BWE - I Corinthians

Chapter 1

1:1  I am Paul. God called me to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. He did this because he wanted to.

1:2  Our Christian brother Sosthenes and I send greetings to the people who are the church of God in the city of Corinth. You are people whom Christ Jesus has made holy. You, too, are chosen to be God’s people. And we send greetings to all the people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is their Lord, just as he is our Lord.

1:3  May God show you his kindness and peace which come from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4  I am always thanking God for the blessings he has given you through Jesus Christ.

1:5  He has made you rich in all ways, in all that you say and in all you know.

1:6  Christ has done for you just what he promised to do.

1:7  You have every blessing you need while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come again.

1:8  And right to the end Jesus Christ will surely keep you safe. Then no one will find anything wrong about you on the day our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

1:9  God never fails anyone. It is he who called you to belong to his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1:10  My Christian brothers, I beg you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, agree in what you say. Do not divide into groups. You should all think in the same way and decide to do the same things.

1:11  My brothers, I say this because I have been told by some of Chloe’s family that you are quarrelling.

1:12  This is what I mean. Some of you say, ‘I belong to Paul.’ Others say, ‘I belong to Apollos.’ And others say, ‘I belong to Cephas’. And yet others say, ‘I belong to Christ.’

1:13  Is Christ divided? Was Paul nailed to the cross for you? No! Were you baptized in Paul’s name? No!

1:14  I thank God that I did not baptize any of you but Crispus and Gaius.

1:15  So no one can say you were baptized in my name.

1:16  (However, I also baptized the people of the house of Stephanas. I do not know of any one else that I baptized.)

1:17  Christ did not send me to baptize people, but he sent me to tell the good news. I must not tell it with the clever words of this world. That would not show what the death of Christ on a cross truly means.

1:18  When people who are turning away from God hear about the cross, they say, ‘That is foolish!’ But for us who are being saved, the cross is the power God uses to save us.

1:19  God says in the holy writings, ‘I will fool the wise people. I will bring to nothing the understanding of the clever people.’

1:20  Where are your wise people, the men who know books, the men who like to talk about the things of this world? God has shown that the clever things of this world are nothing.

1:21  God is wise. But the people of the world were not wise enough to know God. So he chose to save people who believe the good news that we tell them, even though the good news may seem to be foolish.

1:22  The Jews say, ‘We must see a sign.’ Those who are not Jews say, ‘We want something we can understand.’

1:23  But we tell people about Christ who died on a cross. The leaders of the Jews do not like this, and those who are not Jews laugh at it.

1:24  But some have been called by God. They are chosen, both Jews and other people. Christ is God’s power to save them. This shows how wise he is.

1:25  When God seems foolish, he is more wise than men. When God seems weak, he is stronger than men.

1:26  My brothers, remember what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were wise by the way people look at it. Not many of you had power. Not many of you came from a family with a big name.

1:27  But God chose things that look foolish to the people of the world. He has used those foolish things to put the wise people to shame. God chose the weak things to put to shame the strong people.

1:28  And God chose the small things, things that people despise. Yes, he chose even the things which seem to be nothing. He did this to destroy the big things.

1:29  He did this so that people would not be proud before God.

1:30  You are God’s children through Christ Jesus. Christ came from God and made us wise. He put us right with God. He made us holy. He set us free from our wrong ways.

1:31  Just as the holy writings say, ‘No one should be proud of anything but of the Lord.’

Chapter 2

2:1  So, my brothers, when I came to you, I did not come to tell you God’s message in big or wise words.

2:2  I made up my mind that I would talk about only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on a cross.

2:3  I was weak, afraid, and trembling when I visited you.

2:4  My words and my message were not in wise words to win you. But the power of the Spirit of God proved my words to be true.

2:5  I did this so that you would not believe because of man’s wise words, but you would believe because of God’s power.

2:6  However, our words are wise words to those who really believe. But they are not the kind of wise words that the people of this world speak. They are not the kind of wise words that the rulers of this world speak. Those rulers will die.

2:7  Our wise words are God’s wise words about things people do not understand. Before God made the world he planned those things for our glory and blessing.

2:8  None of the rulers of this world knew about these things. If they had, they would not have killed on a cross the Lord who was full of God’s glory.

2:9  The holy writings say, ‘No eye has seen the things God has made ready for those who love him. No ear has heard about them. No person’s heart has ever thought of them.’

2:10  God has shown these things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit understands everything, even the things that God has kept secret.

2:11  The only one who really knows what a person is thinking is the spirit of the person himself. So also, no one knows what God is thinking, only the Spirit of God.

2:12  We have not received the spirit of the world. But we have received the Spirit of God. In this way we may understand the blessings which God has freely given to us.

2:13  We do not tell you these things in wise words which men taught us. But the Holy Spirit taught us. We teach things about the Spirit which we know about through the Spirit.

2:14  The person who does not have the Spirit does not receive the blessings of the Spirit of God. He thinks they are foolish. He cannot understand them because only people who have the Spirit of God can test them.

2:15  He who has the Spirit of God tests all things. But others cannot test him.

2:16  The holy writings say: ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord so that he may teach him?’ As for us, we really do have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3

3:1  My brothers, I could not talk to you at first as to people who have the Spirit of God. But I talked to you as people who have the spirit of this world. I talked to you as people who are very newborn, baby Christians.

3:2  I gave you milk to drink, not food to eat. You were not ready for food. And even now you are not ready for it.

3:3  You still have the spirit of this world in you. You are jealous of each other and you are quarrelling. The spirit of this world is still in you and you live like people of this world.

3:4  One says, ‘I belong to Paul.’ Another says, ‘I belong to Apollos.’ Does not that show that you have the spirit of this world?

3:5  After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We both work for God. You believed because of the work we did. The Lord gave each of us our work to do.

3:6  I planted the seed. Apollos put water on the seed. But God made the seed grow.

3:7  So then the man who plants is nothing and the man who waters is nothing. God alone makes the seed grow.

