But I urge you all, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree in what you say, and not to allow factions among you, but to be perfectly united in mind and judgment.

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!"

For consider, brothers, what happened when God called you. Not many of you were what men call wise, not many of you were influential, not many were of high birth.

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,

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.

For what human being can understand a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one understands the thoughts of God but the spirit of God.

A material man will not accept what the Spirit of God offers. It seems mere folly to him, and he cannot understand it, because it takes spiritual insight to see its true value.

What is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Just servants through whom you came to have faith, as the Lord gave each of us opportunity.

If what a man has built on the foundation stands the test, he will have his pay.

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.

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

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?

But I am coming very soon to see you, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out, not what these conceited people have to say, but what they can actually do.

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.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not your part to judge those who are inside the church,

The husband must give his wife what is due her, and the wife must do the same by her husband.

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.

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.

But a man who has definitely made up his mind, under no constraint of passion but with full self-control, and who has decided in his own mind to keep her as she is, will be doing what is right.

So the man who marries her does what is right, and the man who refrains from doing so does even better.

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.

For this overscrupulous brother, for whom Christ died, is ruined by what you call your knowledge.

Therefore, if what I eat makes my brother fall, I will never eat meat again, rather than make my brother fall.

What soldier ever pays his expenses out of his own pay? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of the grapes? Who tends a flock and does not get any of the milk?

Am I saying only what men say? Does not the Law say so too?

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.

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

I appeal to your good sense. Make up your minds about what I say.

Think of the Israelites' practices. Do not those who eat what is sacrificed have divine fellowship at the sacrificial altar?

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.

If I give thanks for what I eat, why should I be denounced for eating what I give thanks over?

Have you no houses to eat and drink in? Or do you mean to show your contempt for the church of God, and to humiliate those who have none? What can I say to you? Can I approve of you? Not in this matter certainly.

Is everyone able to cure the sick? Can everyone speak ecstatically? Can everyone explain what it means?

But when perfection comes, what is imperfect will pass away.

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.

But as it is brothers, if I come back to you and speak ecstatically, what good will I do you, unless I have some revelation or special knowledge or message or teaching to give you?

Even inanimate things, like the flute or the harp, may produce sound, but if there is no difference in the notes, how can you tell what is being played?

So if you in your ecstatic speaking utter words no one can understand, how will people know what you are saying? You will be talking to the empty air!

Therefore, the man who can speak ecstatically should pray for the power to explain what he says.

Then what am I to do? I will pray ecstatically, but I will pray intelligently too. I will sing ecstatically, but I will sing intelligently too.

For if you utter blessings in ecstatic speech, how is an ordinary man to say Amen to your thanksgiving? For he does not know what you are saying.

Then what is the right course, brothers? When you meet together, suppose every one of you has a song, a teaching, a revelation, an ecstatic utterance, or an explanation of one; it must all be for the good of all.

If there is any ecstatic speaking, let it be limited to two or three people at the most, and have one speak at a time and someone explain what he says.

And let two or three who are inspired to preach speak, while the rest weigh what is said;

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.

But by God's favor I have become what I am, and the favor he showed me has not gone for nothing, but I have worked harder than any of them, although it was not really I but the favor God showed me.

But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Now if what we preach about Christ is that he was raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?

Otherwise, what do people mean by having themselves baptized on behalf of their dead? If the dead do not rise at all, why do they have themselves baptized on their behalf?

From the human point of view, what good is it to me that I have fought wild animals here in Ephesus? If the dead do not rise at all, "Let us eat and drink, for we will be dead tomorrow!"

But someone will say, "How can the dead rise? What kind of a body will they have when they come back?"

This is also what the Scripture says: "The first man Adam became a living creature." The last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit.

But I can tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, and decay will not share in what is imperishable.

And when this mortal nature puts on immortality, then what the Scripture says will come true??Death has been triumphantly destroyed.