1 Corinthians
Chapter 1
1 Paul, chosen as a messenger of Jesus Christ by God’s will, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To God’s church in Corinth, to those made holy in Christ Jesus, called to be God’s people, along with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ everywhere: theirs and ours.
3 May you have kindness and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank God for you because of His kindness given to you through Jesus Christ.
5 In every way, you have been made rich by God, in all your speaking and in all your understanding.
6 Just as the message about Christ was proven true among you:
7 So you lack no gift as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come.
8 God will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be without fault on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is trustworthy, and He called you to join in the life with His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
10 I ask you, friends, in the name of Jesus Christ, to all agree and not be divided; be completely united with the same thoughts and the same opinions.
11 I have been told by Chloe’s people that there are arguments among you, my brothers and sisters.
12 I tell you, everyone says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ split into parts? Was Paul put on the cross for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?
14 I thank God I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius.
15 So no one could claim that I baptized using my own name.
16 I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but I don’t know if I baptized anyone else.
17 Christ did not send me to baptize, but to share the good news; not with fancy words, so the work of Christ on the cross is not made useless.
18 Talking about the cross seems silly to those who are dying, but to us who are saved, it shows God’s power.
19 It is written, I will ruin the wisdom of the wise, and I will make the knowledge of the smart people worthless.
20 Where is the wise? Where is the writer? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom look foolish?
21 Because the world did not know God through its own wisdom, God chose to save those who believe through the simple message of preaching.
22 Jews ask for a sign, and Greeks look for wisdom.
23 We tell people about Christ, who was nailed to a cross. This causes Jewish people to trip and seem silly to Greek people.
24 But for those who are called, both Jews and non-Jews, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom.
25 Even what seems foolish in God is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems weak in God is stronger than human strength.
26 You see, friends, that not many wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many of high status are chosen.
27 God chose the foolish things in the world to confuse the wise; God chose the weak things in the world to confuse the strong.
28 God has chosen the lowly and despised things of the world, even things that are not, to make nothing of the things that are.
29 No one should boast before God.
30 Through Christ Jesus, you have received from God wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and freedom from sin.
31 So, as it is written, “If anyone wants to boast, they should boast about God.”