This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to the Messiah."

But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed.

And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something,

the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's action.

If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

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?

But I will come to you soon if it's the Lord's will. Then I'll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have,

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!

Now about what you asked: "Is it advisable for a man not to marry?"

This is what I mean, brothers: The time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none,

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.

For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, who know better, eating in an idol's temple, he will be encouraged to eat what has been offered to idols, won't he?

What, then, is my reward? It is to be able to preach the gospel free of charge, and so I never resort to demanding my rights when I'm preaching the gospel.

I am talking to sensible people. Apply what I am saying to yourselves.

Look at the Israelis from a human point of view. Those who eat the sacrifices share in what is on the altar, don't they?

Hardly! What they offer, they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons.

If I eat with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of what I am thankful for?

You have homes in which to eat and drink, don't you? Or do you despise God's church and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread,

But one and the same Spirit produces all these results and gives what he wants to each person.

For what we know is incomplete and what we prophesy is incomplete.

But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will be done away with.

Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Indeed, brothers, if I come to you speaking in foreign languages, what good will I be to you unless I speak to you in some revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching?

In the same way, lifeless instruments like the flute or harp produce sounds. But if there's no difference in the notes, how can a person tell what tune is being played?

In the same way, unless you speak an intelligible message with your language, how will anyone know what is being said? You'll be talking into the air!

What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind.

Otherwise, if you say a blessing with your spirit, how can an otherwise uneducated person say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you're saying?

What, then, does this mean, brothers? When you gather, everyone has a psalm, teaching, revelation, foreign language, or interpretation. Everything must be done for upbuilding.

Two or three prophets should speak, and others should weigh carefully what is said.

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.

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.

So, whether it was I or the others, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Otherwise, what will those people do who are being baptized because of those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized because of them?

If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus from merely human motives, what do I get out of it? If the dead are not raised, "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"

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

This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.

This, indeed, is what is written: "The first man, Adam, became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Brothers, this is what I mean: Mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.

For what is decaying must be clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying must be clothed with what cannot die.

Now, when what is decaying is clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying is clothed with what cannot die, then the written word will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up by victory!"

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.

I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus came here, because what was lacking they have supplied through you.