Personal Greetings

16 I commendc to you our sister Phoebe, a deacona,b of the church in Cenchreae.d 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lorde in a way worthy of his peoplef and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

3 Greet Priscillac and Aquila,g my co-workersh in Christ Jesus.i 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.j

Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convertk to Christ in the province of Asia.l

6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.

7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jewsm who have been in prison with me.n They are outstanding amongd the apostles, and they were in Christo before I was.

8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ,p and my dear friend Stachys.

10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.q

Greet those who belong to the householdr of Aristobulus.

11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.s

Greet those in the householdt of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus,u chosenv in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.

15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s peoplew who are with them.x

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.y

All the churches of Christ send greetings.

17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.z Keep away from them.a 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,b but their own appetites.c By smooth talk and flattery they deceived the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has hearde about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.f

20 The God of peaceg will soon crushh Satani under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.j

21 Timothy,k my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius,l Jasonm and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.n

22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius,o whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus,p who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. [24]e

25 Now to him who is ableq to establish you in accordance with my gospel,r the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mysterys hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writingst by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes fromf faithu—27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.v

1 Corinthians

Paul wrote this very practical book to address the problems of the tumultuous church in Corinth and to give instructions on marriage, disputes, immorality, public worship and lawsuits. These practical lessons are appropriate words of wisdom for Christians still today.

1 Paul, called to be an apostlea of Christ Jesus by the will of God,b and our brother Sosthenes,c

2 To the church of Godd in Corinth,e to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and calledf to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the nameg of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

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

Thanksgiving

4 I always thank my God for youi because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enrichedj in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledgek—6 God thus confirming our testimonyl about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual giftm as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.n 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blamelesso on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.p 9 God is faithful,q who has called your into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.s

A Church Divided Over Leaders

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,a t in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,u but that you be perfectly unitedv in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s householdw have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;x another, “I follow Apollos”;y another, “I follow Cephasb”;z still another, “I follow Christ.”

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?a 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispusb and Gaius,c 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the householdd of Stephanas;e beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize,f but to preach the gospel—not with wisdomg and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

18 For the message of the cross is foolishnessh to those who are perishing,i but to us who are being savedj it is the power of God.k 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”c l

20 Where is the wise person?m Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?n Has not God made foolisho the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the worldp through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to saveq those who believe.r 22 Jews demand signss and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified:t a stumbling blocku to Jews and foolishnessv to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called,w both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of Godx and the wisdom of God.y 25 For the foolishnessz of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weaknessa of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.b Not many of you were wisec by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chosed the foolishe things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are notf—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.g 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,h who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,i holinessj and redemption.k 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”d l

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdomm as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.a 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.n 3 I came to youo in weaknessp with great fear and trembling.q 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,r but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,s 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.t

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,u but not the wisdom of this agev or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.w 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mysteryx that has been hiddeny and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this agez understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.a 9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”b—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—b

10 these are the things God has revealedc to us by his Spirit.d

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughtse except their own spiritf within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spiritg of the world,h but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdomi but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.c 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of Godj but considers them foolishness,k and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spiritl makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”d m

But we have the mind of Christ.n