Chapter 14

Prophecy a Superior Gift

1 aPursue love, yet bdesire earnestly cspiritual gifts, but especially that you may dprophesy.

2 For one who aspeaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one 1understands, but 2in his spirit he speaks bmysteries.

3 But one who prophesies speaks to men for aedification and bexhortation and consolation.

4 One who aspeaks in a tongue bedifies himself; but one who cprophesies bedifies the church.

5 Now I wish that you all aspoke in tongues, but beven more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who aspeaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive cedifying.

6 But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of arevelation or of bknowledge or of cprophecy or of dteaching?

7 Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?

8 For if athe 1bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?

9 So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be aspeaking into the air.

10 There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of 1languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning.

11 If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a 1abarbarian, and the one who speaks will be a 1barbarian 2to me.

12 So also you, since you are zealous of 1spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the aedification of the church.

13 Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

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

15 aWhat is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will bsing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.

16 Otherwise if you bless 1in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the 2ungifted say athe “Amen” at your bgiving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?

17 For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not aedified.

18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all;

19 however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Instruction for the Church

20 aBrethren, bdo not be children in your thinking; yet in evil cbe infants, but in your thinking be mature.

21 In athe Law it is written, “bBy men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord.

22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but aprophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.

23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and 1ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that ayou are mad?

24 But if all aprophesy, and an unbeliever or an 1ungifted man enters, he is bconvicted by all, he is called to account by all;

25 athe secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will bfall on his face and worship God, cdeclaring that God is certainly among you.

26 aWhat is the outcome then, bbrethren? When you assemble, ceach one has a dpsalm, has a eteaching, has a erevelation, has a ftongue, has an ginterpretation. Let hall things be done for edification.

27 If anyone speaks in a atongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must binterpret;

28 but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God.

29 Let two or three aprophets speak, and let the others bpass judgment.

30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent.

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;

32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;

33 for God is not a God of aconfusion but of 1peace, as in ball the churches of the csaints.

34 The women are to akeep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but bare to subject themselves, just as cthe Law also says.

35 If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is 1improper for a woman to speak in church.

36 1Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?

37 aIf anyone thinks he is a prophet or bspiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you care the Lord’s commandment.

38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he 1is not recognized.

39 Therefore, my brethren, adesire earnestly to bprophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues.

40 But aall things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.

Chapter 15

The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

1 Now aI make known to you, brethren, the bgospel which I preached to you, which also you received, cin which also you stand,

2 by which also you are saved, aif you hold fast 1the word which I preached to you, bunless you believed in vain.

3 For aI delivered to you 1as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died bfor our sins caccording to the Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried, and that He was araised on the third day baccording to the Scriptures,

5 and that aHe appeared to bCephas, then cto the twelve.

6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some ahave fallen asleep;

7 then He appeared to 1aJames, then to ball the apostles;

8 and last of all, as 1to one untimely born, aHe appeared to me also.

9 For I am athe least of the apostles, 1and not fit to be called an apostle, because I bpersecuted the church of God.

10 But by athe grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I blabored even more than all of them, yet cnot I, but the grace of God with me.

11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there ais no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;

14 and aif Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified 1against God that He araised 2Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; ayou are still in your sins.

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

19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are aof all men most to be pitied.

The Order of Resurrection

20 But now Christ ahas been raised from the dead, the bfirst fruits of those who care asleep.

21 For since aby a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22 For aas in Adam all die, so also in 1Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ athe first fruits, after that bthose who are Christ’s at cHis coming,

24 then comes the end, when He hands over athe kingdom to the bGod and Father, when He has abolished call rule and all authority and power.

25 For He must reign auntil He has put all His enemies under His feet.

26 The last enemy that will be aabolished is death.

27 For aHe has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “bAll things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.

28 When aall things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that bGod may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

30 Why are we also ain danger every hour?

31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, aI die daily.

32 If 1from human motives I afought with wild beasts at bEphesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, clet us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

33 aDo not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

34 aBecome sober-minded 1as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have bno knowledge of God. cI speak this to your shame.

35 But asomeone will say, “How are bthe dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

36 aYou fool! That which you bsow does not come to life unless it dies;

37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of 1something else.

38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and ato each of the seeds a body of its own.

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

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

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.

42 aSo also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown 1ba perishable body, it is raised 2can imperishable body;

43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in aglory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

44 it is sown a anatural body, it is raised a bspiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

45 So also it is written, “The first aman, Adam, became a living soul.” The blast Adam became a clife-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

47 The first man is afrom the earth, 1bearthy; the second man is from heaven.

48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, aso also are those who are heavenly.

49 Just as we have aborne the image of the earthy, 1we bwill also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Mystery of Resurrection

50 Now I say this, brethren, that aflesh and blood cannot binherit the kingdom of God; nor does 1the perishable inherit 2cthe imperishable.

51 Behold, I tell you a amystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be bchanged,

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for athe trumpet will sound, and bthe dead will be raised 1imperishable, and cwe will be changed.

53 For this 1perishable must put on 2athe imperishable, and this bmortal must put on immortality.

54 But when this 1perishable will have put on 2the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “aDeath is swallowed up in victory.

55 “aO death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of adeath is sin, and bthe power of sin is the law;

57 but athanks be to God, who gives us the bvictory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 aTherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in bthe work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Chapter 16

Instructions and Greetings

1 Now concerning athe collection for bthe saints, as cI directed the churches of dGalatia, so do you also.

2 On athe first day of every week each one of you is to 1put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that bno collections be made when I come.

3 When I arrive, awhomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;

4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.

5 But I awill come to you after I go through bMacedonia, for I cam going through Macedonia;

6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may asend me on my way wherever I may go.

7 For I do not wish to see you now ajust in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, bif the Lord permits.

8 But I will remain in aEphesus until bPentecost;

9 for a awide door 1for effective service has opened to me, and bthere are many adversaries.

10 Now if aTimothy comes, see that he is with you without 1cause to be afraid, for he is doing bthe Lord’s work, as I also am.

11 aSo let no one despise him. But bsend him on his way cin peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren.

12 But concerning aApollos our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

13 aBe on the alert, bstand firm in the faith, cact like men, dbe strong.

14 Let all that you do be done ain love.

15 Now I urge you, brethren (you know the ahousehold of Stephanas, that 1they were the bfirst fruits of cAchaia, and that they have devoted themselves for dministry to ethe saints),

16 that ayou also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.

17 I rejoice over the 1acoming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have 2supplied bwhat was lacking on your part.

18 For they ahave refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore backnowledge such men.

19 The churches of aAsia greet you. bAquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with cthe church that is in their house.

20 All the brethren greet you. aGreet one another with a holy kiss.

21 The greeting is in amy own hand—1Paul.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be 1aaccursed. 2bMaranatha.

23 aThe grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

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