3:8  The man who plants and the man who waters are equal. Each one will be paid for his own work.

3:9  We work together for God. You are God’s farm. You are God’s house.

3:10  I built the lower walls of the house because God showed me the best way to do it. Now another man builds on top of this foundation. Each man must take care how he builds on it.

3:11  Jesus Christ himself is the foundation. No one can make another one.

3:12  People build with gold, silver, very fine stones, wood, grass, or straw on top of the foundation.

3:13  But the day will come when everyone’s work can be seen. Their work will be tested by fire and the fire will show what kind of work each one did.

3:14  If the work a man did is not burned up in the fire, he will be paid for his work.

3:15  But if a man’s work is burned up, he will lose everything. He himself will be saved, like a man pulled out of the fire.

3:16  You know that you are God’s house. The spirit of God lives in you.

3:17  God will punish anyone who spoils his house. His house is holy, and you are the house.

3:18  Do not be fooled. If any one of you thinks that he is wise in the things of this world, he should count himself as not being wise. Then he would really be wise.

3:19  The things that look wise to the people of this world look foolish to God. The holy writings say, ‘He catches the wise people in their own tricks.’

3:20  It also says, ‘The Lord knows that the wise men’s thoughts are good for nothing.’

3:21  So do not be proud of men. Everything belongs to you.

3:22  Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the things which are now, and the things which are to come, everything is yours!

3:23  And you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God!

Chapter 4

4:1  People should look at us as men who are servants of Christ. We take care of the secret things of God.

4:2  A man who takes care of things must be a person his master can trust.

4:3  As for me, I care very little what you think about me or how any man judges me. I do not even judge myself.

4:4  I do not know of anything wrong in me, but that does not say I am right. The Lord is my judge.

4:5  So do not judge me before it is time. Wait until the Lord comes. The things which have been kept hidden in the dark he will bring out into the light. He will show what is in people’s hearts. At that time God will tell each man how good his work is.

4:6  My brothers, I have said these things about Apollos and myself so that you will learn from us to live the way the holy writings say. Then you will not be proud and say, ‘This teacher is better than that one.’

4:7  If you are better, who made you that way? Everything you have was given to you. So then, why are you proud of it? Was it not given to you?

4:8  So you think you now have everything you need and are rich! You think you are kings and do not need us! I wish that you really were kings. Then we would be kings along with you.

4:9  It seems to me that God has put us apostles at the end of the line. We are like men who are to be put to death. The whole world, angels and men, look at us.

4:10  We are fools for Christ’s sake! But you think Christ has made you wise. We are weak, but you are strong! You have glory, we have shame!

4:11  Even now we are hungry and thirsty. We need clothes. We are beaten and we have no home.

4:12  We work hard with our hands. People curse us, but we bless them. They trouble us much, but we must take it.

4:13  They talk behind our backs, but we still try to win them. People treat us as a dirt pile, the rubbish of the world. And they still do these things.

4:14  I do not write these things to make you ashamed. But you are my dear children and I want to teach you.

4:15  Even if you have ten thousand people to take care of you as Christians, yet you do not have many fathers. I am your Christian father because I brought you the good news.

4:16  So I beg you, do as I do.

4:17  That is why I am sending Timothy to you. I love Timothy very much. He is my Christian son. I can trust him. He will tell you again my Christian ways of living. I teach these same ways in every church meeting everywhere.

4:18  Some of you are proud of yourselves. You think I am not coming to visit you.

4:19  But I will come soon if it is the Lord’s will. Then I will find, not the talk of those proud people, but their power.

4:20  The place where God rules is not a matter of talk, but of power.

4:21  Which do you want? Shall I come to you with a stick to beat you, or shall I come with love and a kind spirit?

Chapter 5

5:1  I have heard a very bad report about you. I hear there are wrong sexual ways among you. Even the people who are not Jews do not allow wrong sex such as this among them. A man is living with his father’s wife!

5:2  Can it be that you are still proud? This should make you very sad. The man who has done this should be put out of the church meeting.

5:3  My body is not with you, but my spirit is. Just as if I were right there, I have decided what to do about the man who did such a thing as this.

5:4  Do this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you meet together my spirit will be with you. Then, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, give this man over to Satan. Let Satan punish his body. By this the man’s spirit may yet be saved when the Lord Jesus comes.

5:5  Do this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you meet together my spirit will be with you. Then, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, give this man over to Satan. Let Satan punish his body. By this the man’s spirit may yet be saved when the Lord Jesus comes.

5:6  Surely it is not right for you to be proud. Do you not know that only a little yeast in the bread will make all the bread rise?

5:7  Clean out the old yeast so that you will become like new bread. You are free from the old things. Christ, the Passover Lamb, has been killed for us.

5:8  Let us then remember the feast of Passover and have our bread. But let us not have our feast with old yeast in the bread. To do bad and wrong things is like that old yeast. But let us have it with new bread that has no old yeast in it. To be honest and true is like the new bread.

5:9  I wrote a letter to you. I told you not to be friends with people who use sex the wrong way.

5:10  I did not mean the people of the world–some of them use sex the wrong way; or always want more things; or steal; or worship idols. To keep away from them altogether would mean you would have to go out of the world.

5:11  But I wrote to you not to be friends with anyone who says he is a Christian and uses wrong sex, or always wants more, or has idols, or curses, or drinks too much strong drink, or steals. I told you not even to sit down to eat with such a person.

5:12  Why should I judge the people who are outside the church? You are to judge the church people.

5:13  God judges those who are outside. The holy writings say, ‘Send the bad person away from among you.’

Chapter 6

6:1  When one of you has some complaint against a Christian brother, why does he take him to be judged by those who are not Christians? Why does he not take him to God’s people?

6:2  Do you not know that some day God’s people will judge the world? If you are going to judge the world, can you not judge small things now?

6:3  Do you not know that we shall judge angels? Then we should surely be able to judge things in this life!

