I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius;

And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me.

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 the word of the cross seems foolish to those who are on the way to destruction; but to us who are on the way to salvation it is the power of God.

As it says in the holy Writings, I will put an end to the wisdom of the wise, and will put on one side the designs of those who have knowledge.

But we give the good news of Christ on the cross, a hard thing to the Jews, and a foolish thing to the Gentiles;

But to those of God's selection, Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.

But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong;

But God has given you a place in Christ Jesus, through whom God has given us wisdom and righteousness and salvation, and made us holy:

For I had made the decision to have knowledge of nothing among you but only of Jesus Christ on the cross.

And in my preaching there were no honeyed words of wisdom, but I was dependent on the power of the Spirit to make it clear to you:

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

But still we have wisdom for those who are complete in knowledge, though not the wisdom of this world, and not of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing:

But we give the news of the secret wisdom of God, which he had kept in store before the world came into existence, for our glory;

Of which not one of the rulers of this world had knowledge: for if they had, they would not have put the Lord of glory on the cross:

But as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.

But God has given us the revelation of these things through his Spirit, for the Spirit makes search into all things, even the deep things of God.

For who has knowledge of the things of a man but the spirit of the man which is in him? in the same way, no one has knowledge of the things of God but the Spirit 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.

And the teaching I gave you, my brothers, was such as I was able to give, not to those who have the Spirit, but to those who are still in the flesh, even to children in Christ.

What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? They are but servants who gave you the good news as God gave it to them.

I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the increase.

So then the planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing; but God who gives the increase.

Now the planter and the waterer are working for the same end: but they will have their separate rewards in the measure of their work.

In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it.

For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ.

But on the base a man may put gold, silver, stones of great price, wood, dry grass, cut stems;

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.

If anyone makes the house of God unclean, God will put an end to him; for the house of God is holy, and you are his house.

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 I am not conscious of any wrong in myself; but this does not make me clear, for it is the Lord who is my judge.

For who made you better than your brother? or what have you that has not been given to you? but if it has been given to you, what cause have you for pride, as if it had not been given to you?

For it seems to me that God has put us the Apostles last of all, as men whose fate is death: for we are put on view to the world, and to angels, and to men.

We are made to seem foolish for Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are feeble, but you are strong; you have glory, but we have shame.

I am not saying these things to put you to shame, but so that, as my dear children, you may see what is right.

But I will come to you in a short time, if it is pleasing to the Lord, and I will take note, not of the word of those who are full of pride, but of the power.

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

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.

Let us then keep the feast, not with old leaven, and not with the leaven of evil thoughts and acts, but with the unleavened bread of true thoughts and right feelings.

But I had not in mind the sinners who are outside the church, or those who have a desire for and take the property of others, or those who give worship to images; for it is not possible to keep away from such people without going out of the world completely:

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;

As for those who are outside, God is their judge. So put away the evil man from among you.

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?

But a brother who has a cause at law against another takes it before Gentile judges.

More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss?

And such were some of you; but you have been washed, you have been made holy, you have been given righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

I am free to do all things; but not all things are wise. I am free to do all things; but I will not let myself come under the power of any.

Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will put an end to them together. But the body is not for the desires of the flesh, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body:

But he who is united to the Lord is one spirit.

Keep away from the desires of the flesh. Every sin which a man does is outside of the body; but he who goes after the desires of the flesh does evil to his body.

But because of the desires of the flesh, let every man have his wife, and every woman her husband.

The wife has not power over her body, but the husband; and in the same way the husband has not power over his body, but the wife.

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.

But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord.

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.

But if they have not self-control let them get married; for married life is better than the burning of desire.

But to the married I give orders, though not I but the Lord, that the wife may not go away from her husband

But to the rest I say, and not the Lord; If a brother has a wife who is not a Christian, and it is her desire to go on living with him, let him not go away from her.

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.

Circumcision is nothing, and its opposite is nothing, but only doing the orders of God is of value.

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.

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;

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:

But the married man gives his attention to the things of this world, how he may give pleasure to his wife.

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.

But the man who is strong in mind and purpose, who is not forced but has control over his desires, does well if he comes to the decision to keep her a virgin.

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.

Now about things offered to images: we all seem to ourselves to have knowledge. Knowledge gives pride, but love gives true strength.

But if anyone has love for God, God has knowledge of him.

So, then, as to the question of taking food offered to images, we are certain that an image is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

Still, all men have not that knowledge: but some, being used till now to the image, are conscious that they are taking food which has been offered to the image; and because they are not strong in the faith, their minds are troubled.

But God's approval of us is not based on the food we take: if we do not take it we are no worse for it; and if we take it we are no better.

But take care that this power of yours does not give cause for trouble to the feeble.

If others have a part in this right over you, have we not even more? But we did not make use of our right, so that we might put nothing in the way of the good news of Christ.

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.

But if I do it gladly, I have a reward; and if not, I am under orders to do it.

And to the Jews I was as a Jew, so that I might give the good news to them; to those under the law I was the same, not as being myself under the law, but so that I might give the good news to those under the law.

To those without the law I was as one without the law, not as being without law to God, but as under law to Christ, so that I might give the good news to those without the law.

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 every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an eternal crown.

But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.

But with most of them God was not pleased: for they came to their end in the waste land.

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

Now these things were done as an example; and were put down in writing for our teaching, on whom the last days have come.

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.

We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good.

Let a man give attention not only to what is good for himself, but equally to his neighbour's good.

If a Gentile makes a feast for you, and you are pleased to go as a guest, take whatever is put before you, without question of right or wrong.