Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the purpose of God, and Sosthenes the brother,

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been made holy in Christ Jesus, saints by the selection of God, with all those who in every place give honour to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Who will give you strength to the end, to be free from all sin in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I make request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all say the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, so that you may be in complete agreement, in the same mind and in the same opinion.

So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name.

For Christ sent me, not to give baptism, but to be a preacher of the good news: not with wise words, for fear that the cross of Christ might be made of no value.

For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him.

So that, as it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

So that your faith might be based not on man's wisdom but on the power of God.

But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God.

And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit.

But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one.

For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ.

Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work.

If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire.

Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise.

Let us be judged as servants of Christ, and as those who are responsible for the secret things of God.

And it is right for such servants to be safe persons.

But it is a small thing to me that I am judged by you or by man's judging; I am not even a judge of myself.

For this reason let there be no judging before the time, till the Lord comes, who will make clear the secret things of the dark, and the designs of the heart; and then will every man have his praise from God.

My brothers, it is because of you that I have taken Apollos and myself as examples of these things, so that in us you might see that it is not wise to go farther than what is in the holy Writings, so that no one of you may be lifted up against his brother.

For even now you are full, even now you have wealth, you have been made kings without us: truly, I would be glad if you were kings, so that we might be kings with you.

What is your desire? is my coming to be with punishment, or is it to be in love and a gentle spirit?

That this man is to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may have forgiveness in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover.

But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him.

For it is no business of mine to be judging those who are outside; but it is yours to be judging those who are among you;

Is it not certain that the saints will be the judges of the world? if then the world will be judged by you, are you unable to give a decision about the smallest things?

Is it not certain that we are to be the judges of angels? how much more then of the things of this life?

If then there are questions to be judged in connection with the things of this life, why do you put them in the hands of those who have no position in the church?

I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers?

Or is a thief, or the worse for drink, or makes use of strong language, or takes by force what is not his, will have any part in the kingdom of God.

And God who made the Lord Jesus come back from the dead will do the same for us by his power.

Do you not see that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? how then may I take what is a part of the body of Christ and make it a part of the body of a loose woman? such a thing may not be.

Or are you not conscious that your body is a house for the Holy Spirit which is in you, and which has been given to you by God? and you are not the owners of yourselves;

For a payment has been made for you: let God be honoured in your body.

Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.

It is my desire that all men might be even as I am. But every man has the power of his special way of life given him by God, one in this way and one in that.

But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am.

(Or if she goes away from him, let her keep unmarried, or be united to her husband again); and that the husband may not go away from his wife.

For the husband who has not faith is made holy through his Christian wife, and the wife who is not a Christian is made holy through the brother: if not, your children would be unholy, but now are they holy.

But if the one who is not a Christian has a desire to go away, let it be so: the brother or the sister in such a position is not forced to do one thing or the other: but it is God's pleasure that we may be at peace with one another.

For how may you be certain, O wife, that you will not be the cause of salvation to your husband? or you, O husband, that you may not do the same for your wife?

Let every man keep the position in which he has been placed by God.

If you were a servant when you became a Christian, let it not be a grief to you; but if you have a chance to become free, make use of it.

It is the Lord who has made payment for you: be not servants of men.

Now about virgins I have no orders from the Lord: but I give my opinion as one to whom the Lord has given mercy to be true to him.

If you get married it is not a sin; and if an unmarried woman gets married it is not a sin. But those who do so will have trouble in the flesh. But I will not be hard on you.

But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not;

And for those who are in sorrow, to give no signs of it; and for those who are glad, to give no signs of joy; and for those who are getting property, to be as if they had nothing;

And for those who make use of the world, not to be using it fully; for this world's way of life will quickly come to an end.

But it is my desire for you to be free from cares. The unmarried man gives his mind to the things of the Lord, how he may give pleasure to the Lord:

And the wife is not the same as the virgin. The virgin gives her mind to the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit: but the married woman takes thought for the things of the world, how she may give pleasure to her husband.

Now I say this for your profit; not to make things hard for you, but because of what is right, and so that you may be able to give all your attention to the things of the Lord.

But if, in any man's opinion, he is not doing what is right for his virgin, if she is past her best years, and there is need for it, let him do what seems right to him; it is no sin; let them be married.

