I give praise to my God for you at all times, because of the grace of God which has been given to you in Christ Jesus;

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.

Because it has come to my knowledge, through those of the house of Chloe, that there are divisions among you, my brothers.

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

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

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 you see God's design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble:

And when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come with wise words of knowledge, putting before you the secret of God.

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:

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

So my desire is that you take me as your example.

For this cause I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and true child in the Lord; he will make clear to you my ways in Christ, even as I am teaching everywhere in every church.

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

In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you have come together with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

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.

In my letter I said to you that you were not to keep company with those who go after the desires of the flesh;

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.

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?

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.

Now, as to the things in your letter to me: It is good for a man to have nothing to do with a woman.

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

(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.

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?

Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.

My brothers, let every man keep in that condition which is the purpose of God for him.

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.

In my opinion then, because of the present trouble, it is good for a man to keep as he is.

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 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 if a man sees you, who have knowledge, taking food as a guest in the house of an image, will it not give him, if he is feeble, the idea that he may take food offered to images?

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.

Am I not free? am I not an Apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are you not my work in the Lord?

My answer to those who are judging me is this.

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.

For if I am a preacher of the good news, I have no cause for pride in this; because I am forced to do so, for a curse is on me if I do not.

What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.

And I do all things for the cause of the good news, so that I may have a part in it.

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.

For it is my desire, my brothers, that you may keep in mind how all our fathers were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea;

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.

For this cause, my dear brothers, give no worship to false gods.

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.

It is not possible for you, at the same time, to take the cup of the Lord and the cup of evil spirits; you may not take part in the table of the Lord and the table of 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;

But if I give praise to God for the food which I take, let no man say evil of me for that reason.

Even as I give way to all men in all things, not looking for profit for myself, but for the good of others, that they may get salvation.

So take me for your example, even as I take Christ for mine.

Now I am pleased to see that you keep me in memory in all things, and that you give attention to the teaching which was handed down from me to you.

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.

For it was handed down to me from the Lord, as I gave it to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when Judas was false to him, took bread,

And when it had been broken with an act of praise, he said, This is my body which is for you: do this in memory of me.

In the same way, with the cup, after the meal, he said, This cup is the new testament in my blood: do this, whenever you take it, in memory of me.

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.

If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.

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.

And the eye may not say to the hand, I have no need of you: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

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.

Though the prophet's word may come to an end, tongues come to nothing, and knowledge have no more value, love has no end.

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.

Go after love; still desiring to have the things which the Spirit gives, but most of all that you may have the prophet's power.

He who makes use of tongues may do good to himself; but he who gives the prophet's word does good to the church.

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?

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.

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.

For if I make use of tongues in my prayers, my spirit makes the prayer, but not my mind.

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.

But in the church it would be better for me to make use of five words of which the sense was clear, so that others might have profit, than ten thousand words in a strange tongue.

My brothers, do not be children in mind: in evil be as little children, but in mind be of full growth.

In the law it is said, By men of other tongues and by strange lips will my words come to this people; and not even so will they give ear to me, says the Lord.

What is it then, my brothers? when you come together everyone has a holy song, or a revelation, or a tongue, or is giving the sense of it. Let everything be done for the common good.

For you may all be prophets in turn so that all may get knowledge and comfort;

So then, my brothers, let it be your chief desire to be prophets; but let no one be stopped from using tongues.

Now I am going to make clear to you, my brothers, what the good news was which I gave to you, and which you took, and on which your faith is based,