So your experience has confirmed the testimony that I bore to Christ,

and there is no gift that you lack even while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to reappear,

For I have been informed, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that quarrels are going on among you.

What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"

I am thankful that I never baptized any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

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

but we proclaim a Christ who was crucified??n idea that is revolting to Jews and absurd to the heathen,

But it was what the world calls foolish that God chose to put the wise to shame with, and it was what the world calls weak that God chose to shame its strength with,

and it was what the world calls low and insignificant and unreal that God chose to nullify its realities,

so that in his presence no human being might have anything to boast of.

so that, as the Scripture says, "Let him who would boast, boast of the Lord!"

so that your faith might rest, not on human philosophy, but on the power of God.

Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so.

But it is a mysterious divine wisdom that we impart, hitherto kept secret, and destined by God before the world began for our glory.

But the Spirit we have received is not that of the world, but the Spirit that comes from God, which we have to make us realize the blessings God has given us.

For who has ever known the Lord's thoughts, so that he can instruct him? But we share the thoughts of Christ.

For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is laid, that is, Jesus Christ himself.

Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit makes its home in you?

If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is sacred, and that is what you are.

Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise.

and "The Lord knows that the deliberations of the wise are fruitless."

Now further, what is always demanded of managers is that they can be depended on.

For while my conscience does not trouble me at all, that does not prove that I am innocent. It is the Lord who must examine me.

Do not form any premature judgments, therefore, but wait until the Lord comes back. For he will light up the darkness that now hides things and show what the motives in people's minds are, and then everyone will get from God the praise he deserves.

For who sees anything special in you? And what have you got that you have not been given? But if it has been given you, why do you boast as though it had not been?

Are you satisfied already? Have you become rich already? Have you entered your kingdom without waiting for us? I wish you had entered it, so that we might share it with you!

Some of you seem to think that I am not coming to visit you, and are putting on airs about it.

I have handed the man over to Satan, for his physical destruction, in order that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

Certainly this is nothing for you to boast of. Do you not know that a little yeast will affect all the dough?

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people??10 not that you are to have nothing whatever to do with the immoral people of the world, any more than with its greedy and grasping people or idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world altogether.

What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who is supposed to be a Christian brother, and yet is immoral or greedy or idolatrous or abusive or drunken or grasping??ith such a person you must not even eat.

Do you not know that the Christians are to be the judges of the world? And if the world is to come before you for judgment, are you unfit to decide the most trivial cases?

Do you not know that we are to be the judges of angels, to say nothing of ordinary matters?

I ask it to shame you. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could settle a disagreement between one brother and another,

But it is you who wrong and rob others, and your own brothers at that!

Do you not know that wrongdoers will not have any share in God's kingdom? Do not let anyone mislead you. People who are immoral or idolaters or adulterers or sensual or given to unnatural vice

Some of you used to be like that; but you have washed it all away, you have been consecrated, you have become upright, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ's body? Am I then to take away from Christ parts of his body, and make them parts of a prostitute's? Never!

Or do you not know that a man who has to do with a prostitute makes one body with her? For "The two," says the Scripture, "shall become physically one."

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit that is within you, which you have received from God? Besides, you are not your own;

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.

You must not refuse each other what is due, unless you agree to do so for a while, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then to come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

Being circumcised or being uncircumcised does not make any difference; all that matters is keeping God's commands.

About unmarried women I have no command of the Lord to give you, but I will give you my opinion as that of one on whom through the Lord's mercy you can depend.

But if you do marry, there is no sin in that. And if a girl marries, it is no sin. But those who marry will have worldly trouble, which I would like to spare you.

It is for your benefit that I say this, not to put a halter on you, but to promote good order, and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

But if a man thinks he is not acting properly toward the girl to whom he is engaged, if his passions are too strong, and that is what ought to be done, let him do as he pleases; it is no sin; let them be married.

About food that has been offered to idols, it is true, as you say, that we all have some knowledge on that matter. Knowledge gives people airs; love is what builds up character.

As to eating things, then, that have been offered to idols, we all know that no idol has any real existence, and that there is no God but one.

But it is not everyone that has this knowledge; for some, through being long accustomed to idols, still eat meat that has been sacrificed to them as really offered to an idol, and their consciences, being oversensitive, are troubled.

But you must take care that this right of yours does not prove a hindrance to the overscrupulous.

