I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus,

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you.

What I am saying is this: Each of you says, “I’m with Paul,” or “I’m with Apollos,” or “I’m with Cephas,” or “I’m with Christ.”

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit,

For

who has known the Lord’s mind,
that he may instruct Him?

But we have the mind of Christ.

For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,” are you not unspiritual people?

According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it.

For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord.

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another.

I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.

Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus with my spirit and with the power of our Lord Jesus,

turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.

Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.

For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside?

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything.

Do not deprive one another sexually—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I wish that all people were just like me. But each has his own gift from God, one person in this way and another in that way.

I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—

and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.

Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother to fall.

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

My defense to those who examine me is this:

But I have used none of these rights, and I have not written this to make it happen that way for me. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast!

For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because an obligation is placed on me. And woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my authority in the gospel.

To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.

Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits.

Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.

Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience?

just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, so that they may be saved.

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Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.

Now I praise you because you always remember me and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body.

And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.

I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.

For if I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with my understanding.

For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.

yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than 10,000 words in another language.

It is written in the law:

I will speak to these people
by people of other languages
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to Me,

says the Lord.

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages.

Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
He also appeared to me.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.

And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

If it is suitable for me to go as well, they can travel with me.

and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.

Therefore, no one should look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so he can come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.

My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.