotion to the Lord. {36} If anyone thinks he is
acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is
getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as
he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. {37} But
the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no
compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his
mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing.
{38} So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does
not marry her does even better. {39} A woman is bound to her
husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to
marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. {40} In
my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I
too have the Spirit of God. |
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1 Corinthians 8 |
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Now
about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. {2} The man who thinks he
knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. {3} But
the man who loves God is known by God. {4} So then, about eating
food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the
world and that there is no God but one. {5} For even if there are
so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many
"gods" and many "lords"), {6} yet for us there is but one God,
the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is
but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through
whom we live. {7} But not everyone knows this. Some people are
still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of
it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is
weak, it is defiled. {8} But food does not bring us near to God;
we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. {9} Be
careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a
stumbling block to the weak. {10} For if anyone with a weak
conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple,
won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? {11}
So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your
knowledge. {12} When you sin against your brothers in this way
and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. {13}
Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will
never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall. |
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1 Corinthians 9 |
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Am I
not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you
not the result of my work in the Lord? {2} Even though I may not
be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my
apostleship in the Lord. {3} This is my defense to those who sit
in judgment on me. {4} Don't we have the right to food and drink?
{5} Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us,
as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas ? {6}
Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living? {7} Who
serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does
not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?
{8} Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law
say the same thing? {9} For it is written in the Law of Moses:
"Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about
oxen that God is concerned? {10} Surely he says this for us,
doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows
and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in
the harvest. {11} If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it
too much if we reap a material harvest from you? {12} If others
have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything
rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. {13} Don't you know that
those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those
who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? {14}
In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the
gospel should receive their living from the gospel. {15} But I
have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope
that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone
deprive me of this boast. {16} Yet when I preach the gospel, I
cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach
the gospel! {17} If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not
voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. {18}
What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I
may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in
preaching it. {19} Though I am free and belong to no man, I make
myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. {20} To
the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I
became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so
as to win those under the law. {21} To those not having the law I
became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law
but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.
{22} To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all
things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
{23} I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in
its blessings. {24} Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get
the prize. {25} Everyone who competes in the games goes into
strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do
it to get a crown that will last forever. {26} Therefore I do not
run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the
air. {27} No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I
have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize. |
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1 Corinthians 10 |
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I do
not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers
were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
{2} They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
{3} They all ate the same spiritual food {4} and drank the
same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that
accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. {5} Nevertheless, God
was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the
desert. {6} Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from
setting our hearts on evil things as they did. {7} Do not be
idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down
to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." {8} We
should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day
twenty-three thousand of them died. {9} We should not test the
Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. {10} And do
not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying
angel. {11} These things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has
come. {12} So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful
that you don't fall! {13} No temptation has seized you except
what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. {14}
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. {15} I speak to
sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. {16} Is not the
cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the
blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in
the body of Christ? {17} Because there is one loaf, we, who are
many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. {18}
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices
participate in the altar? {19} Do I mean then that a sacrifice
offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? {20}
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and
I do not want you to be participants with demons. {21} You cannot
drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a
part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. {22} Are
we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
{23} "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. {24}
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. {25}
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of
conscience, {26} for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in
it." {27} If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want
to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of
conscience. {28} But if anyone says to you, "This has been
offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man
who told you and for conscience' sake-- {29} the other man's
conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by
another's conscience? {30} If I take part in the meal with
thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
{31} So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for
the glory of God. {32} Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether
Jews, Greeks or the church of God-- {33} even as I try to please
everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of
many, so that they may be saved. |
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1 Corinthians 11 |
|
Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ. {2} I praise you
for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just
as I passed them on to you. {3} Now I want you to realise that
the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and
the head of Christ is God. {4} Every man who prays or prophesies
with his head covered dishonors his head. {5} And every woman who
prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is
just as though her head were shaved. {6} If a woman does not
cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a
disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should
cover her head. {7} A man ought not to cover his head, since he
is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. {8}
For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; {9}
neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. {10} For
this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign
of authority on her head. {11} In the Lord, however, woman is not
independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. {12} For as
woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes
from God. {13} Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to
pray to God with her head uncovered? {14} Does not the very
nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace
to him, {15} but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?
