Seeing that the Jews make request for signs, and the Greeks are looking for knowledge:

Because what seems foolish in God is wiser than men; and what seems feeble in God is stronger than men.

For you see God's design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble:

But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong;

And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are:

So that no flesh might have glory before God.

So that, as it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

So that your faith might be based not on man's wisdom but on the power of God.

But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God.

For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ.

Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work.

Do you not see that you are God's holy house, and that the Spirit of God has his place in you?

Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise.

And again, The Lord has knowledge of the reasonings of the wise, that they are nothing.

But it is a small thing to me that I am judged by you or by man's judging; I am not even a judge of myself.

My brothers, it is because of you that I have taken Apollos and myself as examples of these things, so that in us you might see that it is not wise to go farther than what is in the holy Writings, so that no one of you may be lifted up against his brother.

For who made you better than your brother? or what have you that has not been given to you? but if it has been given to you, what cause have you for pride, as if it had not been given to you?

For even now you are full, even now you have wealth, you have been made kings without us: truly, I would be glad if you were kings, so that we might be kings with you.

For it seems to me that God has put us the Apostles last of all, as men whose fate is death: for we are put on view to the world, and to angels, and to men.

When evil things are said about us we give gentle answers: we are made as the unclean things of the world, as that for which no one has any use, even till now.

I am not saying these things to put you to shame, but so that, as my dear children, you may see what is right.

For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news.

So my desire is that you take me as your example.

It is said, in fact, that there is among you a sin of the flesh, such as is not seen even among the Gentiles, that one of you has his father's wife.

And in place of feeling sorrow, you are pleased with yourselves, so that he who has done this thing has not been sent away from among you.

That this man is to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may have forgiveness in the day of the Lord Jesus.

This pride of yours is not good. Do you not see that a little leaven makes a change in all the mass?

Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover.

In my letter I said to you that you were not to keep company with those who go after the desires of the flesh;

But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him.

How is it, that if any one of you has a cause at law against another, he takes it before a Gentile judge and not before the saints?

Is it not certain that the saints will be the judges of the world? if then the world will be judged by you, are you unable to give a decision about the smallest things?

Is it not certain that we are to be the judges of angels? how much more then of the things of this life?

More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss?

Have you not knowledge that evil-doers will have no part in the kingdom of God? Have no false ideas about this: no one who goes after the desires of the flesh, or gives worship to images, or is untrue when married, or is less than a man, or makes a wrong use of men,

Do you not see that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? how then may I take what is a part of the body of Christ and make it a part of the body of a loose woman? such a thing may not be.

Or do you not see that he who is joined to a loose woman is one body with her? for God has said, The two of them will become one flesh.

Or are you not conscious that your body is a house for the Holy Spirit which is in you, and which has been given to you by God? and you are not the owners of yourselves;

Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.

It is my desire that all men might be even as I am. But every man has the power of his special way of life given him by God, one in this way and one in that.

But if they have not self-control let them get married; for married life is better than the burning of desire.

But to the married I give orders, though not I but the Lord, that the wife may not go away from her husband

(Or if she goes away from him, let her keep unmarried, or be united to her husband again); and that the husband may not go away from his wife.

But if the one who is not a Christian has a desire to go away, let it be so: the brother or the sister in such a position is not forced to do one thing or the other: but it is God's pleasure that we may be at peace with one another.

For how may you be certain, O wife, that you will not be the cause of salvation to your husband? or you, O husband, that you may not do the same for your wife?

My brothers, let every man keep in that condition which is the purpose of God for him.

And the wife is not the same as the virgin. The virgin gives her mind to the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit: but the married woman takes thought for the things of the world, how she may give pleasure to her husband.

Now I say this for your profit; not to make things hard for you, but because of what is right, and so that you may be able to give all your attention to the things of the Lord.

But it will be better for her to keep as she is, in my opinion: and it seems to me that I have the Spirit of God.

So, then, as to the question of taking food offered to images, we are certain that an image is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

Still, all men have not that knowledge: but some, being used till now to the image, are conscious that they are taking food which has been offered to the image; and because they are not strong in the faith, their minds are troubled.

But take care that this power of yours does not give cause for trouble to the feeble.

For if a man sees you, who have knowledge, taking food as a guest in the house of an image, will it not give him, if he is feeble, the idea that he may take food offered to images?

