Rather, as it is written, "Those who were never told about him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."

This is why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.

Now that I am on my way to Spain, I hope to see you when I come your way and, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, to be sent on by you.

because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Yes, they were eager to do this, and in fact they are obligated to help them, for if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to be of service to them in material things.

So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain.

Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has toiled diligently for the Lord.

Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them,

To: God's church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah their Lord and ours.

For by him you have become rich in every way in speech and knowledge of every kind

Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, I urge all of you to be in agreement and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions.

My brothers, some members of Chloe's family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you.

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

Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God.

For "Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can advise him?" However, we have the mind of the Messiah.

The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action.

Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say. Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another.

For who makes you superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?

You already have all you want! You have already become rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you!

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at.

When slandered, we answer with kind words. Even now we have become the filth of the world, the scum of the universe.

You may have 10,000 mentors who work for the Messiah, but not many fathers. For in the Messiah Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Some of you have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to evaluate you.

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,

Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you.

not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

So if you have cases dealing with this life, why do you appoint as judges people who have no standing in the church?

The very fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves is already a defeat for you. Why not rather just accept the wrong? Why not rather be cheated?

You know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, don't you? You do not belong to yourselves,

Because sexual immorality is so rampant, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.

A wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does.

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that bother you. Of course, if you have a chance to become free, take advantage of the opportunity.

Now concerning virgins, although I do not have any command from the Lord, I will give you my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

Have you become committed to a wife? Stop trying to get released from your commitment. Have you been freed from your commitment to a wife? Stop looking for one.

But if you do get married, you have not sinned. And if a virgin gets married, she has not sinned. However, these people will experience trouble in this life, and I want to spare you from that.

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

However, in my opinion she will be happier if she stays as she is. And in saying this, I think that I, too, have God's Spirit.

I am free, am I not? I am an apostle, am I not? I have seen Jesus our Lord, haven't I? You are the result of my work in the Lord, aren't you?

We have the right to earn our food, don't we?

We have the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas, don't we?

Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to keep on working for a living?

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?

If others enjoy this right over you, don't we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah.

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.

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel!

Although I am free from everyone's expectations, I have made myself a servant to all of them to win more people.

To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God's Law, but I'm subject to the Messiah's law.

To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them.

I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to have a share in its blessings.

No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.

This is why a woman should have authority over her own head: because of the angels.

Nature itself teaches you neither that it is disgraceful for a man to have long hair

But if anyone wants to argue about this, we do not have any custom like this, nor do any of God's churches.

You have homes in which to eat and drink, don't you? Or do you despise God's church and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

so that there might be no disharmony in the body, but that its parts should have the same concern for each other.

God has appointed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who help others, administrators, and those who speak various kinds of languages.

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

If I speak in the languages of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing.

Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing.

Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Now I'm making known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you have taken your stand,

After that, he was seen by more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

Yes, even those who have died believing in the Messiah are lost.

If we have set our hopes on the Messiah in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.

But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died.

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?

If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus from merely human motives, what do I get out of it? If the dead are not raised, "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

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

But God gives the plant the form he wants it to have, and to each kind of seed its own form.

Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals in general have another, birds have another, and fish have still another.

Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

After the Sabbath ends, each of you should set aside and save something from your surplus in proportion to what you have, so that no collections will have to be made when I arrive.

If Timothy comes, see to it that he does not have anything to be afraid of while he is with you, for he is doing the Lord's work as I am.

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.

He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. Yes, he is the one on whom we have set our hope, and he will rescue us again,

For this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God's grace especially toward you.

just as you have already understood us partially, so that on the Day of our Lord Jesus we can be your reason to boast, even as you are ours.

As certainly as God is faithful, we haven't talked to you with mixed messages like that.

It is not that we are trying to rule over your faith, but rather to work with you for your joy, because you have been standing firm in the faith.

This is the very reason I wrote you, so that when I did come I might not be made sad by those who should have made me happy. For I had confidence that all of you would share the joy that I have.

I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart along with many tears not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.

When you forgive someone, I do, too. Indeed, what I have forgiven if there was anything to forgive I did in the presence of the Messiah for your benefit,

Such is the confidence that we have in God through the Messiah.

will not the Spirit's ministry have even more glory?

For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory?

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we speak very boldly,

Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown to us, we do not get discouraged.

Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God's word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God.

But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us.

Now since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with this Scripture: "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak.

We know that if the earthly tent we live in is torn down, we have a building in heaven that comes from God, an eternal house not built by human hands.

The love of the Messiah controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died.

Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and look! all things have become new!

We have spoken frankly to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are wide open.

We have not cut you off, but you have cut off your own feelings toward us.

Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? What fellowship can light have with darkness?

What harmony exists between the Messiah and Beliar, or what do a believer and an unbeliever have in common?

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let's cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit by becoming mature in our holy fear of God.