For long hair is given to her as a covering. {16} If anyone wants
to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the
churches of God. {17} In the following directives I have no
praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. {18} In
the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there
are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. {19} No
doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have
God's approval. {20} When you come together, it is not the Lord's
Supper you eat, {21} for as you eat, each of you goes ahead
without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets
drunk. {22} Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you
despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What
shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! {23}
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord
Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, {24} and when he
had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is
my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." {25}
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do
this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." {26}
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes. {27} Therefore, whoever eats the
bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty
of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. {28} A man
ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the
cup. {29} For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the
body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. {30} That
is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen
asleep. {31} But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under
judgment. {32} When we are judged by the Lord, we are being
disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. {33}
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each
other. {34} If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that
when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I
will give further directions. |
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1 Corinthians 12 |
|
Now
about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
{2} You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were
influenced and led astray to mute idols. {3} Therefore I tell you
that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be
cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
{4} There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. {5}
There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. {6}
There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them
in all men. {7} Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for the common good. {8} To one there is given through
the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by
means of the same Spirit, {9} to another faith by the same
Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, {10} to
another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another
distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds
of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. {11}
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them
to each one, just as he determines. {12} The body is a unit,
though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many,
they form one body. So it is with Christ. {13} For we were all
baptised by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or
free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. {14} Now the
body is not made up of one part but of many. {15} If the foot
should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it
would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. {16} And
if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the
body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
{17} If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing
be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
{18} But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one
of them, just as he wanted them to be. {19} If they were all one
part, where would the body be? {20} As it is, there are many
parts, but one body. {21} The eye cannot say to the hand, "I
don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need
you!" {22} On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to
be weaker are indispensable, {23} and the parts that we think are
less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are
unpresentable are treated with special modesty, {24} while our
presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the
members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked
it, {25} so that there should be no division in the body, but
that its parts should have equal concern for each other. {26} If
one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored,
every part rejoices with it. {27} Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it. {28} And in the church God
has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers,
then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able
to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking
in different kinds of tongues. {29} Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? {30} Do all
have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret?
{31} But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you
the most excellent way. |
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1 Corinthians 13 |
|
If I
speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only
a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a
faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3}
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the
flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is patient,
love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
{5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8} Love never
fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass
away. {9} For we know in part and we prophesy in part, {10}
but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. {11}
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind
me. {12} Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we
shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith,
hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. |
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1 Corinthians 14 |
|
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially
the gift of prophecy. {2} For anyone who speaks in a tongue does
not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters
mysteries with his spirit. {3} But everyone who prophesies speaks
to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. {4} He
who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies
the church. {5} I would like every one of you to speak in
tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is
greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that
the church may be edified. {6} Now, brothers, if I come to you
and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you
some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? {7}
Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the
flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless
there is a distinction in the notes? {8} Again, if the trumpet
does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? {9}
So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue,
how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into
the air. {10} Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the
world, yet none of them is without meaning. {11} If then I do not
grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the
speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. {12} So it is with you.
Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that
build up the church. {13} For this reason anyone who speaks in a
tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. {14} For
if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
{15} So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also
pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with
my mind. {16} If you are praising God with your spirit, how can
one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to
your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? {17}
You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not
edified. {18} I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all
of you. {19} But in the church I would rather speak five
intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a
tongue. {20} Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to
evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. {21} In the Law
it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of
foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not
listen to me," says the Lord. {22} Tongues, then, are a sign, not
for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers,
not for unbelievers. {23} So if the whole church comes together
and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some
unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
{24} But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes
in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he
is a sinner and will be judged by all, {25} and the secrets of
his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God,
exclaiming, "God is really among you!" {26} What then shall we
say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of
instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these
must be done for the strengthening of the church. {27} If anyone
speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a
time, and someone must interpret. {28} If there is no
interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to
himself and God. {29} Two or three prophets should speak, and the
others should weigh carefully what is said. {30} And if a
revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker
should stop. {31} For you can all prophesy in turn so that
everyone may be instructed and encouraged. {32} The spirits of
prophets are subject to the control of prophets. {33} For God is
not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the
saints, {34} women should remain silent in the churches. They are
not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
{35} If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their
own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the
church. {36} Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you
the only people it has reached? {37} If anybody thinks he is a
prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am
writing to you is the Lord's command. {38} If he ignores this, he
himself will be ignored. {39} Therefore, my brothers, be eager to
prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. {40} But
everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. |
|
1 Corinthians 15 |
|
Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which
you received and on which you have taken your stand. {2} By this
gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain. {3} For what I received I
passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, {4} that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, {5} and that
he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. {6} After that, he
appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. {7}
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, {8} and
last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. {9}
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. {10}
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not
without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the
grace of God that was with me. {11} Whether, then, it was I or
they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. {12}
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can
some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? {13}
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been
raised. {14} And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is
useless and so is your faith. {15} More than that, we are then
found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God
that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact
the dead are not raised. {16} For if the dead are not raised,
then Christ has not been raised either. {17} And if Christ has
not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
{18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
{19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all men. {20} But Christ has indeed been raised
from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. {21}
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead
comes also through a man. {22} For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ all will be made alive. {23} But each in his own turn:
Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
{24} Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God
the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
{25} For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his
feet. {26} The last enemy to be destroyed is death. {27}
For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that
"everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not
include God himself, who put everything under Christ. {28} When
he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who
put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. {29} Now
if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptised for the
dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptised for
them? {30} And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every
hour? {31} I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely
as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. {32} If I fought
wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If
the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
{33} Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
{34} Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for
there are some who are ignorant of God--I say this to your shame.
{35} But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind
of body will they come?" {36} How foolish! What you sow does not
come to life unless it dies. {37} When you sow, you do not plant
the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something
else. {38} But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to
each kind of seed he gives its own body. {39} All flesh is not
the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds
another and fish another. {40} There are also heavenly bodies and
there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one
kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. {41} The
sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another;
and star differs from star in splendor. {42} So will it be with
the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; {43} it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; {44} it is
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a
natural body, there is also a spiritual body. {45} So it is
written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a
life-giving spirit. {46} The spiritual did not come first, but
the natural, and after that the spiritual. {47} The first man was
of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. {48} As was
the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man
from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. {49} And just
as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the
likeness of the man from heaven. {50} I declare to you, brothers,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the
perishable inherit the imperishable. {51} Listen, I tell you a
mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- {52}
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. {53} For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. {54} When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has
been swallowed up in victory." {55} "Where, O death, is your
victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" {56} The sting of death
is sin, and the power of sin is the law. {57} But thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. {58}
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that
your labour in the Lord is not in vain. |
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1 Corinthians 16 |
|
Now
about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian
churches to do. {2} On the first day of every week, each one of
you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving
it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. {3}
Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men
you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. {4} If it
seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. {5}
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you--for I will be going
through Macedonia. {6} Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or
even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I
go. {7} I do not want to see you now and make only a passing
visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. {8}
But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, {9} because a
great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who
oppose me. {10} If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing
to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the
Lord, just as I am. {11} No one, then, should refuse to accept
him. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am
expecting him along with the brothers. {12} Now about our brother
Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was
quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.
{13} Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage;
be strong. {14} Do everything in love. {15} You know that
the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they
have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you,
brothers, {16} to submit to such as these and to everyone who
joins in the work, and labours at it. {17} I was glad when
Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied
what was lacking from you. {18} For they refreshed my spirit and
yours also. Such men deserve recognition. {19} The churches in
the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you
warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
{20} All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another
with a holy kiss. {21} I, Paul, write this greeting in my own
hand. {22} If anyone does not love the Lord--a curse be on him.
Come, O Lord ! {23} The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
{24} My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen. |
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