RKJNT - I Corinthians

Chapter 1

1:1  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

1:2  To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all those in every place who call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their Lord and ours:

1:3  Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4  I thank my God always for you, because of the grace of God which has been given you in Jesus Christ;

1:5  That in everything you have been enriched by him, in all speech, and in all knowledge;

1:6  So the testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you:

1:7  Therefore you lack no spiritual gift; as you await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

1:8  Who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:9  God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1:10  Now I urge you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

1:11  For it has been declared to me about you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you.

1:12  What I mean to say is that every one of you says, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

1:14  I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius;

1:15  Lest anyone should say that you had been baptized in my name.

1:16  (I also baptized the household of Stephanas: besides that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

1:17  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with eloquent words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ should be emptied of its power.

1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness; but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and frustrate the cleverness of the clever.

1:20  Where is the wise man? where is the scribe? where is the debater of this age? has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1:21  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by its wisdom did not come to know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of our preaching to save those who believe.

1:22  For Jews require a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom:

1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness;

1:24  But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1:26  For consider your calling, brethren: that not many were wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble:

1:27  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are mighty;

1:28  And God has chosen base things of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, to reduce to nothing things that are:

1:29  That no flesh should boast in his presence.

1:30  But because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption:

1:31  So that, just as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Chapter 2

2:1  And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with lofty speech or wisdom as I declared to you the testimony of God.

2:2  For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

2:4  And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

2:5  That your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

2:6  Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing:

2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God, once secret and hidden, which God ordained for our glory before the ages:

2:8  Wisdom which none of the rulers of this world understood: for had they understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

2:9  But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

2:10  But God has revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

2:11  For what man knows the thoughts of a man, except the spirit which is within the man? even so no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.

2:13  Of these things we speak, not in words taught by man's wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

2:14  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2:15  He who is spiritual judges the worth of all things, yet he himself is judged by no man.

2:16  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3

3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.

3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with solid food: for until now you were not able to bear it, nor are you yet able.

3:3  For you are still fleshly: for while there is among you envy, and strife, are you not fleshly, and walking as mere men?

3:4  For while one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not mere men?

3:5  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each his task?

3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the growth.

3:7  So then, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything; but only God who gives the growth.

3:8  Now he who plants and he who waters are equal: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

3:9  For we are labourers together with God: you are God's field, God's building.

3:10  According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds upon it. But let every man take heed how he builds upon it.

3:11  For no other foundation can man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

3:12  Now if any man builds upon this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw;

3:13  Each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall test the quality of every man's work.

3:14  If any man's work remains, which he has built upon it, he shall receive a reward.

3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; but only as through fire.

3:16  Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

3:17  If any man defiles God's temple, God shall destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.

3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks he is wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their own craftiness.

3:20  And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.

3:21  Therefore, let no one glory in men. For all things are yours;

3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

3:23  And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

Chapter 4

4:1  Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

4:2  Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

4:3  But with me it is a very small thing if I should be judged by you, or by any human court: in fact, I do not even judge my own self.

4:4  For I know of nothing against myself; yet I am not by this justified: but he who judges me is the Lord.

4:5  Therefore, judge nothing before the time; before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness, and will disclose the motives of the heart: and then every man shall have his praise from God.

4:6  And these things, brethren, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that through us you might learn not to go beyond that which is written, that none of you might become puffed up in favour of one against another.

4:7  For who makes you superior to another? and what do you have that you did not receive? now if you did receive it, why do you boast, as if you had not received it?

4:8  Already you are full, already you are rich, you have become as kings without us: and I would that you had become kings, that we might also reign with you.

4:9  For I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as if we were condemned to death: for we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.

4:10  We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honoured, but we are despised.

4:11  Even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are ill-clothed, and are buffeted, and are homeless;

4:12  And we labour, working with our own hands: when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure it:

4:13  When slandered, we answer kindly; we have been made the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even to this day.

4:14  I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.

4:15  For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

4:16  Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.

4:17  For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

4:18  Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.

4:19  But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and will find out, not the speech of those who are puffed up, but their power.

4:20  For the kingdom of God does not consist of talk, but of power.

4:21  What do you wish? shall I come to you with a rod, or in love, and in a spirit of gentleness?

Chapter 5

5:1  It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and such immorality as does not even occur among the Gentiles, that one of you has his father's wife.

5:2  And you are puffed up, and have not mourned instead. Let him who has done this deed be removed from among you.

