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;

and to the very end he will guarantee that you are vindicated on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

By 'quarrelling' I mean that each of you has his party-cry, "I belong to Paul," "And I to Apollos," "And I to Cephas," "And I to Christ."

Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Was it in Paul's name that you were baptized?

I am thankful now that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

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

For the 'foolishness' of God is wiser than men, and the 'weakness' of God is stronger than men.

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!

God has chosen what is mean and despised in the world ??things which are not, to put down things that are;

that no person may boast in the sight of God.

This is the God to whom you owe your being in Christ Jesus, whom God has made our 'Wisdom,' that is, our righteousness and consecration and redemption;

so that, as it is written, let him who boasts boast of the Lord.

It was in weakness and fear and with great trembling that I visited you;

so that your faith might not rest on any human 'wisdom' but on the power of God.

it is the mysterious Wisdom of God that we discuss, that hidden wisdom which God decreed from all eternity for our glory.

No, as it is written, what no eye has ever seen, what no ear has ever heard, what never entered the mind of man, God has prepared all that for those who love him.

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.

The unspiritual man rejects these truths of the Spirit of God; to him they are 'sheer folly,' he cannot understand them. And the reason is, that they must be read with the spiritual eye.

Still, though planter and waterer are on the same level, each will get his own wage for the special work that he has done.

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.

Do you not know you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells within you?

God will destroy anyone who would destroy God's temple, for God's temple is sacred ??and that is what you are.

Now in this matter of stewards your first requirement is that they must be trustworthy.

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.

Now I have applied what has been said above to myself and Apollos, to teach you ... that you are not to be puffed up with rivalry over one teacher as against another.

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?

You Corinthians have your heart's desire already, have you? You have heaven's rich bliss already! You have come into your kingdom without us! I wish indeed you had come into your kingdom, so that we could share it with you!

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.

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality such as is unknown even among pagans ??that a man has taken his father's wife!

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.

Your boasting is no credit to you. Do you not know that a morsel of dough will leaven the whole lump?

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.

I did not mean you were literally to avoid contact with the immoral in this world, with the lustful and the thievish, or with idolaters; in that case you would have to leave the world altogether.

What I now write is that you are not to associate with any so-called brother who is immoral or lustful or idolatrous or given to abuse or drink or robbery. Associate with him! Do not even eat with him!

I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could decide a dispute between members of the brotherhood,

But instead of that you inflict wrong and practise frauds ??and that upon members of the brotherhood!

What! do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Realm of God? Make no mistake about it; neither the immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor catamites nor sodomites

Some of you were once like that; but you washed yourselves clean, you were consecrated, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Do you not know that he who joins himself to a harlot is one with her in body (for the pair, it is said, shall become one flesh),

Shun immorality! Any other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his body.

but there is so much immorality that every man had better have a wife of his own and every woman a husband of her own.

Still, if they cannot restrain themselves, let them marry. Better marry than be aflame with passion!

(Should the unbelieving partner be determined to separate, however, separation let it be; in such cases the Christian brother or sister is not tied to marriage.) It is to a life of peace that God has called us.

Well, what I think is this: that, considering the imminent distress in these days, it would be an excellent plan for you to remain just as you are.

Of course, if you are actually married, there is no sin in that; and if a maid marries, there is no sin in that. (At the same time those who marry will have outward trouble ??and I would spare you that.)

I am saying this in your own interests. Not that I want to restrict your freedom. It is only to secure decorum and concentration upon a life of devotion to the Lord.

But the man of firm purpose who has made up his mind, who, instead of being forced against his will, has determined to himself to keep his maid a spiritual bride ??that man will be doing the right thing.

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!

With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.

Well then, with regard to food that has been offered to idols, I am quite aware that 'there is no such thing as an idol in the world' and that 'there is only the one God.'

But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak.

Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols?

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!

Do you not know that as men who perform temple-rites get their food from the temple, and as attendants at the altar get their share of the sacrifices,

so the Lord's instructions were that those who proclaim the gospel are to get their living by the gospel?

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.

Do you not know that in a race, though all run, only one man gains the prize? Run so as to win the prize.

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

and all drank the same supernatural drink (drinking from the supernatural Rock which accompanied them ??and that Rock was Christ),

No temptation has waylaid you that is beyond man's power; trust God, he will never let you be tempted beyond what you can stand, but when temptation comes, he will provide the way out of it, so that you can bear up under it.

The cup of blessing, which we bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is that not participating in the body of Christ?

Do I imply, you ask, that 'food offered to an idol has any meaning, or that an idol itself means any thing'?

No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons!

What! do we intend to rouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he is?

Eat any food that has been sold in the market, instead of letting scruples of conscience oblige you to ask any questions about it;

while any woman who prays or prophesies without a veil on her head dishonours her head; she is no better than a shaven woman.

If a woman will not veil herself, she should cut off her hair as well. But she ought to veil herself; for it is disgraceful that a woman should have her hair cut off or be shaven.

(Of course, in the Lord, woman does not exist apart from man, any more than man apart from woman;

Surely nature herself teaches you that while long hair is disgraceful for a man,

First of all, in your church-meetings I am told that cliques prevail. And I partly believe it.

I passed on to you what I received from the Lord himself, namely, that on the night he was betrayed the Lord Jesus took a loaf,

That is why many of you are ill and infirm, and a number even dead.

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

so I tell you now, that no one is speaking in the Spirit of God when he cries, 'Cursed be Jesus,' and that no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the holy Spirit.

If the foot were to say, 'Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

If the ear were to say, 'Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

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

That is to say, God has set people within the church to be first of all apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, and speakers in 'tongues' of various kinds.

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;

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I argued like a child; now that I am a man, I am done with childish ways.

On the other hand, he who prophesies addresses men in words that edify, encourage, and console them.

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.

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, it is the same with yourselves. Unless your tongue utters language that is readily understood, how can people make out what you say? You will be pouring words into the empty air!

Thank God, I speak in 'tongues' more than any of you;

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.'

As for speaking in a 'tongue,' let only two or at most three speak at one meeting, and that in turn. Also, let someone interpret;

If anyone considers himself a prophet or gifted with the Spirit, let him understand that what I write to you is a command of the Lord.

First and foremost, I passed on to you what I had myself received, namely, that Christ died for our sins as the scriptures had said,

that he was buried, that he rose on the third day as the scriptures had said,

and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve;