1 Corinthians 1

Greeting

1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, # Ro 1:1 and Sosthenes, # Ac 18:17 our brother,

2To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, # Ro 1:7 with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their Lord and ours:

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. # Ro 1:7

4I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which has been given to you through Jesus Christ. # Ro 1:8 5By Him you are enriched in everything, in all speech and in all knowledge, # Ro 15:14; 2Co 8:7; 9:11 6even as the testimony of Christ # 1Ti 2:6; Rev 1:2 was confirmed in you, 7so that you are not lacking in any gift while waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. # Php 3:20; 2Pe 3:12 8He will strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. # Php 1:6, 10; 1Th 3:13 9God is faithful, # Dt 7:9; Isa 49:7 and by Him you were called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. # 1Jn 1:3

Divisions in the Church

10Now I ask you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak in agreement and that there be no divisions among you. # 1Co 11:18 But be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. # Php 1:27 11For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. # 1Co 3:3; 11:19 12Now this is what I mean: Every one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” # Ac 18:24–27; 1Co 3:4–6 or “I am of Cephas,” # Jn 1:42; 1Co 9:5 or “I am of Christ.”

13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? # Mt 28:19; Ac 2:38 14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, # Ac 18:8; Ro 16:23 15lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16I also baptized the household of Stephanas. # 1Co 16:15, 17 Besides them, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent words, # 1Co 2:1, 13 lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18For to those who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness, # 1Co 1:21 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. # Ro 1:16 19For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” # Job 5:12–13; Isa 29:14 # 1:19 Isa 29:14.

20Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of this world foolish? # Job 12:17; Ro 1:22 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. 22For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. 23But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews # Lk 2:34; Gal 5:11 and foolishness to the Greeks. 24But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God. # 1Co 1:18, 30 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26For observe your calling, brothers. Among you, not many wise men according to the flesh, # 1Co 1:20 not many mighty men, and not many noble men were called. 27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. # Ps 8:2 28And God has chosen the inferior things of the world and things which are despised. Yes, and He chose things which are nothing to nullify the things that are, # Ro 4:17 29so that no flesh should boast in His presence. # Eph 2:9 30But because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, whom God made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. # Jer 23:5–6; 1Co 1:2 31Therefore, as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” # Jer 9:23–24; 2Co 10:17 # 1:31 Jer 9:24.

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1 Corinthians 1

1From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.

2 # Ac 18.1. To God's church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.

3My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

4I never stop thanking my God for treating you with undeserved grace by giving you Christ Jesus, 5who helps you speak and understand so well. 6Now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Christ Jesus is true. 7You are not missing out on any blessings, as you wait for him to return. 8And until the day Christ does return, he will keep you completely innocent. 9God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taking Sides

10My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don't take sides. Always try to agree in what you think. 11Several people from Chloe's family#1.11 family: Family members and possibly slaves and others who may have lived in the house. have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. 12#Ac 18.24. They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter#1.12 Peter: The Greek text has “Cephas,” which is an Aramaic name meaning “rock.” Peter is the Greek name with the same meaning. or Christ.

13Has Christ been divided up? Was I nailed to a cross for you? Were you baptized in my name? 14#Ac 18.8; Ac 19.29; Ro 16.23,24. I thank God#1.14 I thank God: Some manuscripts have “I thank my God.” that I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name. 16#1 Co 16.15. I did baptize the family#1.16 family: See the note at 1.11. of Stephanas, but I don't remember if I baptized anyone else. 17Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using words that sound wise and would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

Christ Is God's Power and Wisdom

18The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work. 19#Is 29.14 (LXX). As God says in the Scriptures,

“I will destroy the wisdom

of all who claim

to be wise.

I will confuse those

who think they know

so much.”

20 # Job 12.17; Is 19.12; 33.18; Is 44.25. What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? 21#Ws 13.1-9. God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.

Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. 22Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. 23But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. 24Our message is God's power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. 25Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.

26My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. 27But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

28What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. 29God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. 30You are God's children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. 31#Jr 9.24. So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord.

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