5:3  For I, though absent in body, am present in spirit, and have already judged him who has done this deed, just as though I were present.

5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together, with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

5:5  Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.

5:6  Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

5:7  Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you really are unleavened. For Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us:

5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

5:9  I wrote to you in a letter not to keep company with the sexually immoral:

5:10  Not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the covetous, or swindlers, or idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world.

5:11  But now I write to you not to keep company with any man who is called a brother if he is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an swindler; with such a one do not even eat.

5:12  For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? are you not to judge those who are within?

5:13  Those who are outside God judges. Put out from among yourselves the wicked person.

Chapter 6

6:1  Does any of you dare, if you have a dispute against another, to go to law before the ungodly, instead of before the saints?

6:2  Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

6:3  Do you not know that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?

6:4  If then you have such disputes, set them before those who are least esteemed in the church.

6:5  I speak this to your shame. Can it be that there is not a wise man among you who shall be able to judge between his brethren?

6:6  But brother goes to law against brother, and that before the unbelievers.

6:7  Now, it is utterly a defeat for you that you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather suffer the wrong? why do you not rather allow yourselves to be defrauded?

6:8  Instead, you yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and you do this to your brethren.

6:9  Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexual offenders,

6:10  Nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

6:11  And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

6:12  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not beneficial: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything.

6:13  Food is for the belly, and the belly for food: but God shall destroy both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

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

6:15  Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a prostitute? Never.

6:16  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? for the two, he says, shall become one flesh.

6:17  But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

6:18  Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body; but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

6:19  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own?

6:20  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Chapter 7

7:1  Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

7:2  Nevertheless, to avoid impurity, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

7:3  Let the husband fulfill his marital duty to his wife: and likewise the wife to the husband.

7:4  The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does: and likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

7:5  Do not deprive one another, except by consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer; and then come together again, that Satan may not tempt you for your lack of self-control.

7:6  But I speak this as a concession, and not as a commandment.

7:7  For I wish that all men were as I am. But every man has his proper gift from God, one of this type, and another of that.

7:8  Therefore I say to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them to remain single, as I am.

7:9  But if they cannot contain themselves, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

7:10  And to the married I give this command, not I, but the Lord, Let the wife not depart from her husband:

7:11  But if she does depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let the husband not divorce his wife.

7:12  But to the rest I say, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.

7:13  And the woman who has a husband who does not believe, and if he is willing to live with her, let her not leave him.

7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: otherwise your children would be unclean; but now are they holy.

7:15  But if the unbelieving one departs, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: for God has called us to peace.

7:16  For how do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? or how do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife?

7:17  But as the Lord has assigned to every man, as God has called every one, so let him walk. And this is my rule in all the churches.

7:18  Was any man circumcised when he was called? let him not become uncircumcised. Was any uncircumcised when called? let him not be circumcised.

7:19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping of the commandments of God is what matters.

7:20  Let every man remain in the same situation in which he was called.

7:21  Were you called when a slave? do not let it trouble you: but if you may become free, do so.

7:22  For he who is called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman: likewise he who is called while free, is Christ's slave.

7:23  You were bought with a price; do not become the slaves of men.

7:24  Brethren, let every man, in whatever situation he was in when called, remain there with God.

7:25  Now concerning virgins I have no commandment from the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.

7:26  I think then, in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

7:27  Are you bound to a wife? do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? do not seek a wife.

7:28  But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, those who marry shall have trouble in this life: and I seek to spare you.

7:29  But this I say, brethren, the time is short: from now on let those who have wives be as though they had none;

7:30  And those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;

7:31  And those who use this world, as though not engrossed in it: for the form of this world passes away.

7:32  I would have you be without concern. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

7:33  But he who is married is concerned for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife,

7:34  And his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she who is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

7:35  And this I speak for your own benefit; not to restrain you, but to promote that which is seemly, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.

7:36  But if any man thinks that he is behaving improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is passing the flower of her youth, and if need so requires, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin: let them marry.

7:37  Nevertheless, he who stands steadfast in his heart, being under no compulsion, but having power over his own will, and having determined in his heart that he will keep his virginity, does well.

7:38  So then he who marries does well; but he who does not marry does better.

7:39  The wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she wishes; only in the Lord.

7:40  But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is: and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.

Chapter 8

8:1  Now regarding things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

8:2  And if any man thinks that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

8:3  But if any man loves God, he is known by him.

8:4  Therefore, concerning the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

8:5  For though there are things that are called gods, in heaven and on earth, (and indeed there are many gods, and many lords,)

8:6  But for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we exist through him.