6:4  So if you have complaints about things in this life, why do you take them to those who are not church people?

6:5  Shame on you! Are none of you wise enough to judge between two Christian brothers?

6:6  But now one Christian brother takes another Christian brother to be judged by people who are not Christians.

6:7  It is wrong for you to take each other to court at all. You should be willing to take wrong. It would be better to lose.

6:8  Instead, you are doing wrong to your own Christian brothers.

6:9  Do you not know that bad people will have no part in the kingdom where God rules? Do not be fooled. There are some people who will not have part in that place. They are those who commit adultery of any kind, those who have idols, or steal, or are always wanting more, or talk wrong things about people, or drink plenty of strong drink, or take things by force, or curse.

6:10  Do you not know that bad people will have no part in the kingdom where God rules? Do not be fooled. There are some people who will not have part in that place. They are those who commit adultery of any kind, those who have idols, or steal, or are always wanting more, or talk wrong things about people, or drink plenty of strong drink, or take things by force, or curse.

6:11  Some of you were like that. But now you have been washed and made holy. The Spirit of our God has made you right by the name of the Lord Jesus.

6:12  I am free to do anything I want, but some things are not good for me to do. I am free to do anything, but I will not become a slave of anything.

6:13  ‘Food is for the body, and the body is for food.’ But God will bring both to an end. The body is not made to be used for wrong sex behaviour, but for the Lord. And the Lord is for the body.

6:14  God raised up the Lord and he will also raise us up by his power.

6:15  Do you not know that your bodies belong to Christ? Shall I take parts of Christ and join them to a bad woman? No, never!

6:16  Do you not know that the person who joins himself to a bad woman becomes one person with her? The holy writings say, ‘The two people shall be like one body.’

6:17  But the one who joins himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

6:18  Run away from every kind of wrong sex! Every other wrong thing which a person does is done outside of his body. But the person who uses sex the wrong way does a wrong thing to his own body.

6:19  Do you not know that your body is the house of the Holy Spirit who lives in you? God gave the Holy Spirit to you. Remember, you do not belong to yourself.

6:20  But you were bought and paid for. So then, bring glory to God with your bodies.

Chapter 7

7:1  You wrote me a letter. Here is my answer to the things in the letter. It is good if a man has nothing to do with a woman.

7:2  But wrong sex is always a danger to us. So it is better for each man to have his own wife and each woman to have her own husband.

7:3  The husband should give his wife what is right. So also, the wife should give her husband what is right.

7:4  The wife does not have full right over her own body. But her husband has a right to it. In the same way, the husband does not have full right over his own body. But his wife has a right to it.

7:5  Do not keep from the other what is right for them to have. It is all right to stay from each other for a while, if you both agree to it. Then you will have time for prayer. Afterwards, come together again. If you do not, Satan might tempt you to do wrong.

7:6  I say you may do this. I do not say that you must do it.

7:7  I wish that all men were like I am. But God has made everyone different. One man can live one way and another man can live another way.

7:8  Here is what I say to those who are not married and to those whose husbands are dead. It is good for them to stay the way I am.

7:9  But if they cannot keep themselves under control, then they should marry. It is better to marry than to burn with desire for sex.

7:10  And here is what I say to those who are married. (And yet it is not what I say. It is what the Lord has said.) The wife may not leave her husband.

7:11  But if she does leave him, she must not marry again, or she must come back to her husband again. And the husband may not send away his wife.

7:12  Here is what I say to other people. (This is my word, not the Lord’s.) Perhaps a Christian brother has a wife who is not a Christian. If she wants to stay with him, then he should not send her away.

7:13  Perhaps a woman has a husband who is not a Christian. If he wants to stay with her, then the woman should not leave him.

7:14  The husband who is not a Christian is made holy by the wife. And the wife who is not a Christian is made holy by the husband. If this were not so, then your children would not be holy. But they are holy.

7:15  If the one who is not a Christian really wants to leave, let him go. The Christian husband or wife is free then. God has called us to live in peace.

7:16  Wife, you do not know. Perhaps you will win your husband to the Lord. Husband, you do not know. Perhaps you will win your wife to the Lord.

7:17  Only let me say this. Every man should go on living in the way which the Lord chooses for him. He should go on as he was when God called him to be a Christian. I say this to people in all the churches.

7:18  If a man was already circumcised when God called him, he should not try to change the marks of it. If a man was not circumcised when God called him, he should not be circumcised.

7:19  It does not matter whether one is circumcised or not. The thing that matters is doing what God says we must do.

7:20  Everyone should stay the way he was when God called him.

7:21  If you were a slave when God called you, do not let that trouble you. But if there is some way for you to get free, then do so.

7:22  If a man was a slave when the Lord called him, he is the Lord’s free man. So also if a man was free when he was called, he is Christ’s slave.

7:23  You were bought and paid for. Do not become slaves of men!

7:24  So, Christian brothers, everyone should go on living as he was when God called him. But now he lives with God.

7:25  Here is what I say about those who are not married. (I have no law from the Lord about this. But here is what I think. You can trust me because the Lord has helped me.)

7:26  I think that, since there is now trouble in the world, it is good for each one to stay as he is.

7:27  If you have married a wife, do not try to be free from her. If you have no wife, do not look for one.

7:28  But, if you marry, it is not wrong. And if a woman marries, it is not wrong. People who marry will have trouble in this life. And I want to keep you out of it.

7:29  Here, my brothers, is what I mean. The time is short. In the time that is left, men who have wives should live as though they did not.

7:30  People who cry should live as though they were not sad. People who laugh should live as though they were not glad. People who buy things should live as though they did not own them.

7:31  And people who are busy with things in this world should not be too busy. The world as we see it is passing away.

7:32  I want your minds to be free. The man who is not married thinks about the things of the Lord. He tries to please the Lord.

7:33  But the man who is married thinks about the things of this world. He tries to please his wife.

