So that I may be kept safe from those in Judaea who have not put themselves under the rule of God, and that the help which I am taking for Jerusalem may be pleasing to the saints;

So that I may come to you in joy by the good pleasure of God, and have rest with you.

Now may the God of peace be with you all. So be it.

It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae:

That you will take her in kindly, after the way of the saints, as one who is the Lord's, and give her help in anything in which she may have need of you: because she has been a help to a great number and to myself.

And say a kind word to the church which is in their house. Give my love to my dear Epaenetus, who is the first fruit of Asia to Christ.

Give my love to Apelles, who has the approval of Christ. Say a kind word to those who are of the house of Aristobulus.

Give my love to Herodion, my relation. Say a kind word to those of the house of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

Give my love to Rufus, one of the Lord's selection, and to his mother and mine.

Timothy, who is working with me, sends his love to you, so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my relations.

Gaius, with whom I am living, whose house is open to all the church, sends his love, so does Erastus, the manager of the accounts of the town, and Quartus, the brother.

But is now made clear; and by the writings of the prophets, by the order of the eternal God, the knowledge of it has been given to all the nations, so that they may come under the rule of the faith;

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory for ever. So be it.

So that in him you have wealth in all things, in word and in knowledge of every sort;

So that having every grace you are living in the hope of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Now I make request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all say the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, so that you may be in complete agreement, in the same mind and in the same opinion.

That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's.

So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name.

For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him.

But to those of God's selection, Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.

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 as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.

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.

And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit.

For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ.

So then the planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing; but God who gives the increase.

For we are workers with God: you are God's planting, God's building.

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.

If any man's work comes through the test, he will have a reward.

If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire.

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.

So let no one take pride in men. For all things are yours;

And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

As for those who are outside, God is their judge. So put away the evil man from among you.

I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers?

So far from doing this, you yourselves do wrong and take your brothers' property.

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.

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.

But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord.

But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am.

But to the rest I say, and not the Lord; If a brother has a wife who is not a Christian, and it is her desire to go on living with him, let him not go away from her.

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.

Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.

If any man who is a Christian has had circumcision, let him keep so; and if any man who is a Christian has not had circumcision, let him make no change.

For he who was a servant when he became a Christian is the Lord's free man; and he who was free when he became a Christian is the Lord's servant.

If you get married it is not a sin; and if an unmarried woman gets married it is not a sin. But those who do so will have trouble in the flesh. But I will not be hard on you.

But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not;

And for those who make use of the world, not to be using it fully; for this world's way of life will quickly come to an end.

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 if, in any man's opinion, he is not doing what is right for his virgin, if she is past her best years, and there is need for it, let him do what seems right to him; it is no sin; let them be married.

So then, he who gets married to his virgin does well, and he who keeps her unmarried does better.

If anyone seems to himself to have knowledge, so far he has not the right sort of knowledge about anything;

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.

But God's approval of us is not based on the food we take: if we do not take it we are no worse for it; and if we take it we are no better.

And so, through your knowledge, you are the cause of destruction to your brother, for whom Christ underwent death.

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.

Am I talking as a man? does not the law say the same?

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.

For if I am a preacher of the good news, I have no cause for pride in this; because I am forced to do so, for a curse is on me if I do not.

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.

So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air:

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;

And they all had baptism from Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

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

And do not say evil things against the Lord, as some of them did, and destruction overtook them.

So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall.

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.

See Israel after the flesh: do not those who take as food the offerings of the altar take a part in the altar?

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.

Let a man give attention not only to what is good for himself, but equally to his neighbour's good.

For the earth is the Lord's and all things in it.