God can be depended on, and it was he who called you to this fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"

Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so.

It is a wisdom unknown to any of the authorities of this world, for otherwise they would never have crucified our glorious Lord.

Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise.

For this world's wisdom is foolishness to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning,"

Now, brothers, for your benefit I have applied all this only to Apollos and myself, by using us as illustrations to teach you the old lesson, "Never go beyond the letter," and to keep any of you from boasting of one teacher at the expense of another.

To this day we have gone hungry, thirsty, and ill-clad; we have had rough usage, we have had no home,

I do not write this to you to make you ashamed, but for your instruction as my dear children.

For no matter how many guides you may have in the Christian life, you will not have many fathers; for in this matter of union with Christ, I became your father, through preaching the good news to you.

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church.

And can you put on airs, instead of being overwhelmed with grief at having to expel from your number the man who has done this?

For my part, though I have been absent from you in person, I have been present with you in spirit, and as thus present I have already passed judgment upon the man who has done this,

Certainly this is nothing for you to boast of. Do you not know that a little yeast will affect all the dough?

I ask it to shame you. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could settle a disagreement between one brother and another,

But I mean this as a concession, not a command.

To all who are unmarried and to widows, I would say this: It is an excellent thing if they can remain single as I am.

Only, everyone must continue in the station which the Lord has appointed for him, and in which he was when God's call came to him. This is the rule I make in all the churches.

This, then, is my opinion in view of the present distress??hat it is a good thing for a man to remain just as he is.

But this I do say, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. From this time on those who have wives should live as though they had none,

It is for your benefit that I say this, not to put a halter on you, but to promote good order, and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

But it is not everyone that has this knowledge; for some, through being long accustomed to idols, still eat meat that has been sacrificed to them as really offered to an idol, and their consciences, being oversensitive, are troubled.

But you must take care that this right of yours does not prove a hindrance to the overscrupulous.

For if somebody sees you, who are intelligent about this matter, attending a dinner in an idol's temple, will not he, with his sensitive conscience, be led to eat meat that is offered to idols?

For this overscrupulous brother, for whom Christ died, is ruined by what you call your knowledge.

But in sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their too scrupulous consciences, you are really sinning against Christ.

My answer to those who want to investigate me is this:

Is he not clearly speaking in our interests? Of course this law was written in our interests, because the plowman ought to plow, and the thresher to thresh, in the expectation of sharing in the crop.

If others enjoy such rights over you, have we not a still better claim? But, you say, we have never availed ourselves of this right. No, we will stand anything rather than put any hindrance in the way of the good news of the Christ.

But I have not availed myself of any of these rights. And I am not writing this now so that I may become an illustration of this; I had rather die than do that. No one shall deprive me of this boast of mine.

But if someone says to you, "This meat has been offered in sacrifice," let it alone, on account of the man who told you and his conscientious scruples;

You must follow my example in this, as I am following Christ's.

But if anyone is disposed to be contentious about it, I for my part recognize no other practice in worship than this, and neither do the churches of God.

But while I am on this subject, I cannot approve of your meetings, because they are doing you more harm than good.

Have you no houses to eat and drink in? Or do you mean to show your contempt for the church of God, and to humiliate those who have none? What can I say to you? Can I approve of you? Not in this matter certainly.

and gave thanks for it and then broke it in pieces, saying, "This is my body which takes your place. Do this in memory of me."

He took the cup, too, after supper, in the same way, saying, "This cup is the new agreement ratified by my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me."

For until the Lord comes back, every time you eat this bread and drink from the cup, you proclaim his death.

This is why many of you are sick and ill and a number have fallen asleep.

But if we recognized our own condition, we would not incur this judgment.

In the Law it says, "By men of strange languages and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this nation, and not even then will they listen to me, says the Lord."

So this ecstatic speaking is meant as a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers, but inspired preaching is a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe.

For in this way you can all preach one after another, as you are inspired to, so that everyone may be instructed and stimulated,

for God is not a God of disorder but of peace. This is the rule in all Christian churches.

But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

If we have centered our hopes on Christ in this life, and that is all, we are the most pitiable people in the world.

This is also what the Scripture says: "The first man Adam became a living creature." The last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit.

But I can tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, and decay will not share in what is imperishable.

For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.

And when this mortal nature puts on immortality, then what the Scripture says will come true??Death has been triumphantly destroyed.

This farewell I, Paul, add in my own hand.