The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to ^tbear with the failings of the ^uweak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us ^vplease his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For ^wChrist did not please himself, but as it is written, ^x“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days ^ywas written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to ^zlive in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

8 For I tell you that ^aChrist became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

10 And again it says,

11 And again,

12 And again Isaiah says,

13 May the God of hope fill you with all ^gjoy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,¹ that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to ^hinstruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of ⁱthe grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus ^jto the Gentiles in the priestly service of the ^kgospel of God, so that ^lthe offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what ^mChrist has accomplished through me to ⁿbring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 ^oby the power of signs and wonders, ^pby the power of the Spirit of God—so that ^qfrom Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, ^rnot where Christ has already been named, lest I ^sbuild on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

22 This is the reason why ^uI have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 ^vI hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem ^wbringing aid to the saints. 26 ^xFor Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For ^yif the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,² I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing³ of Christ.

30 ^zI appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the ^alove of the Spirit, ^bto ^cstrive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be ^ddelivered from the ^eunbelievers in Judea, and that my service ^ffor Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and ^gbe ^hrefreshed in your company. 33 May the ⁱGod of peace be with you all. Amen.

Personal Greetings

16 ^jI commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant¹ of the church at ^kCenchreae, 2 that you may ^lwelcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

3 Greet ^mPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who ⁿrisked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also ^othe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert² to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,³ my kinsmen and my ^pfellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,⁴ and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers⁵ who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 ^qGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

17 ^rI appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who ^scause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own ^tappetites,⁶ and by ^usmooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For ^vyour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and ^winnocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon ^xcrush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 ^yTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 ^zI Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 ^aGaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.⁷

Doxology

25 ^bNow to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept ^csecret for long ages 26 but has now been ^ddisclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the ^eobedience of faith— 27 ^fto the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1 Corinthians

Greeting

1 Paul, ^acalled ^bby the will of God to be an ^capostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those ^dsanctified in Christ Jesus, ^ecalled to be ^fsaints together with all those who in every place ^gcall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

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

Thanksgiving

4 ^hI give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were ⁱenriched in him in ^jall ^kspeech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any ^lgift, as you ^mwait for the ⁿrevealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 ^owho will sustain you to the end, ^pguiltless in the ^qday of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the ^rfellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I appeal to you, brothers,¹ by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no ^sdivisions among you, but that you be united ^tin the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is ^uquarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow ^vApollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the ^wname of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except ^xCrispus and ^yGaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did ^zbaptize also the household of ^aStephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with ^bwords of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is ^cfolly ^dto those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the ^epower of God. 19 For it is written,

20 ^hWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ⁱHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach² to save those who believe. 22 For ^jJews demand signs and ^kGreeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach ^lChrist crucified, a ^mstumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the ⁿwisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise ^oaccording to worldly standards,³ not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose ^pwhat is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 ^qso that no human being⁴ might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him⁵ you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, ^rrighteousness and ^ssanctification and ^tredemption, 31 so that, as it is written, ^u“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,¹ did not come proclaiming to you the testimony² of God with ^vlofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you ^wexcept Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in ^xweakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were ^ynot in plausible words of wisdom, but ^zin demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men³ but in the ^apower of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

6 Yet among the ^bmature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a ^csecret and hidden wisdom of God, which God ^ddecreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the ^eLord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

10 these things ^hGod has ⁱrevealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For ^jwho knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have ^kreceived ^lnot the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, ^mthat we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.⁴

14 ⁿThe natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^ofolly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The ^pspiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 ^q“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Divisions in the Church

3 But I, brothers,¹ could not address you as spiritual people, but as people ^rof the flesh, as ^sinfants in Christ. 2 I fed you with ^tmilk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and ^ustrife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only ^vin a human way? 4 For ^wwhen one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 ^xI planted, ^yApollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s ^zfield, God’s ^abuilding.

10 According to ^bthe grace of God given to me, like a skilled² master builder I laid a foundation, and ^csomeone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation ^dother than that which is laid, ^ewhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the ^fDay will ^gdisclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you³ are ^hGod’s temple and that ⁱGod’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For ^jthe wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ^k“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, ^l“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether ^mPaul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or ⁿlife or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are ^oChrist’s, and ^pChrist is God’s.