For my conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who examines me.

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.

That's why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church.

It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the gentiles. A man is actually living with his father's wife!

And you are being arrogant instead of being filled with grief and seeing to it that the man who did this is removed from among you.

turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not good. You know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough, don't you?

Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For the Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed.

So let's keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.

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.

But now I am writing to you to stop associating with any so-called brother if he is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunk, or a robber. You must even stop eating with someone like that.

God will judge outsiders. "Expel that wicked man."

You know that the saints will rule the world, don't you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can't you handle insignificant cases?

You know that we will rule angels, not to mention things in this life, don't you?

I say this to make you feel ashamed. Has it come to this, that there is not one person among you who is wise enough to settle disagreements between brothers?

Instead, one brother goes to court against another brother, and before unbelieving judges, at that!

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?

Instead, you yourselves practice doing wrong and cheating others, and brothers at that!

You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals,

That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.

You know that your bodies belong to the Messiah, don't you? Should I take what belongs to the Messiah and unite them with a prostitute? Certainly not!

You know that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her, don't you? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

Keep on running away from sexual immorality. Any other sin that a person commits is outside his body, but the person who sins sexually sins against his own body.

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,

Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

I would like everyone to be unmarried, like I am. However, each person has a special gift from God, one this and another that.

Nevertheless, everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him and to which God called him. This is my rule in all the churches.

Was anyone circumcised when he was called? He should not try to change that. Was anyone uncircumcised when he was called? He should not get circumcised.

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.

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.

I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about things of this world, that is, about how he can please his wife,

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, that is, about how she can please her husband. I'm saying this for your benefit, not to put a noose around your necks, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

If a man thinks he is not behaving properly toward his virgin, and if his passion is so strong that he feels he ought to marry her, let him do what he wants; he isn't sinning. Let them get married.

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.

Now concerning food offered to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God.

But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are so accustomed to idolatry that when they eat food that has been offered to an idol, their conscience becomes contaminated because it is weak.

However, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat food that has been offered to an idol, and no better off if we do.

But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block for those who are weak.

In that case, the weak brother for whom the Messiah died is ruined by your knowledge.

Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling.

You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don't you?

In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel.

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 voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation.

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.

You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don't you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious.

Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades.

That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing.

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.

Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the fact that all of our ancestors who left Egypt were under the cloud. They all went through the sea,

and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.

Now their experiences serve as examples for us so that we won't set our hearts on evil as they did.

No temptation has overtaken you that is unusual for human beings. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.

The cup of blessing that we bless is our fellowship in the blood of the Messiah, isn't it? The bread that we break is our fellowship in the body of the Messiah, isn't it?

Am I suggesting that an offering made to idols means anything, or that an idol itself means anything?

Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it on the grounds of conscience,

just as I myself try to please everybody in every way. I don't look out for my own benefit, but rather for the benefit of many people, so that they might be saved.

I praise you for remembering everything I told you and for holding to the traditions that I passed on to you.

Now I want you to realize that the Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of the Messiah.

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

nor that hair is a woman's glory, since hair is given as a substitute for coverings.

For in the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it.

gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, "This is my body that is for you. Keep doing this in memory of me."

That's why so many of you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dying.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather it may not bring judgment on you. And when I come I will give instructions concerning the other matters.

You know that when you were unbelievers, you were enticed and led astray to worship idols that couldn't even speak.

For this reason I want you to be aware that no one who is speaking by God's Spirit can say, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit;

If the foot says, "Since I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?

And if the ear says, "Since I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are in fact indispensable,

and the parts of the body that we think are less honorable are treated with special honor, and we make our less attractive parts more attractive.

However, our attractive parts don't need this. But God has put the body together and has given special honor to the parts that lack it,

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

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

is never glad with sin; she's always glad to side with truth, and pleased that truth will win.

Now I wish that all of you could speak in foreign languages, but especially that you could prophesy. The person who prophesies is more important than the person who speaks in a foreign language, unless he interprets it so that the church may be built up.

I thank God that I speak in foreign languages more than all of you.

Now if the whole church gathers in the same place and everyone is speaking in foreign languages, when uneducated people or unbelievers come in, they will say that you are out of your mind, won't they?

But if everyone is prophesying, when an unbeliever or an uneducated person comes in he will be convicted and examined by everything that's happening.

For everyone can prophesy in turn, so that everyone can be instructed and everyone can be encouraged.

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or a spiritual person, he must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.

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,

For I passed on to you the most important points that I received: The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

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

But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others not I, of course, but God's grace that was with me.

Now if we preach that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead?

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we testified on God's behalf that he raised the Messiah whom he did not raise if in fact it is true that the dead are not raised.

But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

I face death every day! That is as certain, brothers, as it is that I am proud of you in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of those in heaven is of one kind, and that of those on earth is of another.

in a moment, faster than an eye can blink, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn't wasted.

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.