It is right for a wife to be with her husband as long as he is living; but when her husband is dead, she is free to be married to another; but only to a Christian.

But it will be better for her to keep as she is, in my opinion: and it seems to me that I have the Spirit of God.

For this reason, if food is a cause of trouble to my brother, I will give up taking meat for ever, so that I may not be a cause of trouble to my brother.

Who ever goes to war without looking to someone to be responsible for his payment? who puts in vines and does not take the fruit of them? or who takes care of sheep without drinking of their milk?

But I have not made use of any of these things: and I am not writing this in the hope that it may be so for me: for it would be better for me to undergo death, than for any man to make this pride of mine of no effect.

Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward.

And let us not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did, and came to their death by snakes.

So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall.

You have been put to no test but such as is common to man: and God is true, who will not let any test come on you which you are not able to undergo; but he will make with the test a way out of it, so that you may be able to go through it.

What I am saying is for wise men, do you be the judges of it.

What I say is that the things offered by the Gentiles are offered to evil spirits and not to God; and it is not my desire for you to have any part with evil spirits.

Or may we be the cause of envy to the Lord? are we stronger than he?

Whatever meat may be had at the public market, take as food without question of right or wrong;

For if a woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off; but if it is a shame to a woman to have her hair cut off, let her be veiled.

Be judges yourselves of the question: does it seem right for a woman to take part in prayer unveiled?

But if any man will not be ruled in this question, this is not our way of doing things, and it is not done in the churches of God.

For first of all, it has come to my ears that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you, and I take the statement to be true in part.

For divisions are necessary among you, in order that those who have God's approval may be clearly seen among you.

If, then, anyone takes the bread or the cup of the Lord in the wrong spirit, he will be responsible for the body and blood of the Lord.

But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.

So then, my brothers, when you come together to the holy meal of the Lord, let there be waiting for one another.

But about the things of the spirit, my brothers, it is not right for you to be without teaching.

So it is my desire for you to be clear about this; that no one is able to say by the Spirit of God that Jesus is cursed; and no one is able to say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.

To another faith in the same Spirit; and to another the power of taking away disease, by the one Spirit;

If all the body was an eye, where would be the hearing? if all was hearing, where would be the smelling?

And if they were all one part, where would the body be?

No, those parts which seem to be feeble are the more necessary;

But those parts of the body which are beautiful have no need of such care: and so the body has been joined together by God in such a way as to give more honour to those parts which had need of it;

So that there might be no division in the body; but all the parts might have the same care for one another.

And if there is pain in one part of the body, all the parts will be feeling it; or if one part is honoured, all the parts will be glad.

But let your desires be turned to the more important things given by the Spirit. And now I am pointing out to you an even better way.

And if I have a prophet's power, and have knowledge of all secret things; and if I have all faith, by which mountains may be moved from their place, but have not love, I am nothing.

And if I give all my goods to the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it is of no profit to me.

But when that which is complete is come, then that which is in part will be no longer necessary.

For now we see things in a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now my knowledge is in part; then it will be complete, even as God's knowledge of me.

Now though it is my desire for you all to have the power of tongues, it would give me more pleasure to be hearing the prophet's word from you; for this is a greater thing than using tongues, if the sense is not given at the same time, for the good of the church.

But, now, my brothers, if I come to you using tongues, what profit will it be to you, if I do not give you a revelation, or knowledge, or the word of the prophet, or teaching?

Even things without life, having a voice, such as a music-pipe or other instrument, if they do not give out different sounds, who may be certain what is being played?

So if you, in using a strange tongue, say words which have no sense, how will anyone take in what you are saying? for you will be talking to the air.

There are, it may be, a number of different voices in the world, and no voice is without sense.

But if the sense of the voice is not clear to me, I am like a man from a strange country to him who is talking, and he will be the same to me.

So if you are desiring the things which the Spirit gives, let your minds be turned first to the things which are for the good of the church.

For this reason, let the man who has the power of using tongues make request that he may, at the same time, be able to give the sense.

What then? let my prayer be from the spirit, and equally from the mind; let my song be from the spirit, and equally from mind.

For if you give a blessing with the spirit, how will the man who has no knowledge say, So be it, after your prayer, seeing that he has not taken in what you are saying?