God will not fail you, and it is he who called you into communion with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

But I appeal to you, Brothers, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree in what you profess, and not to allow divisions to exist among you, but to be united-of one mind and of one opinion.

I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

I baptized also the household of Stephanas. I do not know that I baptized any one else.

My mission from Christ was not to baptize, but to tell the Good News; not, however, in the language of philosophy, lest the cross of the Christ should be robbed of its meaning.

Where is the Philosopher? where the Teacher of the Law? where the Disputant of to-day? Has not God shown the world's philosophy to be folly?

For since the world, in God's wisdom, did not by its philosophy learn to know God, God saw fit, by the 'folly' of our proclamation, to save those who believe in Christ!

Look at the facts of your Call, Brothers. There are not many among you who are wise, as men reckon wisdom, not many who are influential, not many who are high-born;

But you, by your union with Christ Jesus, belong to God; and Christ, by God's will, became not only our Wisdom, but also our Righteousness, Holiness, and Deliverance,

My Message and my Proclamation were not delivered in the persuasive language of philosophy, but were accompanied by the manifestation of spiritual power,

So that your faith should be based, not on the philosophy of man, but on the power of God.

Yet there is a philosophy that we teach to those whose faith is matured, but it is not the philosophy of to-day, nor that of the leaders of to-day-men whose downfall is at hand.

This philosophy is not known to any of the leaders of to-day; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified our glorified Lord.

And as for us, it is not the Spirit of the World that we have received, but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may realize the blessings given to us by him.

And we speak of these gifts, not in language taught by human philosophy, but in language taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things in spiritual words.

But I, Brothers, could not speak to you as men with spiritual insight, but only as worldly-minded-mere infants in the Faith of Christ.

I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not then able to take it. No, and even now you are not able; you are still worldly.

While there exist among you jealousy and party feeling, is it not true that you are worldly, and are acting merely as other men do?

When one says 'I follow Paul,' and another 'I follow Apollos,' are not you like other men?

Do not you know that you are God's Temple, and that God's Spirit has his home in you?

But it weighs very little with me that I am judged by you or by any human tribunal. No, I do not even judge myself;

For, though I am conscious of nothing against myself, that does not prove me innocent. It is the Lord who is my judge.

Therefore do not pass judgment before the time, but wait till the Lord comes. He will throw light upon what is now dark and obscure, and will reveal the motives in men's minds; and then every one will receive due praise from God.

For who makes any one of you superior to others? And what have you that was not given you? But if you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if you had not?

Though you may have thousands of instructors in the Faith of Christ, yet you have not many fathers. It was I who, through union with Christ Jesus, became your father by means of the Good News.

Some, I hear, are puffed up with pride, thinking that I am not coming to you.

But come to you I will, and that soon, if it please the Lord; and then I shall find out, not what words these men use who are so puffed up, but what power they possess;

For the Kingdom of God is based, not on words, but on power.

There is a wide-spread report respecting a case of immorality among you, and that, too, of a kind that does not occur even among the Gentiles-a man, I hear, is living with his father's wife!

Your boasting is unseemly. Do not you know that even a little leaven leavens all the dough?

Therefore let us keep our festival, not with the leaven of former days, nor with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I told you, in my letter, not to associate with immoral people- -

Not, of course, meaning men of the world who are in immoral, or who are covetous and grasping, or who worship idols; for then you would have to leave the world altogether.

But, as things are, I say that you are not to associate with any one who, although a Brother in name, is immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or abusive, or a drunkard, or grasping-no, not even to sit at table with such people.

What have I to do with judging those outside the Church? Is it not for you to judge those who are within the Church,

Do not you know that Christ's People will try the world? And if the world is to be tried by you, are you unfit to try the most trivial cases?

Do not you know that we are to try angels-to say nothing of the affairs of this life?

Can it be that there is not one man among you wise enough to decide between two of his Brothers?

To begin with, it is undoubtedly a loss to you to have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?

Do not you know that wrong-doers will have no share in God's Kingdom? Do not be deceived. No one who is immoral, or an idolater, or an adulterer, or licentious, or a sodomite,

Everything is allowable for me! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable for me! Yes, but for my part, I will not let myself be enslaved by anything.

Food exists for the stomach, and the stomach for food; but God will put an end to both the one and the other. The body, however, exists, not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;

Do not you know that your bodies are Christ's members? Am I, then, to take the members that belong to the Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? Heaven forbid!

Or do not you know that a man who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body (for 'the two,' it is said, 'will become one');

Again, do not you know that your body is a shrine of the Holy Spirit that is within you-the Spirit which you have from God?