7:34  In the same way, there is a difference between the woman who is married and the one who is not. The woman who is not married thinks about the things of the Lord. She wants her body and her spirit to be holy. But the married woman thinks about the things of this life. She tries to please her husband.

7:35  I say this to help you, not to make it hard for you. I want to show you what is good. I do not want anything to stop you from serving the Lord.

7:36  And if a man feels that he is doing the right thing for the woman he is to marry, then let him marry her. That is, if she is no longer young, and if he wants her very much. Then he must do as he thinks best. It is not wrong for him to do it.

7:37  But the man who has made up his mind not to marry his woman will do well. That is, if he does not have to marry her, and is able to control himself, and if he is sure about it in his own mind.

7:38  So the man who marries his woman will do what is good. But the man who does not marry her will do better.

7:39  A wife may not leave her husband as long as he is living. But if he dies, she is free to marry any man she wants. Only this, he must be a Christian.

7:40  But I think that she is happier if she stays as she is and does not marry again. (I think too that I am saying what the Spirit of God wants me to say in this matter.)

Chapter 8

8:1  Now here is what I say about food given to idols. We all know something about this matter. Yet knowledge makes us proud. Love is the real teacher.

8:2  If anyone thinks he knows much, then he does not know what he really should know.

8:3  But if anyone loves God, then God knows him.

8:4  So here is what I say about eating food that has been given to idols or false gods. We know that an idol really is nothing in this world. There is only one true and living God.

8:5  There are things in the sky and on earth which are called gods. Yes, there are many gods and lords.

8:6  Yet for us there is only one God. He is the Father. All things come from him. He is the one for whom we live. And there is only one Lord. He is Jesus Christ. He made all things. He is the one who gives us life.

8:7  But not every Christian knows these things. Some of them have always believed in idols. And when they eat food which has been given to an idol, they think the food belongs to the idol. And because they are weak Christians they feel they do wrong when they eat it.

8:8  One thing is sure, food will not bring us closer to God. If we eat it, it will not make us right with God. And if we do not eat, it will not make us wrong.

8:9  Perhaps you feel it is all right for you to do it. But be careful! It might make the weak Christian do wrong.

8:10  You know it is not wrong for you to eat these things. But if a weak Christian sees you eating in the idol’s house, he will also want to eat food that has been given to an idol. He will do what is against his own belief.

8:11  You know the truth, and yet your knowledge will make your weak brother do wrong. You have hurt the faith of a brother, for whom Christ died.

8:12  In this way you do wrong to your brother. You hurt him because he is weak. And in so doing you do wrong to Christ.

8:13  If eating such food makes my brother do wrong, I will never eat it. I do not want my brother to do wrong.

Chapter 9

9:1  Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you people not proof of the work I do for the Lord?

9:2  If other people do not call me an apostle, yet surely I am an apostle to you. You people are the proof that I am an apostle for the Lord.

9:3  Here is what I say to the people who say wrong things about me.

9:4  Do we not have the right to eat and drink?

9:5  Do we not have the right to have a Christian wife with us as do the other apostles, and the brothers of our Lord, and Cephas?

9:6  Must Barnabas and I work for our living though the other apostles do not?

9:7  What soldier pays for his own food when he goes to war? Who plants a garden and does not eat what grows in it? Who takes care of animals and does not get any of the milk?

9:8  Am I saying only what men say? Does not God’s law also say the same?

9:9  Moses wrote in his books of the law of God, ‘Do not tie shut the mouth of an ox when it is treading the grain.’ Does God care about the oxen?

9:10  Does he not say this altogether for our sakes? Yes, he said it for our sakes. There are people who plough the ground and beat the grain. They do this work because they believe they will have a part of the food for themselves.

9:11  We have planted seed by teaching you the good things of the Spirit. So we should receive something from you to help us to pay for our living.

9:12  If it is right for other teachers to receive something from you, then we have more of a right to receive it. But we did not use our right. Instead, we do anything we can so that we will not stop the good news of Christ from going out.

9:13  You know there are men who do the work in the temple. They get their food from the temple. Those who help to make sacrifices in the temple get a part of the sacrifice.

9:14  It is the same with those who work telling the good news. The Lord said they should get their living from that work.

9:15  And I am not writing this to ask you to do these things for me. I would rather die! It is something I am proud of, and no one shall take it away from me.

9:16  My telling the good news is not something for me to be proud of. It is something I must do. Yes, it would be very, very wrong for me if I did not tell the good news.

9:17  If I do it because I want to do it, I get my pay. But if I do not want to do it, it is still my duty to do it.

9:18  So what is my pay? My pay is to tell the good news and not be paid for it! That is why I do not use my right to take pay for telling the good news.

9:19  Even though I am no one’s slave, yet I have made myself a slave to everyone. I have done this so that I might win more people to Christ.

9:20  When I was with the Jews, I lived like the Jews, so that I might win the Jews to Christ. I was not under the law. But I lived as if I was under the law of the Jews. I did this so that I might win to Christ those who are under the law.

9:21  When I was with those who do not have the law of the Jews, I lived as if I did not have the law of the Jews. I did this so that I might win them also. Of course, I myself have laws. I follow the laws of Christ.

9:22  When I was with weak people, I lived like a weak person. I did this so that I might win weak people to Christ. I lived like all kinds of people to save some of them.

9:23  I do all this for the good news, so that I also will have some of its blessing.

9:24  You know when people are running a race, they all run. But only one man will win. The way you should run is to run to win.

9:25  Everyone who wants to show his strength must control himself in every way. They do it for a prize that will spoil. But what we do, we do for a reward that will never, never spoil.

9:26  So I do not run as if I did not know where I was going. And I do not fight like a man just beating the air.

9:27  But I control my own body really well. I make my body obey me. After telling others the good news, I myself do not want to be left out.

Chapter 10

10:1  My brothers, here is something you should know. Long ago, all our fathers were led by the cloud of God over them. They all went through the Red Sea.

10:2  It was as if they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

10:3  They all ate the same food from the Spirit.

