The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
1:1 Paul, summoned as an apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s will, and brother Sosthenes,
1:2 To the congregation of God in Corinth, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, together with all those everywhere invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours:
1:3 Wishing you grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4 I continually thank my God for you because of the grace of God bestowed upon you through Jesus Christ;
1:5 That in everything you have been enriched by Him, in all speech and all knowledge;
1:6 Just as the testimony of Christ was established among you:
1:7 So that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1:8 Who will also strengthen you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9 God is trustworthy, by whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1:10 I implore 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 united in the same mind and judgment.
1:11 For it has been reported to me about you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.
1:12 What I mean is this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow 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 So that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
1:16 I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else.
1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to 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 the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
1:20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1:23 But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
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 humans; and the weakness of God is stronger than humans.
1:26 For consider your calling, brethren, that not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1:27 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;
1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
1:29 So that no human being might boast in the presence of God
1:30 It is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1:31 So that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
2:1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling.
2:4 And my speech and my message were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
2:5 So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
2:6 Yet among the mature 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.
2:7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”—
2:10 These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
2:11 For who 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.
2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
3:1 And so, brethren, I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
3:3 For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
3:4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
3:5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
3:8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
3:10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it.
3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
3:12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
3:13 Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
3:14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
3:15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
3:18 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.
3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”
3:20 And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
3:21 So then, let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
3:22 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
3:23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
4:2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
4:6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
4:7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!
4:9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because 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 held in honor,
but we in disrepute.
4:11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless,
4:12 And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
4:13 When slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the earth, the refuse of all things.
4:14 I do not pen these words to bring shame upon you, but as a loving admonition to you, my dear children.
4:15 Though you might have myriad instructors in the way of Christ, you possess not many who are as fathers; for in Christ Jesus, through the gospel, I have fathered you.
4:16 Therefore, I implore you, follow my example.
4:17 For this reason, I have dispatched Timotheus to you, my cherished son, steadfast in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I consistently teach in every congregation.
4:18 Some are inflated with pride, thinking I will not visit you.
4:19 But I shall come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and will discern not the boastful words but the strength of those who are inflated.
4:20 For the realm of God exists not in mere words, but in power.
4:21 What do you prefer? Shall I visit you bearing a rod of correction, or with love and a gentle spirit?
5:1 It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, of a kind not even tolerated among the Gentiles — a man is living with his father’s wife.
5:2 And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you rather have mourned, so that the one who has done this would have been removed from your midst?
5:3 For my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, I have already judged the one who did this, just as if I were present.
5:4 When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5:5 you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
5:6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?
5:7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
5:8 Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
5:10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case, you would have to leave this world.
5:11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
5:12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
5:13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
6:1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?
6:2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
6:4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church?
6:5 I say this to your shame. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
6:6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
6:8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.
6:9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
6:10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
6:11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
6:13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
6:14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
6:16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
6:17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
6:20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
7:1 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
7:2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
7:3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.
7:5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
7:6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.
7:7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
7:8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.
7:9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
7:11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
7:13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
7:14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
7:15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.
7:16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.
7:18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.
7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.
7:20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
7:21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so.
7:22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.
7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
7:24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
7:25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
7:26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
7:27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.
7:28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
7:29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not;
7:30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep;
7:31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
7:32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord.
7:33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—
7:34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.
7:35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord.
7:36 Yet should any man believe he is acting improperly towards his betrothed, if she is beyond the bloom of youth and it so requires, let him proceed as he wishes. He does not sin. Let them wed.
7:37 However, he who firmly decides in his heart, having no compulsion but control over his own will, and has resolved in his heart to keep his betrothed pure, does well.
7:38 Therefore, he who marries his betrothed does well, but he who does not marry her does better.
7:39 A wife is legally bound as long as her husband lives. But if her husband passes away, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, though only in the Lord.
7:40 Yet in my view, she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I believe I also have the Spirit of God.
8:1 Now regarding food offered to idols: we understand that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.
8:2 If anyone imagines he knows something, he does not yet know as he should.
8:3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
8:4 Concerning eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no God but one.
8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’),
8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
8:7 However, not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some, accustomed to idols until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8:8 Food does not bring us closer to God. We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
8:9 Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
8:10 For if someone sees you, who possess knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
8:11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.
8:12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
8:13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
9:1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
9:2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
9:3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.
9:4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink?
9:5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
9:6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?
9:7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?
9:8 Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
9:10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
9:11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
9:12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
9:13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
9:14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
9:15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.
9:16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
9:17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
9:18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
9:19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
9:20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
9:21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
9:22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
9:23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
9:26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
9:27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
10:2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
10:3 They all ate the same spiritual food
10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
10:5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
10:6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
10:7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
10:9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.
10:10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
10:14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
10:15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
10:16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
10:17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
10:18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
10:19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
10:20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
10:22 Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
10:23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is constructive.
10:24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
10:26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
10:27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
10:28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.
10:29 I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?
10:30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—
10:33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
11:2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.
11:3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
11:4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
11:5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.
11:6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.
