None of the rulers of this world understood it, because if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the things of God's Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can't understand them because they are spiritually evaluated.

Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They're merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task.

But I will come to you soon if it's the Lord's will. Then I'll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have,

However, if they cannot control themselves, they should get married, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

This is what I mean, brothers: The time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none,

and those who mourn as though they did not mourn, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they did not own a thing,

and those who use the things in the world as though they were not dependent on them. For the world in its present form is passing away.

But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are so accustomed to idolatry that when they eat food that has been offered to an idol, their conscience becomes contaminated because it is weak.

But I have not used any of these rights, and I'm not writing this so that they may be applied in my case. I would rather die than let anyone deprive me of my reason for boasting.

Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades.

Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the fact that all of our ancestors who left Egypt were under the cloud. They all went through the sea,

and they all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

They all ate the same spiritual food

and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.

But God wasn't pleased with most of those people, and so they were struck down in the wilderness.

Now their experiences serve as examples for us so that we won't set our hearts on evil as they did.

These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down as a warning for us in whom the culmination of the ages has been attained.

Look at the Israelis from a human point of view. Those who eat the sacrifices share in what is on the altar, don't they?

Hardly! What they offer, they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons.

just as I myself try to please everybody in every way. I don't look out for my own benefit, but rather for the benefit of many people, so that they might be saved.

Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they?

Not all have the gift of healing, do they? Not all speak in foreign languages, do they? Not all interpret, do they?

Love never fails. Now if there are prophecies, they will be done away with. If there are languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away with.

In the Law it is written, "By means of foreign languages and through the mouths of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," declares the Lord.

Now if the whole church gathers in the same place and everyone is speaking in foreign languages, when uneducated people or unbelievers come in, they will say that you are out of your mind, won't they?

As in all the churches of the saints, the women must keep silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak out, but must place themselves in submission, as the oral law also says.

If they want to learn anything, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is inappropriate for a woman to speak out in church.

Otherwise, what will those people do who are being baptized because of those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized because of them?

But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"

If it is worthwhile for me to go, too, they can go with me.

Now I urge you, brothers for you know that the members of the family of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to serving the saints

I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus came here, because what was lacking they have supplied through you.

They refreshed my spirit and yours, too. Therefore, appreciate men like that.