10:4  They all drank the same water sent by the Spirit. The water they drank came from a Rock of the Spirit which went with them. That Rock was Christ.

10:5  But God was not pleased with most of them. They died in the wilderness.

10:6  This teaches us not to want wrong things as they did.

10:7  Do not worship idols, as some of them did. The holy writings say, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up and danced.’

10:8  We must not use sex the wrong way as some of them did. Twenty-three thousand people died in one day!

10:9  We must not test the Lord, as some of them did. They were bitten by bad snakes and died!

10:10  Do not grumble, as some of them did. They were killed by the Angel of Death!

10:11  These things happened to them to teach other people. They were written in the holy writings to teach us who are living in the last days of the world.

10:12  Therefore, when a person thinks, ‘I am strong; I can stand,’ let that person be careful, or he will fall.

10:13  No testing has come to you that other people do not have. But God will not fail you. He will not allow the testing to be too hard for you. No. When the testing comes, God will make a way out for you, so that you can go through the testing.

10:14  So then, my dear brothers, do not worship idols.

10:15  I talk to you as people with good sense. Decide for yourselves about what I say.

10:16  We ask God to bless the cup at the Lord’s supper. When we drink from this cup it means that the blood of Christ is for us all. We break the bread. When we eat this bread, it means that the body of Christ is for us all.

10:17  The bread is all one loaf. In the same way, we are many people but we are one body. We all eat from the same loaf.

10:18  See what the Jews do. Those who eat the sacrifices all eat things that are sacrificed.

10:19  What do I mean by saying this? Is the food that has been given to idols really something holy? Or is an idol really something like God?

10:20  No. What I mean is this. Those people give the food to bad spirits and not to God. I do not want you to have anything to do with bad spirits.

10:21  You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of bad spirits. You cannot eat food at the table of the Lord and at the table of bad spirits.

10:22  Do we want to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than he is? No!

10:23  We are free to do anything we want to do. Yes, but some things do not make people better. It is better if we do not do such things.

10:24  A person must not think only of himself. But he should think of the other person as well.

10:25  Eat any meat that is sold at the market. Do not ask any questions about it because you think, ‘Is it wrong to eat it?’

10:26  The holy writings say, ‘The earth belongs to the Lord and everything that is in it.’

10:27  If one who is not a believer asks you to come and eat, if you want to go, then eat the food he gives you. Do not ask any questions about it because you fear it might be wrong to eat it.

10:28  But if anyone says to you, ‘This food has been given to an idol,’ then do not eat it. Do not eat it because of the one who told you and because it might seem wrong. I mean it might seem wrong, not to you, but to him.

10:29  Since I am free, is it wrong for me to eat just because someone else thinks it is?

10:30  I thank God for my food. So why should anyone say it is wrong for me to eat what I thank God for?

10:31  So, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to bring praise to God.

10:32  Do nothing that will make Jews, or Greeks, or those who belong to the church of God, turn away from God.

10:33  I, also, try to please everyone in all I do. I do not think of what will be good for me, but I think of what will be good for many people. I want them to be saved.

Chapter 11

11:1  Do as I do, for I am doing as Christ did.

11:2  You are doing well. You remember everything I told you. And you are doing what I taught you to do.

11:3  But I want you to know this. Christ is the head of every man. The husband is the head of the wife. And God is the head of Christ.

11:4  Any man who talks to God or speaks words from God with his head covered brings shame on his head.

11:5  But any woman who talks to God or speaks words from God with her head not covered brings shame on her head. She is just the same as a woman who has cut off all her hair.

11:6  If a woman does not cover her head, she might as well cut off her hair. But if it is a shame for a woman to cut off her hair, or to shave her head, then she should have her head covered.

11:7  A man does not need to cover his head because he was made like God is. Man is God’s glory. Woman is man’s glory.

11:8  Man was not made from woman, but woman was made from man.

11:9  And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

11:10  She should show this by having her head covered, because of the angels.

11:11  But the Lord did not make woman without man, and he did not make man without woman.

11:12  As woman comes from man, so man is born by woman. And everything comes from God.

11:13  What do you think? Does it look right for a woman to talk to God in public with her head not covered?

11:14  It would be a shame for a man to have long hair. Everyone knows this.

11:15  But long hair is something for the woman to be proud of. Her hair has been given to her for a covering.

11:16  Does anyone still want to quarrel about this matter? This is what we do. And this is what the churches of God do also.

11:17  In the next thing I have to talk about, I cannot say that you are doing well. Your meeting together is more bad than good.

11:18  First, I hear that in the church meeting you divide yourselves into groups. I think this may be true.

11:19  You also have groups of people who do not think the same way. Because of them you will soon learn which people please God the most.

11:20  When you meet together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.

11:21  People take their own food and eat it without waiting. One gets nothing to eat. Another person drinks too much.

11:22  Do you not have your own homes where you can eat and drink? Do you have no respect for the church of God? Do you want to make poor people ashamed? What shall I say to you? Shall I say you are doing well? No, you are not doing well in this matter!

11:23  The Lord gave me what I taught you. This is what it was. On the night when the Lord Jesus was sold to his enemies, he took bread.

11:24  He thanked God for it. Then he broke it and said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this so that you will remember me.’

11:25  In the same way, after they had eaten, he took the cup. He said, ‘This cup is the new agreement made by my blood. Every time you drink from this cup, do it to remember me.’

11:26  Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you tell about the Lord’s death, until he comes again.

11:27  So then, when anyone eats the bread and drinks from the cup in a way that is not right, he has done wrong to the body and blood of the Lord.

11:28  Each one must look into his own heart carefully. When he has done that, he may eat the bread and drink from the cup.

11:29  The person who eats and drinks in a wrong way will be punished. He does not take it as the Lord’s body.

11:30  That is why many of you are weak and sick. Many have died.

11:31  But if we took time to look into our hearts first, then we would not be punished.