8:7  Yet, not every man has this knowledge: for some are still accustomed to idols, and eat a thing as if it were really offered to an idol; and because their conscience is weak it is defiled.

8:8  But food does not commend us to God: if we eat, we are none the better; if we do not eat, we are none the worse.

8:9  But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

8:10  For if any man sees you, who have knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, shall not the conscience of the one who is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols?

8:11  And so through your knowledge the weak brother is ruined, he for whom Christ died.

8:12  Thus, when you sin against the brethren in this way, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

8:13  Therefore, if food makes my brother fall, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother fall.

Chapter 9

9:1  Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are you not my work in the Lord?

9:2  If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you: for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

9:3  My defence to those who examine me is this:

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

9:5  Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

9:6  Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have the right to refrain from working?

9:7  Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? who plants a vineyard, and does not eat of its fruit? or who feeds a flock, and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

9:8  Do I say these things merely on human authority? or does not the law say the same?

9:9  For it is written in the law of Moses, You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain. Is God concerned about oxen?

9:10  Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes it is written: that he who plows should plow in hope; and he who threshes should thresh in hope of a share of the crop.

9:11  If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

9:12  If others share this rightful claim upon you, do we not have a greater claim? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

9:13  Do you not know that those who perform the temple services eat the food of the temple? and those who serve at the altar share what is offered at the altar?

9:14  In the same way the Lord ordained that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel.

9:15  But I have used none of these things: nor am I writing these things that it should be done for me: for it would be better for me to die, than for any man to make my boast an empty one.

9:16  For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about: for it is a necessity laid upon me; woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

9:17  If I do this willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a commission has been entrusted to me.

9:18  What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, not taking advantage of my rights in the gospel.

9:19  For though I am free from all men, yet I have made myself the servant to all, that I might win the more.

9:20  To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;

9:21  To those who are without the law, as without the law, (though I am not without the law of God, but am under the law of Christ,) that I might win those who are without the law.

9:22  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak: I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

9:23  And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be a partaker in its blessings.

9:24  Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

9:25  And every man who competes is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown; but we an imperishable.

9:26  Therefore, I do not run aimlessly; and I do not fight as one who beats the air:

9:27  But I beat my body, and bring it into subjection: lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

Chapter 10

10:1  For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

10:2  And were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

10:3  And all ate the same spiritual food;

10:4  And all drank the same spiritual drink: for they drank from that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

10:5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

10:6  Now these things are examples for us, so we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted.

10:7  Nor be idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

10:8  Let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

10:9  Nor let us tempt the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.

10:10  Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

10:11  Now all these things happened to them as examples: and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

10:12  Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

10:13  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure; but with the temptation will also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

10:14  Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

10:15  I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say.

10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

10:17  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

10:18  Behold the people of Israel: are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers in the altar?

10:19  What do I say then? that an idol is anything, or that food offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?

10:20  No, but I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I do not want you to have fellowship with devils.

10:21  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

10:22  Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

10:23  All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial: all things are lawful for me, but not all things are constructive.

10:24  Let no man seek his own good, but the good of others.

10:25  Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience sake:

10:26  For the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains.

10:27  If any of those who do not believe ask you to a meal, and you are disposed to go; eat whatever is set before you, without asking questions for conscience sake.

10:28  But if any man says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice to idols, do not eat, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience sake:

10:29  I do not mean your conscience, but his: for why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience?

10:30  If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

10:31  Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

10:32  Do not give offence to the Jews, or to the Greeks, or to the church of God:

10:33  Just as I try to please all men in all things, not seeking my own good, but that of the many, that they may be saved.

Chapter 11

11:1  Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.

11:2  Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and keep the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.

11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

11:4  Every man praying or prophesying, while having his head covered, dishonours his head.

11:5  But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head: for it is the same as if her head were shaven.

11:6  For if the woman will not be covered, let her also be shorn: but if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

11:7  For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

11:8  For the man is not from the woman; but the woman from the man.

11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

11:10  For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

11:11  Nevertheless, in the Lord, the woman is not independent of the man, nor is the man independent of the woman.

11:12  For as the woman was made from the man, even so the man is born from the woman; but all things are from God.

11:13  Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman pray to God uncovered?

11:14  Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man has long hair, it is a shame to him?

11:15  But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

11:16  But if any man is inclined to be contentious, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.