For this reason, if food is a cause of trouble to my brother, I will give up taking meat for ever, so that I may not be a cause of trouble to my brother.

If to others I am not an Apostle, at least I am one to you: for the fact that you are Christians is the sign that I am an Apostle.

For it says in the law of Moses, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. Is it for the oxen that God is giving orders?

If others have a part in this right over you, have we not even more? But we did not make use of our right, so that we might put nothing in the way of the good news of Christ.

Do you not see that the servants of the holy things get their living from the Temple, and the servants of the altar have their part in the food which is offered on the altar?

Even so did the Lord give orders that the preachers of the good news might get their living from the good news.

But I have not made use of any of these things: and I am not writing this in the hope that it may be so for me: for it would be better for me to undergo death, than for any man to make this pride of mine of no effect.

What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.

For though I was free from all men, I made myself a servant to all, so that more might have salvation.

And to the Jews I was as a Jew, so that I might give the good news to them; to those under the law I was the same, not as being myself under the law, but so that I might give the good news to those under the law.

To those without the law I was as one without the law, not as being without law to God, but as under law to Christ, so that I might give the good news to those without the law.

To the feeble, I was as one who is feeble, so that they might have salvation: I have been all things to all men, so that some at least might have salvation.

And I do all things for the cause of the good news, so that I may have a part in it.

Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward.

But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.

For it is my desire, my brothers, that you may keep in mind how all our fathers were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea;

Now these things were for an example to us, so that our hearts might not go after evil things, as they did.

You have been put to no test but such as is common to man: and God is true, who will not let any test come on you which you are not able to undergo; but he will make with the test a way out of it, so that you may be able to go through it.

Do I say, then, that what is offered to images is anything, or that the image is anything?

What I say is that the things offered by the Gentiles are offered to evil spirits and not to God; and it is not my desire for you to have any part with evil spirits.

Or may we be the cause of envy to the Lord? are we stronger than he?

Right and wrong, I say, not for you, but for the other man; for the fact that I am free is not dependent on another man's sense of right or wrong.

But if I give praise to God for the food which I take, let no man say evil of me for that reason.

Even as I give way to all men in all things, not looking for profit for myself, but for the good of others, that they may get salvation.

Now I am pleased to see that you keep me in memory in all things, and that you give attention to the teaching which was handed down from me to you.

But it is important for you to keep this fact in mind, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

Does it not seem natural to you that if a man has long hair, it is a cause of shame to him?

But in giving you this order, there is one thing about which I am not pleased: it is that when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.

For first of all, it has come to my ears that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you, and I take the statement to be true in part.

For divisions are necessary among you, in order that those who have God's approval may be clearly seen among you.

For it was handed down to me from the Lord, as I gave it to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when Judas was false to him, took bread,

For a man puts himself in danger, if he takes part in the holy meal without being conscious that it is the Lord's body.

But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.

If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.

You are conscious that when you were Gentiles, in whatever way you were guided, you went after images without voice or power.

So it is my desire for you to be clear about this; that no one is able to say by the Spirit of God that Jesus is cursed; and no one is able to say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.

So that there might be no division in the body; but all the parts might have the same care for one another.

But when that which is complete is come, then that which is in part will be no longer necessary.

When I was a child, I made use of a child's language, I had a child's feelings and a child's thoughts: now that I am a man, I have put away the things of a child.

Go after love; still desiring to have the things which the Spirit gives, but most of all that you may have the prophet's power.

Now though it is my desire for you all to have the power of tongues, it would give me more pleasure to be hearing the prophet's word from you; for this is a greater thing than using tongues, if the sense is not given at the same time, for the good of the church.

For this reason, let the man who has the power of using tongues make request that he may, at the same time, be able to give the sense.

For if you give a blessing with the spirit, how will the man who has no knowledge say, So be it, after your prayer, seeing that he has not taken in what you are saying?

I give praise to God that I am able to make use of tongues more than you all:

But in the church it would be better for me to make use of five words of which the sense was clear, so that others might have profit, than ten thousand words in a strange tongue.

If, then, the church has come together, and all are using tongues, and there come in men without knowledge or faith, will they not say that you are unbalanced?

The secrets of his heart are made clear; and he will go down on his face and give worship to God, saying that God is truly among you.