Please Others, Not Yourselves

15 We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.* 2 Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor.* 3 For Christ did not please himself, but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.* 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,* 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors* 9 and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will confess you among the gentiles

and sing praises to your name”;*

10 and again he says,

“Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people”;

11 and again,

“Praise the Lord, all you gentiles,

and let all the peoples praise him”;

12 and again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse shall come,

the one who rises to rule the gentiles;

in him the gentiles shall hope.”*

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

Paul’s Reason for Writing So Boldly

14 I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.* 15 Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God* 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.* 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. 18 For I will not be so bold as to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit,p so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.* 20 Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation,* 21 but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him shall see,

and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”*

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

22 This is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, with no further place for me in these regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you* 24 when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints,* 26 for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.* 27 They were pleased to do this, and indeed they owe it to them, for if the gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things.* 28 So, when I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,q I will set out by way of you to Spain, 29 and I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessingr of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf,* 31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my ministrys to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.* 33 The God of peace be with all of you.t Amen.*

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconu of the church at Cenchreae,* 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus,* 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but also all the churches of the gentiles. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convertv in Asia for Christ.* 6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,w my fellow Israelites who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our coworker 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 fellow Israelite 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, and greet his mother—a mother to me also. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.* 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.*

Final Instructions

17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who create dissensions and hindrances, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them.* 18 For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites,x and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.* 19 For your obedience is known to all; therefore, I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil.* 20 The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.y,*

21 Timothy, my coworker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Israelites.*

22 I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord.z

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.a,*

Final Doxology

25 Now to Godb who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages* 26 but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith*—27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.c

The First Letter of Paul to the

Corinthians

Salutation

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

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lorda and ours:*

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

4 I give thanks to myb God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—6 just as the testimony ofc Christ has been strengthened among you*—7 so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.* 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the partnership of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.*

Divisions in the Church

10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.* 11 For it has been made clear to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?* 14 I thank Godd that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,* 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.* 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel—and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.*

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.* 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has 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, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe.* 22 For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles,* 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards,e 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 what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, 29 so that no onef might boast in the presence of God.* 30 In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,* 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast ing the Lord.”*

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the testimonyh of God to you with superior speech or wisdom.* 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were made not with persuasive words of wisdomi but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,* 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

The True Wisdom of God

6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are being destroyed.* 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, a hidden mystery, which God decreed before the ages for our glory 8 and which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the human heart conceived,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—*

10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.* 11 For what human knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.* 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.j,*

14 Those who are unspiritualk do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.* 15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.

16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.*

On Divisions in the Corinthian Church

3 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ.* 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,* 3 for you are still fleshly. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelingl among you, are you not fleshly and behaving according to human inclinations?* 4 For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not all too human?*

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will receive wages according to their own labor.* 9 For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.*

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Let each builder choose with care how to build on it.* 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.* 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—13 the work of each builder will become visible, for the daym will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.* 14 If the work that someone has built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a wage. 15 If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?n,* 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.* 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

“He catches the wise in their craftiness,”*

20 and again,

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,

that they are futile.”

21 So let no one boast about people.o For all things are yours,* 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.*