Do you not know that we are to sit in judgement upon angels--to say nothing of things belonging to this life?

I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there does not exist among you a single wise man competent to decide between a man and his brother,

but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

To say no more, then, it is altogether a defect in you that you have law-suits with one another. Why not rather endure injustice? Why not rather submit to being defrauded?

Do you not know that unrighteous men will not inherit God's Kingdom? Cherish no delusion here. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor any who are guilty of unnatural crime,

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? No, indeed.

Or do you not know that a man who has to do with a prostitute is one with her in body? For God says, "The two shall become one."

Flee from fornication. Any other sin that a human being commits lies outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your bodies are a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you--the Spirit whom you have from God?

Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control.

Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another.

But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.

But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;

or if she has already left him, let her either remain as she is or be reconciled to him; and that a husband is not to send away his wife.

Only, whatever be the condition in life which the Lord has assigned to each individual--and whatever the condition in which he was living when God called him--in that let him continue.

Whatever be the condition in life in which a man was, when he was called, in that let him continue.

Were you a slave when God called you? Let not that weigh on your mind. And yet if you can get your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity.

Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence.

I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is.

Yet of this I warn you, brethren: the time has been shortened--so that henceforth those who have wives should be as though they had none,

There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband.

So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian.

But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.

Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up.

If any one imagines that he already possesses any true knowledge, he has as yet attained to no knowledge of the kind to which he ought to have attained;

but if any one loves God, that man is known by God.

As to eating things which have been sacrificed to idols, we are fully aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but One.

It is true that a particular kind of food will not bring us into God's presence; we are neither inferior to others if we abstain from it, nor superior to them if we eat it.

Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Can it be denied that I have seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you yourselves my work in the Lord?

That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.

Is God simply thinking about the oxen? Or is it really in our interest that He speaks? Of course, it was written in our interest, because it is His will that when a plough-man ploughs, and a thresher threshes, it should be in the hope of sharing that which comes as the result.

If it is we who sowed the spiritual grain in you, is it a great thing that we should reap a temporal harvest from you?

If other teachers possess that right over you, do not we possess it much more? Yet we have not availed ourselves of the right, but we patiently endure all things rather than hinder in the least degree the progress of the Good News of the Christ.

Do you not know that those who perform the sacred rites have their food from the sacred place, and that those who serve at the altar all alike share with the altar?

But I, for my part, have not used, and do not use, my full rights in any of these things. Nor do I now write with that object so far as I myself am concerned, for I would rather die than have anybody make this boast of mine an empty one.

If I go on preaching the Good News, that is nothing for me to boast of; for the necessity is imposed upon me; and alas for me, if I fail to preach it!

What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.

To the weak I have become weak, so as to gain the weak. To all men I have become all things, in the hope that in every one of these ways I may save some.

And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.

Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty.

But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish.

That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air,

and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they long drank the water that flowed from the spiritual rock that went with them--and that rock was the Christ.

No temptation has you in its power but such as is common to human nature; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. But, when the temptation comes, He will also provide the way of escape; so that you may be able to bear it.

Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf.

Do I mean that a thing sacrificed to an idol is what it claims to be, or that an idol is a real thing?

No, but that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God; and I would not have you have fellowship with one another through the demons.

Let no one be for ever seeking his own good, but let each seek that of his fellow man.

Anything that is for sale in the meat market, eat, and ask no questions for conscience' sake;

for the earth is the Lord's, and all that it contains.

That is the way that I also seek in everything the approval of all men, not aiming at my own profit, but at that of the many, in the hope that they may be saved.

I would have you know, however, that of every man, Christ is the Head, that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ's Head.

That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels.

Does not Nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonor to him,

but that if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given her for a covering?

for, in the first place, when you meet as a Church, there are divisions among you. This is what I am told, and I believe that there is some truth in it.

For there must of necessity be differences of opinion among you, in order that it may be plainly seen who are the men of sterling worth among you.

For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,

In the same way, when the meal was over, He also took the cup. "This cup," He said, "is the new Covenant of which my blood is the pledge. Do this, every time that you drink it, in memory of me."

For every time that you eat this bread and drink from the cup, you are proclaiming the Lord's death--until He returns.

But let a man examine himself, and, having done that, then let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

That is why many among you are sickly and out of health, and why not a few die.

If any one is hungry, let him eat at home; so that your coming together may not lead to judgement. The other matters I will deal with whenever I come.

It is important, brethren, that you should have clear knowledge on the subject of spiritual gifts.

You know that when you were heathens you went astray after dumb idols, wherever you happened to be led.

For this reason I would have you understand that no one speaking under the influence of The Spirit of God ever says, "Jesus is accursed," and that no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

For, in fact, in one Spirit all of us--whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men--were baptized to form but one body; and we were all nourished by that one Spirit.

Were the foot to say, "Because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body.

Or were the ear to say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body.

But it was God who built up the body, and bestowed more abundant honor on the part that felt the need,

that there might be no disunion in the body, but that all the members might entertain the same anxious care for one another's welfare.

If I possess the gift of prophecy and am versed in all mysteries and all knowledge, and have such absolute faith that I can remove mountains, but am destitute of Love, I am nothing.

but when the perfect state of things is come, all that is imperfect will be brought to an end.

Be eager in your pursuit of this Love, and be earnestly ambitious for spiritual gifts, but let it be chiefly so in order that you may prophesy.

I should be right glad were you all to speak in 'tongues,' but yet more glad were you all to prophesy. And, in fact, the man who prophesies is superior to him who speaks in 'tongues,' except when the latter can interpret in order that the Church may get a blessing.

Therefore, seeing that you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them so as to benefit the Church.

This shows that the gift of tongues is intended as a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers, but prophecy is intended not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

Accordingly if the whole Church has assembled and all are speaking in 'tongues,' and there come in ungifted men, or unbelievers, will they not say that you are all mad?

and the hidden evils of his heart are brought to light. And, as the result, he will fall on his face and worship God, and will report to others that of a truth God is among you.

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged:

Was it from you that God's Message first went forth, or is it to you only that it has come?

If any one deems himself to be a Prophet or a man with spiritual gifts, let him recognize as the Lord's command all that I am now writing to you.

For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

that He was buried; that He rose to life again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

But whether it is I or they, this is the way we preach and the way that you came to believe.

But if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?

And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.

Nay more, we are actually being discovered to be bearing false witness about God, because we have testified that God raised Christ to life, whom He did not raise, if in reality none of the dead are raised.

It follows also that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.

The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death;

for He will have put all things in subjection under His feet. And when He shall have declared that "All things are in subjection," it will be with the manifest exception of Him who has reduced them all to subjection to Him.

But when the whole universe has been made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to Him who has made the universe subject to Him, in order that GOD may be all in all.

I protest, brethren, as surely as I glory over you--which I may justly do in Christ Jesus our Lord--that I die day by day.

and as for what you sow, it is not the plant which is to be that you are sowing, but a bare grain, of wheat (it may be)

There are bodies which are celestial and there are bodies which are earthly, but the glory of the celestial ones is one thing, and that of the earthly ones is another.

Nevertheless, it is not what is spiritual that came first, but what is animal; what is spiritual came afterwards.

What the earthy one is, that also are those who are earthy; and what the heavenly One is, that also are those who are heavenly.

And as we have borne a resemblance to the earthy one, let us see to it that we also bear a resemblance to the heavenly One.