11:17  Now in the following instructions I do not praise you, for you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

11:18  For, first of all, when you come together as the church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

11:19  For there must be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be made evident among you.

11:20  When you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper.

11:21  For in eating every one goes ahead with his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

11:22  What? do you not have houses in which to eat and to drink? or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I will not.

11:23  For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread:

11:24  And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: do this in remembrance of me.

11:25  In the same manner he took the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

11:26  For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

11:27  Therefore, whoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

11:28  Let a man examine himself before he eats of the bread, and drinks of the cup.

11:29  For he who eats and drinks unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body, eats and drinks judgement upon himself.

11:30  For this reason many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

11:33  Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

11:34  And if any man is hungry, let him eat at home; so you do not come together to be condemned. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

Chapter 12

12:1  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you be ignorant.

12:2  You know that when you were pagans, you were carried away by these dumb idols, however you were led.

12:3  Therefore, I want you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

12:4  Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

12:5  And there are various kinds of service, but the same Lord.

12:6  And there are various kinds of working, but it is the same God who works all of them in all men.

12:7  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each man for the common good.

12:8  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

12:9  To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by that one Spirit;

12:10  To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

12:11  But all these things are by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to every man as he wills.

12:12  For just as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body: so it is with Christ.

12:13  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slave or free; and have all been made to drink of one Spirit.

12:14  For the body is not one member, but many.

12:15  If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not part of the body; is it therefore not part of the body?

12:16  And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not part of the body; is it therefore not part of the body?

12:17  If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

12:18  But now God has set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it has pleased him.

12:19  And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

12:20  But as it is, there are many members, yet one body.

12:21  And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

12:22  No, those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are the most necessary:

12:23  And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty,

12:24  Of which our presentable parts have no need: but God has composed the body, giving more abundant honour to that part which lacked it:

12:25  That there should be no division in the body; but that the members should have the same care for one another.

12:26  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

12:27  Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.

12:28  And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that workers of miracles, then those with gifts of healing, helpers, administrators, and those who speak in different tongues.

12:29  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

12:30  Do all have gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

12:31  But earnestly desire the best gifts: and yet I will show you a more excellent way.

Chapter 13

13:1  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal.

13:2  And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3  And if I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

13:4  Love is patient, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not boast, and is not arrogant;

13:5  It is not rude, does not insist on its own way, is not easily provoked, it keeps no account of wrongs suffered;

13:6  It does not rejoice in injustice, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7  Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8  Love never fails: but where there are prophecies, they shall pass away; where there are tongues, they shall cease; where there is knowledge, it shall vanish away.

13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

13:10  But when that which is perfect comes, then that which is partial shall pass away.

13:11  When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

13:12  For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13:13  And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Chapter 14

14:1  Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

14:2  For he who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to men, but to God: for no man understands him; yet in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

14:3  But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

14:4  He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself; but he who prophesies edifies the church.

14:5  I would like for you all to speak in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy: for greater is he who prophesies than he who speaks with tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

14:6  Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, how will I benefit you, unless I shall speak to you some revelation, or knowledge, or prophesy, or instruction?

14:7  Even lifeless things which give sound, such as the pipe or harp, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is played?

14:8  For if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle?

14:9  So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words that are easy to understand, how shall it be known what is spoken? for you shall speak into the air.

14:10  There are, it may be, many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without meaning.

14:11  But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he who speaks shall be a foreigner to me.

14:12  So with you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in edifying the church.

14:13  Therefore, let him who speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.

14:14  For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

14:15  What am I to do? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also.

14:16  Otherwise when you bless with the spirit, how shall he who is ungifted say Amen to your giving of thanks, seeing that he does not understand what you say?

14:17  For you may truly give thanks well, but the other man is not edified.

14:18  I thank my God, that I speak with tongues more than all of you:

14:19  Yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

14:20  Brethren, do not be children in understanding: in evil be infants, but in understanding be men.

14:21  In the law it is written, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people; and yet for all that they will not hear me, says the Lord.

14:22  Therefore tongues are a sign, not for those who believe, but for those who do not believe: but prophesy is not only for those who do not believe, but also for those who do believe.

14:23  Therefore, if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and those who are ungifted, or unbelievers, come in, will they not say that you are mad?

14:24  But if all prophesy, and one comes in who does not believe, or is ungifted, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all:

14:25  The secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is really among you.

14:26  What then, brethren? when you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

14:27  If anyone speaks in an unknown tongue, let there be two, or at the most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret.

14:28  But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

14:29  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

14:30  If anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first hold his peace.