11:32  When we are punished, the Lord is teaching us to do right, so that we will not be punished with the rest of the people of the world.

11:33  So, my Christian brothers, when you come together to eat the Lord’s supper, wait on your turn.

11:34  If a man is hungry, he should eat at home. Then when you meet, you will not be found in the wrong. There are other matters. I will talk about them when I come to see you.

Chapter 12

12:1  Now, my Christian brothers, I want you to know something about the gifts given by the Holy Spirit.

12:2  You know that before you believed in God, you were led by other men to believe in idols that could not talk.

12:3  Therefore, I want you to understand this. No person who has the Spirit of God ever curses Jesus. And no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ if he is not controlled by the Holy Spirit.

12:4  There are different gifts, but there is only one Spirit.

12:5  There are different kinds of work, but there is only one Lord.

12:6  There are different ways of working, but there is only one God. He works in all people and does it all.

12:7  And the Holy Spirit gives each one a gift so that all people may be helped.

12:8  The Spirit gives one person wise words to say. The same Spirit gives another person words of good understanding.

12:9  To another person the same Spirit gives faith, and to another person he gives the power to heal people.

12:10  To another person the Spirit gives the power to do big works. Another can speak words from God. To another person he gives the power to know the difference between spirits. To another person he gives the gift to speak the words of God in other tongues or languages, and to another the meaning of these different tongues.

12:11  And the same Spirit gives the power for all these things. He gives each person what he wants to give to them.

12:12  A person has only one body, and the body has many parts. It is the same with Christ.

12:13  The one Spirit baptized us all to make one body. It made no difference whether we were Jews or Greeks, whether we were slaves or free men. We were all given to drink of one Spirit.

12:14  I say again, the body is not all one part, but has many parts.

12:15  Perhaps the foot says, ‘I am not the hand, so I do not belong to the body.’ But it is still a part of the body.

12:16  Perhaps the ear says, ‘I am not the eye, so I do not belong to the body.’ But it is still a part of the body.

12:17  If all of the body were an eye, how could we hear? If all the body were an ear, how could we smell?

12:18  The way it is now, God has put each part in the body in the place he wanted it.

12:19  If they were all one part, how could it be a body?

12:20  The way it is now, there are many parts, but it is one body.

12:21  The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you.’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’

12:22  No, that is not so. Some parts of the body are not as strong as others. Yet we could not live without them.

12:23  And we look after some parts of our body more than others because they need it. The parts of our body that are not so fine in one way are made more fine in other ways. But the parts which are fine already do not need to be made fine. God made the body and has given more care to the parts that need it.

12:24  He did this so that the body would not be divided into groups, but all the parts would help each other.

12:25  He did this so that the body would not be divided into groups, but all the parts would help each other.

12:26  If one part has trouble, then all the other parts are troubled too. If one part is praised, then all the other parts are glad with it.

12:27  Now, all of you together are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

12:28  God has given each person their right place in the church. First, there are the apostles. Second, there are prophets who speak words from God. Third, there are those who teach. Then there are those who do big works. Then there are those who have the gifts to heal people, those who help in the work of the church people, those who lead and guide others, and those who speak God’s words in different kinds of tongues or languages.

12:29  Are all the people apostles? Can they all speak words from God? Can they all teach? Can they all do big works?

12:30  Do they all have the gifts to heal the sick people? Can they all speak in different tongues? Can they all tell the meaning of these tongues?

12:31  You should seek after the best gifts. But I will show you a way that is much better than any of them!

Chapter 13

13:1  If I talk with the tongues of men and even of angels, but if I do not love people, then I am only like the sound of a big horn or a loud bell.

13:2  If I speak words from God, if I can understand all secrets, and know everything, if I can move mountains by believing, but if I do not love people, I am nothing, even though I can do all of these things.

13:3  If I give away all I have, and if I give my body to be burned, but if I do not love people, I get nothing out of it.

13:4  Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not proud and does not boast.

13:5  Love does not do things that are not nice. Love does not just think of itself. Love does not get angry. Love holds no wrong feelings in the heart.

13:6  Love is not glad when people do wrong things. But it is always glad when they do right.

13:7  Love forgives everything. Love is always trusting, and always hoping, and never gives up.

13:8  Love never ends. The gift of speaking words from God will end. The gift of speaking in different tongues or languages will stop. The gift of knowing many things will end.

13:9  Now we know only a little, and we can speak only a little of God’s words.

13:10  But when everything becomes perfect, that part will come to an end.

13:11  When I was a child, I talked like a child. I understood like a child. I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I stopped doing things like a child.

13:12  Now it is like looking in a looking-glass which does not make things clear. We cannot see and understand things plainly. But when things become perfect, then we shall fully know and understand everything, just as God knows.

13:13  These three things will remain for ever. They are faith, hope, and love. And love is the greatest of them.

Chapter 14

14:1  Love is the thing you should want more than anything else. But you should also want other things the Spirit gives. You should want very much to be able to speak words from God.

14:2  The person who talks in tongues of a different language does not talk to people, but to God. People do not understand what he says. But he is saying secret things by the Spirit.

14:3  But the person who is a prophet speaks words from God to people plainly. He helps them to believe and to be strong, and he comforts them.

14:4  The person who talks in a different tongue helps himself. But the one who tells forth God’s word helps all the people in the church.

14:5  I wish that you could all talk in different tongues. But I want even more that you should speak words from God for all to hear and understand. The person who speaks words from God is greater than the person who talks in tongues–unless he is able to tell the meaning of his words, so that he helps all the people in the church.

14:6  My brothers, if I come to you and talk in tongues of a different language, how can I help you? I cannot help you if I do not tell you something God has shown to me, or something I know, or God’s word, or some teaching.

14:7  Such things as horns or harps have no life, but they make sounds. Now if they don’t make the right noise, no one will know what the sound means.

14:8  If the war drum gives a sound that has no meaning, then no one will get ready to fight.

14:9  If you say words that people cannot understand, they will not know what you say. You talk for nothing!

