1 Corinthians 1
1
Apostolic Greeting
1 Paul, called as an apostle* of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our* brother,
2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,* with all those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours:
3 Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving to God
4 I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 because in everything you were enriched in Him, with all speech and all knowledge— 6 just as the testimony of Christ* was confirmed in you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also establish you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.* 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Exhortation to Unity
10 Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe's people,* that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I am of Apollos,” and “I am of Cephas,” and “I am of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided into parts? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptised in the name of Paul? 14 I give thanks to God* that I baptised none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say that you were baptised in my name. 16 (Now I also baptised the household of Stephanas. As for the rest, I do not know whether I baptised any other.) 17 For Christ did not send me on an apostolic mission to baptise, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of discourse, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The Word of the Cross
18 For the word* of 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 intelligence of the intelligent I will ignore.”*
20 Where is the wise individual? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosophical debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of the world, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the preached word* to save those who believe. 22 For indeed, Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called—* both Jews and Greeks—Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God* is wiser than men, and the weakness* of God is stronger than men.
26 For reflect on your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human criteria,* not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.* 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the strong, 28 and God chose the ignoble things of the world and the things that are despised—the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that all flesh may not boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of Him,* you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written: “The one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”*
Notes
1 Greek a called apostle
1 Greek the . In this context, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, thus translating to our
2 Greek called saints
6 Some ancient manuscripts read God
8 Some ancient manuscripts omit Christ
11 Greek by those of Chloe
14 Some ancient manuscripts omit God , while others read my God
18 Or message
19 Quoted from Is. 29:14
21 Greek the foolishness of the preaching
24 Greek the called ones
25 Greek foolish thing
25 Greek weak thing
26 Greek according to the flesh
26 Or For reflect on your state when you were called, brothers, that not many of you were wise according to human criteria, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
30 Greek from Him
31 Quoted from Jer. 9:24
Currently Selected:
1 Corinthians 1: AFINTLIT
Highlight
Copy
Compare
Share
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