11:7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
11:8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
11:9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
11:10 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
11:11 Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
11:12 Indeed, as woman originates from man, so man is born through woman, and all things originate from God.
11:13 Consider within yourselves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
11:14 Does not nature itself instruct you that, if a man has long hair, it is dishonourable for him?
11:15 However, if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is provided to her as a covering.
11:16 If anyone seems inclined to be argumentative, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
11:17 In this matter that I am addressing, I cannot commend you, as your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse.
11:18 To begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent, I believe it.
11:19 Indeed, there must also be factions among you, so that those who are genuine among you may become evident.
11:20 When you come together, it is not to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
11:21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry while another is intoxicated.
11:22 What! Do you not have homes for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not.
11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread;
11:24 and after giving thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
11:25 In the same way, after supper, He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28 Let each person examine themselves, and then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on themselves.
11:30 That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number have fallen asleep.
11:31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
11:32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
11:33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, wait for each other.
11:34 If anyone is hungry, they should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
12:2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
12:3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
12:5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
12:6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
12:8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
12:10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
12:11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
12:12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
12:14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
12:15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
12:16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
12:18 But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
12:19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
12:20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
12:22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
12:23 and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
12:24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it,
12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
12:28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
12:30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
12:31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
13:2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
13:5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
13:10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
13:12 At present, we perceive as if peering dimly through opaque glass, but soon, face to face. Now, my knowledge is partial, but then I shall comprehend fully, even as I am fully comprehended.
13:13 Now, these three endure: faith, hope, and love; yet of these, the greatest is love.
14:1 Pursue love earnestly, and be zealous for spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
14:2 For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God, for no one comprehends him; yet in the spirit, he speaks mysteries.
14:3 However, he who prophesies addresses people with words of edification, encouragement, and consolation.
14:4 One who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the congregation.
14:5 I wish you all spoke in tongues, but even more, that you would prophesy. For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.
14:6 Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what benefit shall I bring you, unless I bring some revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching?
14:7 Similarly, lifeless instruments producing sound, whether flute or harp, if they do not produce distinct notes, how will it be known what is played?
14:8 For if the trumpet produces an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?
14:9 So also you, unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will it be understood what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.
14:10 There are many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning.
14:11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner to me.
14:12 So with you, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
14:13 Therefore, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive.
14:15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the mind.
14:16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your thanksgiving, since he does not understand what you say?
14:17 For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
14:18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than all of you;
14:19 yet in the church, I would rather speak five words with my understanding, to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
14:20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
14:21 In the law it is written, “With other tongues and other lips 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 believers but for unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for believers.
14:23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
14:24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all;
14:25 the secrets of his heart are revealed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is indeed among you.
14:26 How is it then, brethren? When you come together, each of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
14:27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
14:28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
14:29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
14:30 If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent.
14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.
14:32 And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the congregations of the saints.
14:34 Let women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says.
14:35 If they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
14:36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
14:37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a commandment of the Lord.
14:38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
14:39 Therefore, my brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
14:40 But all things should be done decently and in order.
15:1 Now I would remind you, brethren, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
15:8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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 toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
15:11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
15:12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15:15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
15:27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.
15:28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
15:29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
15:30 Why are we in danger every hour?
15:31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
15:32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
15:34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
15:35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”
15:36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
15:37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
15:39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
15:40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly 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 is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
15:43 It is sown in dishonor; 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 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
15:47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
15:48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
15:51 Behold, I reveal to you a mystery; Not all of us shall sleep, yet we all shall be transformed,
15:52 In an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise imperishable, and we shall be transformed.
15:53 For this perishable must clothe itself with imperishability, and this mortal with immortality.
15:54 Thus, when this perishable has donned imperishability, and this mortal has embraced immortality, then shall come to pass the word that is written, Death is engulfed in triumph.
15:55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your triumph?
15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law.
15:57 But let us give thanks to God, who bestows upon us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:58 Therefore, my cherished brethren, remain firm, unshaken, perpetually excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your endeavour is not fruitless in the Lord.
16:1 Regarding the collection for the saints, as I have instructed the churches of Galatia, so also you should do.
16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
16:3 And when I arrive, I will send those you approve with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
16:4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go also, they will accompany me.
16:5 I shall come to you after I pass through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia.
16:6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.
16:7 For I do not wish to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
16:8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
16:9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
16:10 If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.
16:11 So no one should despise him. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers.
16:12 Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.
16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
16:14 Do everything in love.
16:15 You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters,
16:16 to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it.
16:17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you.
16:18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.
16:19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
16:20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
16:21 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.
16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Our Lord, come!
16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
16:24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
©This translation from the Greek text is the copyrighted work of churchpedia.org. Any commercial use of this translation is strictly prohibited, and if reposted, it must underline the authority of churchpedia.org and have a clear active link directing to this original page.
Content Disclaimer:
This translation is presented directly from the original Greek text. While faithfulness to the source material is paramount, it’s important to acknowledge that the Bible contains passages depicting violence, discrimination, and other sensitive content reflecting its historical and cultural context. Readers are encouraged to approach the text with respect and understanding, recognizing the diverse interpretations and perspectives it has generated throughout history.