14:10  There are no doubt many different languages in the world. And every one of them has a meaning.

14:11  But if a person talks in a language and I do not know the meaning of it, I will be like a stranger to him and he will be like a stranger to me.

14:12  So it is with you. You want the gifts of the Spirit. Then you should want the gift which will make you better able to help the church people.

14:13  So then, the person who talks in a tongue of a different language, should ask God to help tell the meaning of the tongue.

14:14  If I pray to God in a tongue of a different language, then I am talking with my spirit, but I do not use my mind.

14:15  What then shall I do? I will talk to God with my spirit and I will talk to God with my mind. I will sing with my spirit and I will sing with my mind.

14:16  If you thank God with your spirit only, an ordinary person cannot say, ‘Amen, it is so!’ He does not know what you say.

14:17  The way you thank God is good, but it does not help an ordinary person.

14:18  I thank God that I can talk in tongues more than any of you.

14:19  But in the church meeting it is better for me to say five words with my mind, so that I will teach other people also. This is better than to say ten thousand words in a tongue of a different language.

14:20  My brothers, do not be like children in your thinking. When it comes to doing wrong things, be like small babies. But in your thinking be grown up people.

14:21  The holy writings say, ‘I will talk to these people by strangers and by people who talk in strange tongues. And yet, they will not listen to me.’ This is what the Lord says.

14:22  So then, tongues are a sign to people who do not believe God. They are not a sign to those who believe him. But speaking words from God like a prophet is a sign to those who believe. It is not a sign to those who do not believe.

14:23  Sometimes all the people of the church may be gathered together. If everyone talks in tongues, and if some people who do not know or believe come in, they will say that you are crazy.

14:24  But what happens if everyone speaks words from God? If such people come in, then the words from God will prove to them that they have done wrong. They will all speak to the heart.

14:25  Such a person sees everything that has been hidden in his heart. Then he will kneel down and worship God. He will say, ‘It is true. God is here among you.’

14:26  What shall we do about it, my brothers? When you meet together, every one of you has something to help the other. One has a song to sing. One has something to teach people. One has something which God has shown to him. One has something to say in a tongue. One can tell the meaning of a tongue. Do all of these things to help one another.

14:27  If any people talk in a tongue, only two or not more than three should talk. They must talk one at a time and someone must tell the meaning.

14:28  But if there is no one to tell the meaning, a person must not talk in a tongue of a different language in the church meeting. He should talk to himself and to God.

14:29  Two or three prophets may speak words from God and the others should say what they think about it.

14:30  But if another person is sitting by and God gives him something to say, then the first person should stop talking.

14:31  One by one you may speak words from God. In that way, all will learn something and all will be stronger in faith.

14:32  Those who speak words from God are able to keep their own spirits quiet.

14:33  God does not want things to be out of order. He wants peace in the church meeting. In all the churches of God’s people, the women should be quiet in the church meetings. They must not be allowed to talk. They must obey. The holy writings say this also.

14:34  God does not want things to be out of order. He wants peace in the church meeting. In all the churches of God’s people, the women should be quiet in the church meetings. They must not be allowed to talk. They must obey. The holy writings say this also.

14:35  If the women want to know something, they should ask their own husbands at home. It is a shame for a woman to talk in a church meeting.

14:36  Do you think that you were the first ones to tell the word of God? Or do you think that you are the only people who have it?

14:37  Perhaps someone thinks, ‘I am the one to speak words from God,’ or, ‘I have the Spirit.’ Then know this, the Lord has told me to write these things.

14:38  If anyone does not know this, then God will not know him.

14:39  So, my brothers, the thing you should want is to speak words from God. But at the same time, do not stop anyone from talking in tongues.

14:40  But everything should be done in the right way and in good order.

Chapter 15

15:1  Now, my brothers, I want to bring the good news to your minds again. I told it to you and you received it. You now believe it.

15:2  You are saved by it, if you hold on to what I told you. If you do not, then you have believed for nothing.

15:3  I told you first what was told to me. I told you that Christ died for the wrong things we did, as the holy writings said.

15:4  He was buried. He was raised on the third day, as the holy writings said.

15:5  Peter saw him, and then all the twelve disciples saw him.

15:6  After that, more than five hundred Christian brothers saw him at one time. Most of them are still living, but some have died.

15:7  After that, James saw him. Then all the apostles saw him.

15:8  Last of all, I saw him too. I was like one who was born at the wrong time.

15:9  The other apostles are all greater than I am. I should not be called an apostle because I troubled the people of God’s church.

15:10  But God has been kind to me. He has made me what I am today. And he did not bless me for nothing. I did more work than any of them. Yet it was not I, but the loving kindness of God was working with me.

15:11  So it does not matter who gave the message, they or I. This is the message we gave, and this is the message you believed.

15:12  You have been told that Christ was raised from death. How can some of you say that dead people do not rise again?

15:13  If dead people do not rise, Christ did not rise.

15:14  And if Christ did not rise, then what we told you was not true, and what you believe is not true.

15:15  If this were so, we would have been telling lies about God, because we said that God raised up Christ. He did not raise up Christ if dead people are not raised up.

15:16  If dead people are not raised, then Christ was not raised either.

15:17  If Christ was not raised, then what you believe is no good. Your wrong ways have not been forgiven.

15:18  If that were true, then the people who believed in Christ who have now died, are lost.

15:19  And if we have hope in Christ for our life in this world only, then we are the most unhappy of all people.

15:20  But Christ really has been raised from death. He was the first one to rise of all who have died.

15:21  It was a man who first brought death. So it was also a man who was first raised from death.

15:22  All people who are of Adam die. And so also, all people who belong to Christ will live.

15:23  But each one has his turn. Christ rose first. Then those who belong to Christ will rise when he comes again.

15:24  After that the end will come. Christ will hand over the ruling power to God the Father. Christ will stop all other rulers, and everyone who has any rights and power.

