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

Brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg of you all to drop these party-cries. There must be no cliques among you; you must regain your common temper and attitude.

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

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

(Well, I did baptize the household of Stephanas, but no one else, as far as I remember.)

Those who are doomed to perish find the story of the cross 'sheer folly,' but it means the power of God for those whom he saves.

For when the world with all its wisdom failed to know God in his wisdom, God resolved to save believers by the 'sheer folly' of the Christian message.

but for those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

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

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

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.

And God has revealed it to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms everything, even the depths of God.

For who ever understood the thoughts of the Lord, so as to give him instruction? No one. Well, our thoughts are Christ's thoughts.

I fed you with milk, not with solid food. You were not able for solid food, and you are not able even now;

you are still worldly. For with jealousy and quarrels in your midst, are you not worldly, are you not behaving like ordinary men?

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

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.

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.

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

For God ranks this world's wisdom as 'sheer folly.' It is written, He seizes the wise in their craftiness,

So you must not boast about men. For all belongs to you;

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.

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!

We, for Christ's sake, are 'fools'; you in Christ are sensible. We are weak, you are strong; you are honoured, we are in disrepute.

we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we put up with it;

For God's Reign does not show itself in talk but in power.

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.

Outsiders it is no business of mine to judge. No, you must judge those who are inside the church, for yourselves;

as for outsiders, God will judge them. Expel the wicked from your company.

'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.

'Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food'? Yes, and God will do away with the one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;

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),

you were bought for a price; then glorify God with your body.

Now about the questions in your letter. It is an excellent thing for a man to have no intercourse with a woman;

Do not withhold sexual intercourse from one another, unless you agree to do so for a time in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again. You must not let Satan tempt you through incontinence.

I would like all men to be as I am. However, everyone is endowed by God in his own way; he has a gift for the one life or the other.

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.

For the unbelieving husband is consecrated in the person of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated in the person of the Christian brother she has married; otherwise, of course, your children would be unholy instead of being consecrated to God.

Only, everyone must lead the lot assigned him by the Lord; he must go on living the life in which God's call came to him. (Such is the rule I lay down for all the churches).

Circumcision counts for nothing, uncircumcision counts for nothing; obedience to God's commands is everything.

You were a slave when you were called? Never mind. Of course, if you do find it possible to get free, you had better avail yourself of the opportunity.

But a slave who is called to be in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord. Just as a free man who is called is a slave of Christ

(for you were bought for a price; you must not turn slaves to any man).

I have no orders from the Lord for unmarried women, but I will give you the opinion of one whom you can trust, after all the Lord's mercy to him.

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.

Are you tied to a wife? Never try to untie the knot. Are you free? Never try to get married.

let those who mix in the world live as if they were not engrossed in it, for the present phase of things is passing away.

I want you to be free from all anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the Lord's affairs, how best to satisfy the Lord;

At the same time, if any man considers he is not behaving properly to the maid who is his spiritual bride, if his passions are strong and if it must be so, then let him do what he wants ??let them be married; it is no sin for him.

A woman is bound to her husband during his lifetime; but if he dies, she is free to marry anyone she pleases ??only, it must be a Christian.

(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.)

He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died!

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

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.

What! are we the only ones, myself and Barnabas, who are denied the right of abstaining from work for our living?

Or is he speaking purely for our sakes? Assuredly for our sakes. This word was written for us, because the ploughman needs to plough in hope, and the thresher to thresh in the hope of getting a share in the crop.

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.

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.

Why, free as I am from all, I have made myself the slave of all, to win over as many as I could.

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

Every athlete practises self-restraint all round; but while they do it to win a fading wreath, we do it for an unfading.

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

Now this took place as a warning for us, to keep us from craving for evil as they craved.

It all happened to them by way of warning for others, and it was written down for the purpose of instructing us whose lot has been cast in the closing hours of the world.

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

(for many as we are, we are one Bread, one Body, since we all partake of the one Bread).

'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying.

But if someone tells you, 'This was sacrificial meat,' then do not eat it; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into account ??29 his conscience, I mean, not your own; for why should one's own freedom be called in question by someone else's conscience?

If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why should one be denounced for eating what one has given thanks to God for?

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, let it be all done for the glory of God.

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

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.

Man does not require to have a veil on his head, for he represents the likeness and supremacy of God; but woman represents the supremacy of man.

and man was not created for woman, but woman for man.)

for as woman was made from man, so man is now made from woman, while both, like all things, come from God.)

Judge for yourselves; is it proper for an unveiled woman to pray to God?

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

for a woman long hair is a glory? Her hair is given her as a covering.

But in giving you the following injunction I cannot commend you; for you are the worse, not the better, for assembling together.

But this makes it impossible for you to eat the 'Lord's' supper when you hold your gatherings.

What! have you no houses to eat and drink in? Do you think you can show disrespect to the church of God and put the poor to shame? What can I say to you? Commend you? Not for this.

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

For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Hence anyone who eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord carelessly, will have to answer for a sin against the body and the blood of the Lord.

For he who eats and drinks without a proper sense of the Body, eats and drinks to his own condemnation.

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

Each receives his manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

As the human body is one and has many members, all the members of the body forming one body for all their number, so is it with Christ.

For by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen; we have all been imbued with one Spirit.

which does not need to be paid to our more decorous parts. Yes, God has tempered the body together, with a special dignity for the inferior parts,

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

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;

Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded.

For we only know bit by bit, and we only prophesy bit by bit;

For he who speaks in a 'tongue' addresses God not men; no one understands him; he is talking of divine secrets in the Spirit.

If the trumpet sounds indistinct, who will get ready for the fray?