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

but if a woman has long hair, it is her ornament and glory? For her long hair is given to her as 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 it is his own supper of which each of you is in a hurry to partake, and one eats like a hungry man, while another has already drunk to excess.

But a person must [prayerfully] examine himself [and his relationship to Christ], and only when he has done so should he eat of the bread and drink of 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].

But to each of us a manifestation of the Spirit has been granted for the common good.

To one the utterance of wisdom has been granted through the Spirit; to another the utterance of knowledge in accordance with the will of 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 even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.

But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body, according as it has pleased him.

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

but our comely parts have not need. But God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to the part that lacked;

If one part suffers, all the others suffer with it, and if one part has honor done it, all the others share its joy.

And God has set certain in the assembly: first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miraculous powers; then gifts of healings; helps; governments; kinds of tongues.

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.

Therefore let a man who has the gift of tongues pray for the power of interpreting them.

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.

Accordingly if the whole Church has assembled and all are speaking in 'tongues,' and there come in ungifted men, or unbelievers, will they not say that you are all mad?

What is it then, brethren? whenever ye come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edification.

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

let your wives keep silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the law also says.

Did the word of the Lord originate from you [Corinthians], or has it come to you only [so that you know best what God requires]?

If anyone thinks and claims that he is a prophet [a true spokesman for God] or spiritually astute [filled with and energized by the Holy Spirit], let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.

through which also you are obtaining salvation, if you bear in mind the words in which I proclaimed it--unless indeed your faith has been unreal from the very first.

But by God's grace I am what I am; and his grace, which was towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all, but not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth].

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, then Christ has not been raised, either;

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].

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 [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death].

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 Christ must reign [as King] until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says that all things are put in subjection, it is evident that it is except him who put all things in subjection to him.

But when the whole universe has been made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to Him who has made the universe subject to Him, in order that GOD may be all in all.

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 splendor, and the moon has another [kind], and the stars [still] another. For [even] one star's splendor is different from another's.

As indeed it has been written; The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last man Adam, a life-creating spirit.

But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: 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 through our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the first day of every week each one of you is to put something aside, in proportion to his prosperity, and save it so that no collections [will need to] be made when I come.

because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.

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.

As for our brother Apollos, I have strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers. It was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.

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

who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver; in whom we confide that he will also yet deliver;

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.

But as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus), did not become yea and nay, but yea is 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 he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God,

who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

For if I make you sorry, who then is he who makes me glad, but the same who has been made sorry by me?

But if any one has grieved, he has grieved, not me, but in part (that I may not overcharge you) all of you.

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

If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ,

who has also made us competent, as ministers of the new covenant; not of letter, but of spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens.

For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

Indeed, what had glory [the Law], in this case no longer has glory because of the glory that surpasses it [the gospel].

For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory!

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, being engaged in this service and being mindful of the mercy which has been shown us, we are not cowards.

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 whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, so that the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine forth for them.

Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God 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 he that has wrought us for this very thing is God, who also has given to us the earnest of the Spirit.

For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body, according to those he has done, whether it be good or evil.

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 I am controlled by the love of Christ, convinced that as 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.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

and all things are of the God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and given to us the ministry of that 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.