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:

Faithful is the God who called you to this fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

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.

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

We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world,

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.

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

Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are simply used by God to give you faith, each as the Lord assigns his task.

I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow.

So neither planter nor waterer counts, but God alone who makes the seed grow.

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

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.

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 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.

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!

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

And yet, when you have mundane issues to settle, you refer them to the judgment of men who from the point of view of the church are of no account!

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,

and the God who raised the Lord will also raise us by his power.

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),

while he who joins himself to the Lord is one with him in spirit.

To other people I would say (not the Lord): ??if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and if she consents to live with him, he must not put her away;

and if any wife has a husband who is not a believer, and if he consents to live with her, she must not put her husband away.

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

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.

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 mean, brothers, ??the interval has been shortened; so let those who have wives live as if they had none,

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.

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.

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.

Thus both are right alike in marrying and in refraining from marriage, but he who does not marry will be found to have done better.

(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.)

But remember, it is not everyone who has this 'knowledge.' Some who have hitherto been accustomed to idols eat the food as food which has been really offered to an idol, and so their weaker conscience is contaminated.

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

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?

So let anyone who thinks he stands secure, take care in case he falls.

Look at the rites of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

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?

Any man who prays or prophesies with a veil on his head dishonours his head,

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

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.

varieties of effects, but the same God who effects everything in everyone.

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

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

He who speaks in a 'tongue' edifies himself, whereas he who prophesies edifies the church.

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.

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

Thus a man who speaks in a 'tongue' must pray for the gift of interpreting it.

Should a revelation come to one who is seated, the first speaker must be quiet.

Anyone who disregards this will be himself disregarded.

after that, he was seen by over five hundred brothers all at once, the majority of whom survive to this day, though some have died;

Besides, we are detected bearing false witness to God by affirming of him that he raised Christ ??whom he did not raise, if after all dead men never rise.

More than that: those who have slept the sleep of death in Christ have perished after all.

But it is not so! Christ did rise from the dead, he was the first to be reaped of those who sleep in death.

But each in his own division: ??Christ the first to be reaped; after that, all who belong to Christ, at his arrival.

For God has put everything under his feet. When it is said that everything has been put under him, plainly that excludes Him who put everything under him;

and when everything is put under him, then the Son himself will be put under Him who put everything under him, so that God may be everything to everyone.

On my arrival I will furnish credentials for those whom you select, and send them to convey your bounty to Jerusalem;

Well, I want you to put yourselves under people like that, under everyone who sets his hand to the work.