to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, as well as to all who, wherever they may be, invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord no less than ours:

I always thank my God for the grace of God that has been bestowed on you in Christ Jesus;

For Chloe's people inform me that you are quarrelling.

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

Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. And to preach it with no fine rhetoric, lest the cross of Christ should lose its power!

Why, look at your own ranks, my brothers; not many wise men (that is, judged by human standards), not many leading men, not many of good birth, have been called!

that no person may boast in the sight of God.

Thus when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come to proclaim to you God's secret purpose with any elaborate words or wisdom.

Now we have received the Spirit ??not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may understand what God bestows upon us.

But I could not discuss things with you, my brothers, as spiritual persons; I had to address you as worldlings, as mere babes in Christ.

In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let him be careful how he builds.

On that foundation anyone may build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

but in every case the nature of his work will come out; the Day will show what it is, for the Day breaks in fire, and the fire will test the work of each, no matter what that work may be.

It matters very little to me that you or any human court should cross-question me on this point. I do not even cross-question myself;

for, although I am not conscious of having anything against me, that does not clear me. It is the Lord who cross-questions me on the matter.

Who singles you out, my brother? What do you possess that has not been given you? And if it was given you, why do you boast as if it had been gained, not given?

For it seems to me that God means us apostles to come in at the very end, like the doomed gladiators in the arena! We are made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men!

You may have thousands to superintend you in Christ, but you have not more than one father. It was I who in Christ Jesus became your father by means of the gospel.

Then imitate me, I beg of you.

To ensure this, I am sending you Timotheus, my beloved and trustworthy son in the Lord; he will remind you of those methods in Christ Jesus which I teach everywhere in every church.

For my part, present with you in spirit though absent in body, I have already, as in your presence, passed sentence on such an offender as this,

I have consigned that individual to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord Jesus.

Clean out the old dough that you may be a fresh lump. For you are free from the old leaven; Christ our paschal lamb has been sacrificed.

In my letter I wrote that you were not to associate with the immoral.

'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but not all are good for me. 'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but I am not going to let anything master me.

To the unmarried and to widows I would say this: it is an excellent thing if like me they remain as they are.

For married people these are my instructions (and they are the Lord's, not mine). A wife is not to separate from her husband ??11 if she has separated, she must either remain single or be reconciled to him ??and a husband must not put away his wife.

O wife, how do you know you may not save your husband? O husband, how do you know you may not save your wife?

However, she is happier if she remains as she is; that is my opinion ??and I suppose I have the Spirit of God as well as other people!

(So-called gods there may be, in heaven or on earth ??as indeed there are plenty of them, both gods and 'lords' ??6 but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all comes, and for whom we exist; one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all exists, and by whom we exist.)

Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!

To other people I may be no apostle, but to you I am, for you are the seal set upon my apostleship in the Lord.

Here is my reply to my inquisitors.

Only, I have not availed myself of any of these rights, and I am not writing in order to secure any such provision for myself. I would die sooner than let anyone deprive me of this, my source of pride.

What I am proud of is not the mere preaching of the gospel; that I am constrained to do. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

I get a reward if I do it of my own accord, whereas to do it otherwise is no more than for a steward to discharge his trust.

And my reward? This, that I can preach the gospel free of charge, that I can refrain from insisting on all my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

And I do it all for the sake of the gospel, to secure my own share in it.

Well, I run without swerving; I do not plant my blows upon the empty air ??27 no, I maul and master my body, in case, after preaching to other people, I am disqualified myself.

For I would have you know this, my brothers, that while our fathers all lived under the cloud, all crossed through the sea,

Shun idolatry, then, my beloved.

I am speaking to sensible people; weigh my words for yourselves.

Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own advantage but at the advantage of the greater number ??at their salvation.

Copy me, as I copy Christ.

I commend you for always bearing me in mind and for maintaining the traditions I passed on to you.

and after thanking God he broke it, saying, 'This means my body broken for you; do this in memory of me.'

In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup means the new covenant ratified by my blood; as often as you drink it, do it in memory of me.'

As it is, we are chastened when we are judged by him, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Well then, my brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another;

and if anyone is hungry let him eat at home. You must not gather, only to incur condemnation. I will give you my instructions upon the other matters when I come.

so that there may be no disunion in the body, but that the various members should have a common concern for one another.

Thus, I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal;

I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing;

I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it.

Now I would like you all to speak with 'tongues,' but I would prefer you to prophesy. The man who prophesies is higher than the man who speaks with 'tongues' ??unless indeed the latter interprets, so that the church may get edification.

Suppose now I were to come to you speaking with 'tongues,' my brothers; what good could I do you, unless I had some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching to lay before you?

Inanimate instruments, such as the flute or the harp, may give a sound, but if no intervals occur in their music, how can one make out the air that is being played either on flute or on harp?

Well, unless I understand the meaning of what is said to me, I shall appear to the speaker to be talking gibberish, and to my mind he will be talking gibberish himself.

For if I pray with a 'tongue,' my spirit prays, no doubt, but my mind is no use to anyone.

Very well then, I will pray in the Spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing praise in the Spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind.

Your thanksgiving may be all right, but then ??the other man is not edified!

but in church I would rather say five words with my own mind for the instruction of other people than ten thousand words in a 'tongue.'

It is written in the Law, By men of alien tongues and by the lips of aliens I will speak to this People; but even so, they will not listen to me, saith the Lord.

To sum up, my brothers. Set your heart on the prophetic gift, and do not put any check upon speaking in 'tongues';

the gospel by which you are saved ??provided you adhere to my statement of it ??unless indeed your faith was all haphazard.

But by God's grace I am what I am. The grace he showed me did not go for nothing; no, I have done far more work than all of them ??though it was not I but God's grace at my side.

and when everything is put under him, then the Son himself will be put under Him who put everything under him, so that God may be everything to everyone.

(Not a day but I am at death's door! I swear it by my pride in you, brothers, through Christ Jesus our Lord.)

What would it avail me that, humanly speaking, I 'fought with wild beasts' at Ephesus? If dead men do not rise, let us eat and drink, for we will be dead to-morrow!

I tell you this, my brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Realm of God, nor can the perishing inherit the imperishable.

Well then, my beloved brothers, hold your ground, immovable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.

On the first day of the week let each of you put aside a sum from his weekly gains, so that the money may not have to be collected when I come.

On my arrival I will furnish credentials for those whom you select, and send them to convey your bounty to Jerusalem;

if the sum makes it worth my while to go too, they shall accompany me.

I mean to visit you after my tour in Macedonia, for I am going to make a tour through Macedonia.

The chances are, I shall spend some time with you, possibly even pass the winter with you, so that you may speed me forward on any journey that lies before me.

I do not care about seeing you at this moment merely in the by-going; my hope is to stay among you for some time, with the Lord's permission.

for I have wide opportunities here for active service ??and there are many to thwart me.

So let no one disparage him. When he leaves to rejoin me, speed him cordially on his journey, for I am expecting him along with the other brothers.

I ask this favour of you, my brothers. The household of Stephanas, you know, was the first to be reaped in Achaia, and they have laid themselves out to serve the saints.

They refresh my spirit as they do your own. You should appreciate men like that.

I Paul write this salutation with my own hand.

My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.' [Amen.]