For if somebody sees you, who are intelligent about this matter, attending a dinner in an idol's temple, will not he, with his sensitive conscience, be led to eat meat that is offered to idols?

Or is it only Barnabas and I that have no right to give up working for a living?

For in the Law of Moses it reads, "You shall not muzzle an ox that is treading out the grain." Is it about the oxen that God is concerned?

Do you not know that those who do the work about the Temple get their living from the Temple, and those who attend to the altar divide the sacrifices with the altar?

In just that way the Lord directed that those who preach the good news should get their living from it.

But I have not availed myself of any of these rights. And I am not writing this now so that I may become an illustration of this; I had rather die than do that. No one shall deprive me of this boast of mine.

As far as preaching the good news is concerned, that is nothing for me to boast of, for I cannot help doing it. For I am ruined if I do not preach.

For if I do it of my own accord, I have my pay, but if I do it because I must, it is still a responsibility that I am charged with.

What pay then do I get? Why, that in my preaching I can offer the good news without cost, and so not take full advantage of my rights as a preacher.

And I do it all for the sake of the good news, so that I may share in its blessings along with the rest.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one wins the prize? That is the way you must run, so as to win.

Any man who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training, to win a wreath that will soon wither, but the one we compete for will never wither.

So that is the way I run, unswervingly. That is the way I fight, not punching the air.

But I beat and bruise my body and make it my slave, so that after I have called others to the contest I may not be disqualified myself.

For I would not have you forget, brothers, that though our forefathers were all protected by the cloud, and all passed safely through the sea,

Now these things happened to warn us, so that we should not long for what is evil as they did.

It is no superhuman temptation that you have had. And God can be depended on, not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but when temptation comes, to give you a way out of it, so that you can withstand it.

Does not the consecrated cup which we bless mean that in drinking it we share in the blood of Christ? Does not the bread that we break mean that in eating it we share in the body of Christ?

What am I saying then? That there is any such thing as being offered to an idol, or any such thing as an idol?

No, but that what the heathen sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.

No one should look after his own advantage but after that of his neighbor.

just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, while a woman's head is her husband, and Christ's head is God.

That is why she ought to wear upon her head something to symbolize her subjection, out of respect to the angels, if to nobody else.

Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear his hair long is degrading,

For, in the first place, when you meet as a congregation, I hear that you divide into sets, and in a measure I believe it.

So when you hold your meetings it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat,

For I myself received from the Lord the account that I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus the night he was betrayed took some bread

Hence anyone who eats the bread or drinks from the Lord's cup in a way that is unworthy of it will be guilty of profaning the body and the blood of the Lord.

But since we do incur it, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that your meetings may not bring down a judgment upon you. The details I will settle when I come.

You know that when you were heathen you would stray off, as impulse directed, to idols that could not speak.

Therefore, I must tell you that no one who is speaking under the influence of the Spirit of God ever says, "Curse Jesus!" and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord!" without being under the influence of the holy Spirit.

If the foot says, "As I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear says, "As I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body.

On the contrary, the parts of the body that are considered most delicate are indispensable,

and the parts of it that we think common, we dress with especial care, and our unpresentable parts receive especial attention

that there is no clash in the body, but its parts all alike care for one another.

If I am inspired to preach and know all the secret truths and possess all knowledge, and if I have such perfect faith that I can move mountains, but have no love, I am nothing.

I want you all to speak ecstatically, but I especially want you to be inspired to preach. The man who is inspired to preach is more useful than the one who speaks ecstatically??nless he can explain what he says so that it may do the church some good.

So since you are ambitious for spiritual endowments, you must try to excel in them in ways that will do good to the church.

For if I pray ecstatically, it is my spirit that prays, but my mind is helping nobody.

Hence, if the whole church assembles and they all speak ecstatically, and ordinary people or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are crazy?

the secrets of his heart are exposed, and he will fall down on his face and worship God, and declare that God is really among you.

For in this way you can all preach one after another, as you are inspired to, so that everyone may be instructed and stimulated,

If anyone claims to be inspired to preach, or to have any other spiritual endowment, let him understand that what I am now writing you is a command from the Lord.

For I passed on to you, as of first importance, the account I had received, that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures foretold,

that he was buried, that on the third day he was raised from the dead, as the Scriptures foretold,

and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve.