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

But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given to her for a covering.

but if any man has a mind to be contentious, I answer, we have no such custom, nor any of the churches of God.

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 when you take your food, everyone takes his meal before the other; and one has not enough food, and another is the worse for drink.

A man should examine himself, and only when he has done so should he eat any of the bread or drink from the cup.

wherefore I give you to understand, that no man who has the spirit of God, can pronounce Jesus anathema: and that no man can acknowledge Jesus to be the Lord, but by the holy spirit.

And there are a variety of [Christian] activities, but the same God provides the power for everyone to do all of them [i.e., it is God who empowers every person who has a gift].

Now to each man has been given his manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For to one man by the Spirit has been given a word of wisdom, to another a word of insight by the same Spirit;

one man in the same Spirit has the gift of faith, another in the one Spirit has gifts of healing;

one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'

For as the body is one, and has a number of parts, and all the parts make one body, so is Christ.

But now God has put every one of the parts in the body as it was pleasing to him.

But in fact, although it has many parts, there is only one body.

But those parts of the body which are beautiful have no need of such care: and so the body has been joined together by God in such a way as to give more honour to those parts which had need of it;

If one part suffers, all the parts share its sufferings. If a part has honor done it, all the parts enjoy it too.

And God has placed these in the church:

first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, next miracles,
then gifts of healing, helping,
managing, various kinds of languages.

Love has long patience, is kind; love is not emulous of others; love is not insolent and rash, is not puffed up,

It takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, but has joy in what is true;

Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping all things.

Though the prophet's word may come to an end, tongues come to nothing, and knowledge have no more value, love has no end.

but when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away.

For now [i.e., during the church's infant state] we see in a mirror [Note: God's word is elsewhere likened to a mirror. See James 1:22-25] indistinctly [i.e., because of having only partial knowledge and prophecy], but then [i.e., when the church matures and has the completed Scriptures], we will see face to face [i.e., clearly]. Now I have [only] partial knowledge, but then I will have full knowledge, just as [God has] full knowledge of me.

For he who makes use of tongues is not talking to men but to God; because no one has the sense of what he is saying; but in the Spirit he is talking of secret things.

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?

It has been written in the law; I will speak to this people with other tongues and with the lips of others; and thus they will not hearken unto me, says the Lord.

Hence, if the whole church has met and everybody speaks in ecstasy, and illiterate people or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are crazy?

What then is the conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification.

But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.

let the women keep silent in the churches, for it has not been permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the Law also says.

Or has the word of God gone out from you, or has it come to you only?

If any man thinks he is a prophet or has a spiritual gift, he should realize that the things I am writing to you are the Lord's commandment.

and through which you are to be saved, if you hold on, unless your faith has been all for nothing.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, and not I, but the grace of God with me.

Now if it has been declared, that Christ rose from the dead, how comes it, that some among you assert, "there is no resurrection of the dead?"

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;

and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.

And we are found also false witnesses of God; for we have witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he has not raised if indeed those that are dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

If all that we have done has been to place our hope in Christ for this life, then we of all men are the most to be pitied.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come.

but every one in proper order: Christ has the precedence, next they who were Christians shall rise at his advent.

then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

for he must reign, "till God has cast all his enemies under his feet."

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 has been put in subjection to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to Him who has put everything in subjection to Him, so that God may be everything to everybody.

Foolish man! the seed you yourself sow has no life given to it unless it first dies;

and when you sow it, it has not the form it is going to have, but is a naked kernel, perhaps of wheat or something else;

and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body.

All flesh is not the same [Note: The word "flesh" here refers to the material composition of matter, and in no way suggests anything sinful, as it does in many other places in Paul's writings]. But mankind has one [kind of] flesh; animals have another kind; birds have another; and fish [still] another.

The sun has one kind of beauty, and the moon another, and the stars another; why, one star differs from another in beauty.

This is the way the Scripture puts it too, "The first man Adam became a living creature." The last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit.

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.

'Death has been swallowed up in victory! Where, O Death, is thy victory? Where, O Death, is thy sting?'

but thanks be to God, who has given us the victory, thro' our Lord Jesus Christ.

every sabbath-day let every one of you set apart something of what he has happily gain'd, for the common treasury, that there may be no collection when I come.

because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.

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

See then that he has the honour which is right. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me: for I am looking for him with the brothers.

About our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

If any man has not love for the Lord, let him be cursed. Maran atha (our Lord comes).

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

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

For our glory is in this, in the knowledge which we have that our way of life in the world, and most of all in relation to you, has been holy and true in the eyes of God; not in the wisdom of the flesh, but in the grace of God.

As certainly as God is to be trusted, my message to you has not been a "Yes" that might mean "No."

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him.

For [no matter] how many promises God has made, in Christ [the answer] is "yes" [i.e., Christ has fulfilled all of God's promises to mankind]. Also, through Christ, the "amen" [Note: This word is always translated elsewhere as "May it be so"] can be said by us in order to honor God.

Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us.

He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.

For if I make you sad, who is there to make me glad but the very man who has been made sad by me?

If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you.

Sufficient to such a one is this rebuke which has been inflicted by the many;

If you forgive the man, I forgive him, too; for whatever I have forgiven has been forgiven in the presence of Christ,

He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.

For if the administration of condemnation has glory, the administration of righteousness excels much more in glory.

For indeed what had been glorified has not been glorified in this case, on account of the glory that surpasses [it].

For if that which has been done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious.

and not as Moses put a vail on his face, that the children of Israel might not see to the end of that which has passed away;

But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged.

If, however, the meaning of our Good News has been veiled, the veil has been on the hearts of those who are on the way to perdition,

In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, "I believed; therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak.

knowing that he who has raised the Lord Jesus shall raise us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace, which has multiplied because of the thankfulness of the many, may abound for the glory of God.

For we know that if this poor tent, our earthly house, is taken down, we have in Heaven a building which God has provided, a house not built by human hands, but eternal.

Now the one who has prepared us for this very [thing] [is] God, who has given us the down payment, the Spirit.

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.

For if we have been beside ourselves, it has been for God's glory; or if we are now in our right senses, it is in order to be of service to you.

For the love of Christ overmasters me; because I thus judge that if One has died for all, then all have died;

and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised.

For if anybody is in union with Christ, he is the work of a new creation; the old condition has passed away, a new condition has come.

And all these [things] [are] from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

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.

Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness in him.