14:31  For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be encouraged.

14:32  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

14:33  For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all churches of the saints,

14:34  Let the women keep silent in the churches: for it is not permitted for them to speak; but they should be subordinate, as the law says.

14:35  And if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a disgrace for women to speak in the church.

14:36  What? did the word of God come forth from you? or has it come only to you?

14:37  If any man thinks he is a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is a commandment of the Lord.

14:38  But if any man does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

14:39  Therefore, brethren, desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

14:40  But let all things be done decently and in order.

Chapter 15

15:1  Now, brethren, I would remind you of the gospel which I preached to you, which you have received, and in which you stand;

15:2  By which you are also saved, if you hold fast to what I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

15:3  For I delivered to you as of first importance that which I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

15:5  And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve:

15:6  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

15:7  After that, he appeared to James; then to all the apostles.

15:8  And last of all he appeared to me also, as to one untimely born.

15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than all of them: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

15:11  Therefore, whether it was I or they, this we preach, and this you believed.

15:12  Now if Christ is preached, that he rose from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?

15:13  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen:

15:14  And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain.

15:15  Yea, and we are found to be false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he has raised not up, if it is true that the dead do not rise.

15:16  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised:

15:17  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins.

15:18  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

15:19  If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

15:20  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who sleep.

15:21  For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

15:22  For just as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward those who are Christ's at his coming.

15:24  Then comes the end, when he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father; after he has destroyed all rule and all authority and power.

15:25  For he must reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet.

15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

15:27  For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is clear that he himself is excepted, who put all things under him.

15:28  And when all things shall be subjected to him, then shall the Son himself be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

15:29  Otherwise, what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? why then are they baptized for the dead?

15:30  And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?

15:31  I assure you, just as I rejoice in you through Christ Jesus our Lord: I die daily.

15:32  If for merely human reasons I fought beasts in Ephesus, what advantage is that to me, if the dead are not raised? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

15:33  Do not be deceived: bad company corrupts good morals.

15:34  Awaken to sobriety, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

15:35  But some will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what kind of body will they come?

15:36  You fool, that which you sow does not come to life, unless it dies:

15:37  And that which you sow is not the body that shall be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat, or of some other grain:

15:38  But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to every kind of seed its own body.

15:39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds.

15:40  There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies: but the glory of the celestial is of one kind, and the glory of the terrestrial is of another.

15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for star differs from star in glory.

15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable:

15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

15:45  And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

15:46  Yet, it is not that which is spiritual that is first, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

15:47  The first man was of the earth, made of dust: the second man is from heaven.

15:48  As was the man of dust, so it is with those who are of dust: and as is the man of heaven, so it is with those who are of heaven.

15:49  And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

15:51  Behold, I tell you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

15:53  For the perishable must put on the imperishable, and the mortal must put on immortality.

15:54  When the perishable has put on the imperishable, and the mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

15:55  O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?

15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law.

15:57  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Chapter 16

16:1  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have directed the churches of Galatia, so you do also.

16:2  Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay aside and save something, as he has prospered, that there need be no collections when I come.

16:3  And when I come, whomever you shall approve I will send with letters, to take your gift to Jerusalem.

16:4  And if it seems fitting that I go also, they shall go with me.

16:5  Now I will come to you, after I pass through Macedonia: for I intend to pass through Macedonia;

16:6  And it may be that I will stay with you a while, or even spend the winter, that you may speed me on my journey, wherever I go.

16:7  For I do not want to see you now just in passing; but I hope to stay some time with you, if the Lord permits.

16:8  But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost,

16:9  For a wide door for effectual work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

16:10  Now if Timothy comes, see that he has no cause for fear while he is with you: for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.

16:11  Therefore, let no man despise him: but send him forth in peace, that he may come to me: for I am expecting him with the brethren.

16:12  Regarding our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to go to you with the brethren: but it was not at all his desire to go at this time; but he will come when he has the opportunity.

16:13  Be watchful, stand fast in the faith, act like men, be strong.

16:14  Let all that you do be done in love.

16:15  I urge you, brethren, (you know that those of the house of Stephanas were the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to serving the saints,)

16:16  That you submit yourselves to such as these, and to everyone who helps in the work, and labours earnestly.

16:17  I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have come: for that which was lacking from you they have supplied.

16:18  For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge such men.

16:19  The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, along with the church that is in their house.

16:20  All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

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

16:22  If any man does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come.

16:23  The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

16:24  My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.