just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, so that they may be saved.

>

But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.

Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him,

but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.

For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. And I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.

But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.

And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation.

so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.

If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains
but do not have love, I am nothing.

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.

I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret.

I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you;

It follows that speaking in other languages is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers. But prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other languages and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

But if there is no interpreter, that person should keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God.

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

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received:

that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,

that He was buried,
that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures,

and that He appeared to Cephas,
then to the Twelve.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.

For God has put everything under His feet. But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception.

And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.

I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day!

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

When this corruptible is clothed
with incorruptibility,
and this mortal is clothed
with immortality,
then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he prospers, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear from you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.

He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in your endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort.

For we don’t want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: we were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life.

Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and He will deliver us. We have put our hope in Him that He will deliver us again

while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.

For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God’s grace.

as you have partially understood us—that we are your reason for pride, as you are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

So when I planned this, was I irresponsible? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human way so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” simultaneously?

I call on God as a witness, on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth.

I do not mean that we have control of your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand by faith.

>

I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.

For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

I have done this so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

It is clear that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.

Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory—

In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it.

We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away,

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you.

Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to increase to God’s glory.

For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

So, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless.

We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in the outward appearance rather than in the heart.

And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him in this way.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will not be blamed.

I don’t say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to live together and to die together.

and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a little while.

Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us.

So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your diligence for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.

I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability,

So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have.

It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality—

at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality.

And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help.

For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be embarrassed in that situation.

Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way.

and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.

Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.

We are not bragging beyond measure about other people’s labors. But we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

Though untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have always made that clear to you in everything.