15:25  Christ must rule until God has all power over all his enemies.

15:26  Death is the last enemy to be destroyed.

15:27  The holy writings say, ‘God has put all things under Christ.’ But it does not mean that God is under Christ. God is the one who put all things under him.

15:28  One day the Son will be over all things. And God will be over the Son. So in the end God will be over all things.

15:29  Another thing, what good is it for people to be baptized for dead people? If dead people are not raised, why are some people baptized for them?

15:30  And why are we in trouble all the time?

15:31  I face death every day! That is true. Just the way it is true that I am proud of you, my brothers. I am proud that you belong to Christ Jesus.

15:32  I fought against wild animals at Ephesus. If I was thinking only of life on earth, why did I do this? If dead people do not rise, then we might just as well say, ‘Let us eat and drink because we will die tomorrow.’

15:33  Do not be fooled. ‘If good people keep company with bad people, the good people will become bad too.’

15:34  Wake up! Do what is right. Stop doing wrong things. Some of you do not know God at all. I say these things to you to make you ashamed.

15:35  But someone will ask, ‘How can dead people be raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back from death?’

15:36  What foolish questions! The seed you put in the ground must die before it can come to life.

15:37  You do not put a grown-up plant in the ground. You put in a seed, such as corn, wheat, rice, or something like that.

15:38  God gives the seed the body he wants it to have. He gives a different kind of body to every kind of seed.

15:39  Not all living bodies are alike. People have one kind of body. Animals have another kind of body. Fish another kind of body. Birds have another kind.

15:40  So too, there are bodies for the sky and bodies for the earth. The bodies for the sky are fine in one way, and the bodies for the earth are fine in another way. They are not alike.

15:41  The sun is fine in one way. The moon is fine in another way. The stars are fine in still another way. And one star is fine in a different way from another star.

15:42  So it is with the body that is raised from death. When it is put in the ground it is a body that dies. When it rises from death, it will never die again.

15:43  When it is put in the ground, it is not fine. When it rises, it is very fine. When it is put in the ground it has no strength. When it rises it is strong.

15:44  When it is put in the ground it is only a body for this world. When it rises it is a body for the spirit. If there is a body for this world, then there is also a body for the spirit.

15:45  The holy writings say, ‘The first man, Adam, was of this world! The last Adam is a Spirit who gives life.’

15:46  The body for the spirit does not come first. The body for this world comes first. Then comes the body for the spirit.

15:47  The first man came from earth. He was made from the dust of the earth. The second Adam is the Lord from heaven.

15:48  Those who are made of earth are like the man made of dust. Those who are for heaven are like the man from heaven.

15:49  We were made like the man of dust but we shall look like the man from heaven.

15:50  Now I tell you, my brothers, our bodies of flesh and blood can have no place in the kingdom where God rules. A body which will die can have no room in the kingdom of God where people will never die.

15:51  Listen! I tell you a secret. We will not all die, but we will all be changed. It will happen very quickly, as fast as one can shut his eyes. It will be when the trumpet or horn is blown the last time. Someone will blow the trumpet, dead people will rise, and they will never die again. We ourselves will be changed.

15:52  Listen! I tell you a secret. We will not all die, but we will all be changed. It will happen very quickly, as fast as one can shut his eyes. It will be when the trumpet or horn is blown the last time. Someone will blow the trumpet, dead people will rise, and they will never die again. We ourselves will be changed.

15:53  This body which dies must become a body which will never die.

15:54  When this body which dies becomes one which will never die, what the holy writings say comes true. It says, ‘Death is overcome by victory.

15:55  Death, you have lost the battle. Death, your power to hurt us is gone.’

15:56  Death hurts us because we are bad people. And our wrong ways are so strong because of the law.

15:57  But I thank God that he gives us power to stop being wrong through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:58  So, my dear brothers, stand strong. Do not be moved from what you believe. Work hard for the Lord. You know that your work for the Lord will not be for nothing.

Chapter 16

16:1  Now I want to tell you about getting money together for God’s people. I told the churches in the province of Galatia how to do it. And I want you to do the same.

16:2  On the first day of the week, every one of you should put aside and save as much money as you can. Then you will not have to get money together when I come.

16:3  When I get there, I will send to Jerusalem the men you all choose. They will carry your gift with your letters of approval.

16:4  And if it seems good for me to go too, they will go with me.

16:5  I am going through the country of Macedonia. After I have gone through there, I will come to you.

16:6  Maybe I will stay with you for a while, or even for the winter. Then you can help me on the way to the next place I go.

16:7  I do not want to stop off to see you just while I am going through. I want to spend some time with you, if it is the Lord’s will.

16:8  I will stay in the city of Ephesus until the day of Pentecost.

16:9  A door has opened for me to do much good work here. But there are many people against me.

16:10  If Timothy comes to you, be good to him, so that his heart will not be troubled while he is with you. He is working for the Lord, just as I am.

16:11  So no one should despise him. But send him off with joy when he comes back to me. I will look for him to come with the other brothers.

16:12  Now about our brother Apollos. I have asked him many times to visit you with the others. But he does not want to come now. He will come when he has the time.

16:13  Be awake! Stand strong in what you believe. Show that you are men. Be strong.

16:14  Do everything with love.

16:15  You know that Stephanas and his family were the first people in the country of Greece to believe the good news. They have made up their minds to help God’s people always.

16:16  So, my brothers, I ask you to obey men like that. And join happily with all others who are helpers and workers.

16:17  I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come. They have made up for your not being here.

16:18  They have made me happy and you also. Show that you know the value of such men.

16:19  The people in the churches of Asia send greetings to you. Aquila and Priscilla and the Christians who meet in their house send you many Christian greetings.

16:20  All the Christian brothers send you greetings. Greet each other with a holy kiss.

16:21  And I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.

16:22  Anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, should be cut off from God. Come soon, Lord!

16:23  May the Lord Jesus bless you.

16:24  I send my Christian love to you all.