1 Corinthians 3
3
1 HOWEVER, BRETHREN, I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men], but as to nonspiritual [men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates], as to mere infants [in the new life] in Christ [unable to talk yet!]
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it],
3 For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?
4 For when one says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not [proving yourselves] ordinary (unchanged) men?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministering servants [not heads of parties] through whom you believed, even as the Lord appointed to each his task:
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow and [He] gave the increase.
7 So neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but [only] God Who makes it grow and become greater.
8 He who plants and he who waters are equal (one in aim, of the same importance and esteem), yet each shall receive his own reward (wages), according to his own labor.
9 For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God's building. [Isa. 61:3.]
10 According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it,
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
12 But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done.
14 If the work which any person has built on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward.
15 But if any person's work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire. [Job 23:10.]
16 Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God's temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?
17 If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it [with false doctrines] or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him) and that [temple] you [the believing church and its individual believers] are.
18 Let no person deceive himself. If anyone among you supposes that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [let him discard his worldly discernment and recognize himself as dull, stupid, and foolish, without true learning and scholarship], that he may become [really] wise. [Isa. 5:21.]
19 For this world's wisdom is foolishness (absurdity and stupidity) with God, for it is written, He lays hold of the wise in their [own] craftiness; [Job 5:13.]
20 And again, The Lord knows the thoughts and reasonings of the [humanly] wise and recognizes how futile they are. [Ps. 94:11.]
21 So let no one exult proudly concerning men [boasting of having this or that man as a leader], for all things are yours,
22 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter), or the universe or life or death, or the immediate and threatening present or the [subsequent and uncertain] future–all are yours,
23 And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
1 Corinthians 3
3
1And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ. 2I have given you milk to drink, not meat, for ye have not yet been able, nor indeed are ye yet able; 3for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there are among you emulation and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk according to man? 4For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are ye not men?
5Who then is Apollos, and who Paul? Ministering servants, through whom ye have believed, and as the Lord has given to each. 6I have planted; Apollos watered; but God has given the increase. 7So that neither the planter is anything, nor the waterer; but God the giver of the increase. 8But the planter and the waterer are one; but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9For we are God's fellow-workmen; ye are God's husbandry, God's building. 10According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it.
11For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any one build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, 13the work of each shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire shall try the work of each what it is. 14If the work of any one which he has built upon the foundation shall abide, he shall receive a reward. 15If the work of any one shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss, but he shall be saved, but so as through the fire.
16Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17If any one corrupt the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.
18Let no one deceive himself: if any one thinks himself to be wise among you in this world, let him become foolish, that he may be wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, He who takes the wise in their craftiness. 20And again, The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are vain.
21So that let no one boast in men; for all things are yours. 22Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things coming, all are yours; 23and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.