Moreover, you are not your own masters; you were bought, and the price was paid. Therefore, honor God in your bodies.

It is not the wife, but the husband, who exercises power over her body; and so, too, it is not the husband, but the wife, who exercises power over his body.

Do not deprive each other of what is due-unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer till you again live as man and wife-lest Satan should take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you.

I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.

My advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be well for them to remain as I am myself.

To those who are married my direction is-yet it is not mine, but the Master's-that a woman is not to leave her husband

(If she has done so, let her remain as she is, or else be reconciled to her husband) and also that a man is not to divorce his wife.

To all others I say-I, not the Master-If a Brother is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her;

And a woman who is married to a man, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with her, should not divorce her husband.

How can you tell, wife, whether you may not save your husband? and how can you tell, husband, whether you may not save your wife?

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not efface his circumcision. Has a man been called when uncircumcised? Then he should not be circumcised.

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best.

You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to men.

Are you married to a wife? Then do not seek to be separated. Are you separated from a wife? Then do not seek for a wife.

still, if you should marry, that is not wrong; nor, if a young woman marries, is that wrong. But those who marry will have much trouble to bear, and my wish is to spare you.

Those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,

I say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter round your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.

If, however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, let him act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong-let the marriage take place.

If a man thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet reached that knowledge which he ought to have reached.

Still, it is not every one that has this knowledge. Some people, because of their association with idols, continued down to the present time, eat the food as food offered to an idol; and their consciences, while still weak, are dulled.

What we eat, however, will not bring us nearer to God. We lose nothing by not eating this food, and we gain nothing by eating it.

But take care that this right of yours does not become in any way a stumbling-block to the weak.

For if some one should see you who possess this knowledge, feasting in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is a weak man, become so hardened that he, too, will eat food offered to idols?

Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen our Lord Jesus? Are not you yourselves my work achieved in union with the Lord?

If I am not an Apostle to others, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal that stamps me as an Apostle in union with the Lord.

Have not we a right to food and drink?

Have not we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other Apostles and the Master's brothers and Kephas all do?

Does any one ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does any one plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does any one look after a herd and not drink the milk?

Am I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? Does not the Law also say the same?

For in the Law of Moses it is said-'Thou shalt not muzzle a bullock while it is treading out the grain.' Is it the bullocks that God is thinking of?

Or is not is said entirely for our sakes? Surely it was written for our sakes, for the ploughman ought not to plough, nor the thrasher to thrash, without expecting a share of the grain.

If others share in this right over you, do not we even more? Still we did not avail ourselves of this right. No, we endure anything rather than impede the progress of the Good News of the Christ.

Do not you know that those who do the work of the Temple live on what comes from the Temple, and that those who serve at the altar share the offerings with the altar?

I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die-Nobody shall make my boast a vain one!

If I tell the Good News, I have nothing to boast of, for I can but do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it!

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews. To those who are subject to Law I became like a man subject to Law-though I was not myself subject to Law-to win those who are subject to Law.

To those who have no Law I became like a man who has no Law- -not that I am free from God's Law; no, for I am under Christ's Law-to win those who have no law.

Do not you know that on a race-course, though all run, yet only one wins the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

I, therefore, run with no uncertain aim. I box-not like a man hitting the air.

Now these things happened as warnings to us, to teach us not to long for evil things as our forefathers longed.

Do not become idolaters, as some of them became. Scripture says-'The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to dance.'

And do not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so 'were destroyed by the Angel of Death.'

Therefore let the man who thinks that he stands take care that he does not fall.

No temptation has come upon you that is not common to all mankind. God will not fail you, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength; but, when he sends the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, so that you may have strength to endure.

In the Cup of Blessing which we bless, is not there a sharing in the blood of the Christ? And in the Bread which we break, is not there a sharing in the Body of the Christ?

Look at the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices share with the altar?

No; what I say is that the sacrifices offered by the Gentiles 'are offered to demons and to a Being who is no God,' and I do not want you to share with demons.

Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything does not build up character.

A man must not study his own interests, but the interests of others.

But, if any one should say to you 'This has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,' then, for the sake of the speaker and his scruples, do not eat it.

I do not say 'your' scruples, but 'his.' For why should the freedom that I claim be condemned by the scruples of another?

Do not cause offence either to Jews or Greeks or to the Church of God;

For I, also, try to please everybody in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but that of men in general, that they may be saved.

Indeed, if a woman does not keep her head covered, she may as well cut her hair short. But, since to cut her hair short, or shave it off, marks her as one of the shameless women, let her keep her head covered.

A man ought not to have his head covered, for he has been from the beginning 'the likeness of God' and the reflection of his glory, but woman is the reflection of man's glory.