1 Corinthians 1:1 i 1 Corinthians 1:10

Paul’s First Letter to the

Corinthians
1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ†
through the will of God, and our brother Sos-
thenes,
2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—
those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God concerning you for the
grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
5 that in everything you were enriched in him,
in all speech and all knowledge—
6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed
in you—
7 so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you until the end, blame-
less in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called
into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord.
10 Now I beg you, brothers,‡ through the name of
our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same
thing, and that there be no divisions among you,
† 1:1 “Christ” means “Anointed One”. ‡ 1:10 The word for
“brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly
translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
1 Corinthians 1:11 ii 1 Corinthians 1:21

but that you be perfected together in the same

mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been reported to me concerning
you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s
household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I
follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,”
and, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except
Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one should say that I had baptized
you into my own name.
16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas;
besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any
other.)
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words,
so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to
those who are dying, 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.
I will bring the discernment of the discerning
to nothing.”*
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made
foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the
world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was
* 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
1 Corinthians 1:22 iii 1 Corinthians 2:1

God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the

preaching to save those who believe.
22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wis-
dom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God;
25 because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men.
26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not
many are wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, and not many noble;
27 but God chose the foolish things of the world
that he might put to shame those who are wise.
God chose the weak things of the world that he
might put to shame the things that are strong.
28 God chose the lowly things of the world, and
the things that are despised, and the things that
don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the
things that exist,
29 that no flesh should boast before God.
30 Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who
was made to us wisdom from God, and righteous-
ness and sanctification, and redemption,
31 that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him
boast in the Lord.”*
2
1 When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come
* 1:31 Jeremiah 9:24
1 Corinthians 2:2 iv 1 Corinthians 2:11

with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaim-

ing to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know anything among
you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in
much trembling.
4 My speech and my preaching were not in per-
suasive words of human wisdom, but in demon-
stration of the Spirit and of power,
5 that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the power of God.
6 We speak wisdom, however, among those who
are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world
nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to
nothing.
7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the
wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreor-
dained before the worlds for our glory,
8 which none of the rulers of this world has
known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have
crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written,
“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t
hear,
which didn’t enter into the heart of man,
these God has prepared for those who love
him.”*
10 But to us, God revealed them through the
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the
deep things of God.
11 For who among men knows the things of a
man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
* 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
1 Corinthians 2:12 v 1 Corinthians 3:4

Even so, no one knows the things of God except

God’s Spirit.
12 But we received not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is from God, that we might know
the things that were freely given to us by God.
13 We also speak these things, not in words
which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy
Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual things.
14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the
things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to
him; and he can’t know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
15 But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and
he himself is to be judged by no one.
16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that
he should instruct him?” * But we have Christ’s
mind.

3
1 Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual,
but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you
weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even
now,
3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there
is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t
you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of
men?
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and an-
other, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly?

* 2:16 Isaiah 40:13

1 Corinthians 3:5 vi 1 Corinthians 3:17

5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but

servants through whom you believed, and each as
the Lord gave to him?
6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the
increase.
7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor
he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are
the same, but each will receive his own reward
according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s
farming, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was
given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a
foundation, and another builds on it. But let each
man be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no one can lay any other foundation than
that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with
gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the
Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire;
and the fire itself will test what sort of work each
man’s work is.
14 If any man’s work remains which he built on
it, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer
loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through
fire.
16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and
that God’s Spirit lives in you?
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will
destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you
are.
1 Corinthians 3:18 vii 1 Corinthians 4:6

18 Let
no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks
that he is wise among you in this world, let him
become a fool that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise
in their craftiness.”*
20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of
the wise, that it is worthless.”*
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all
things are yours,
22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come. All are yours,
23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

4
1 So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and
stewards of God’s mysteries.
2 Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that
they be found faithful.
3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should
be judged by you, or by a human court. Yes, I don’t
even judge my own self.
4 For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not
justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the
hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels
of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise
from God.
6 Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure
transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes,
* 3:19 Job 5:13 * 3:20 Psalms 94:11
1 Corinthians 4:7 viii 1 Corinthians 4:15

that in us you might learn not to think beyond

the things which are written, that none of you be
puffed up against one another.
7 For who makes you different? And what do
you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did
receive it, why do you boast as if you had not
received it?
8 You are already filled. You have already be-
come rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes,
and I wish that you did reign, that we also might
reign with you!
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the
apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death.
For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to
angels and men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise
in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You
have honor, but we have dishonor.
11 Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst,
are naked, are beaten, and have no certain
dwelling place.
12 We toil, working with our own hands. When
people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we
endure.
13 Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as
the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even
until now.
14 I don’t write these things to shame you, but to
admonish you as my beloved children.
15 For though you have ten thousand tutors in
Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ
Jesus, I became your father through the Good
News.
1 Corinthians 4:16 ix 1 Corinthians 5:5

16 I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.

17Because of this I have sent Timothy to you,
who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,
who will remind you of my ways which are in
Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assem-
bly.
18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not
coming to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is
willing. And I will know, not the word of those
who are puffed up, but the power.
20 For God’s Kingdom is not in word, but in
power.
21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a
rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

5
1 Itis actually reported that there is sexual im-
morality among you, and such sexual immorality
as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one
has his father’s wife.
2 You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead,
that he who had done this deed might be removed
from among you.
3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body
but present in spirit, have already, as though I
were present, judged him who has done this thing.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
you are gathered together with my spirit with the
power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 you are to deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 5:6 x 1 Corinthians 6:1

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that

a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new
lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed
Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our
place.
8 Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old
yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wicked-
ness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company
with sexual sinners;
10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners
of this world, or with the covetous and extortion-
ists, or with idolaters, for then you would have to
leave the world.
11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with
anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual
sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer,
or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat
with such a person.
12 For what do I have to do with also judging
those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who
are within?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. “Put

away the wicked man from among yourselves.”*

6
Dare any of you, having a matter against his
1
neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and
not before the saints?
* 5:13 Deuteronomy 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21; 24:7
1 Corinthians 6:2 xi 1 Corinthians 6:12

2 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the

world? And if the world is judged by you, are you
unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels?
How much more, things that pertain to this life?
4 If then you have to judge things pertaining to
this life, do you set them to judge who are of no
account in the assembly?
5 I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there
even one wise man among you who would be able
to decide between his brothers?
6 But brother goes to law with brother, and that
before unbelievers!
7 Therefore it is already altogether a defect in
you that you have lawsuits one with another.
Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be
defrauded?
8 No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud,
and that against your brothers.
9 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will
not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived.
Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexu-
als,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s
Kingdom.
11 Some of you were such, but you were washed.
You were sanctified. You were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our
God.
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all
things are expedient. “All things are lawful for
1 Corinthians 6:13 xii 1 Corinthians 7:2

me,” but I will not be brought under the power of

anything.
13 “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,”
but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But
the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the
Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 Now God raised up the Lord, and will also
raise us up by his power.
15 Don’t you know that your bodies are mem-
bers of Christ? Shall I then take the members of
Christ and make them members of a prostitute?
May it never be!
16 Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a
prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says,
“will become one flesh.”*
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man
does is outside the body,” but he who commits
sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God’s.
7
Now concerning the things about which you
1
wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a
woman.
2 But, because of sexual immoralities, let each
man have his own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband.
* 6:16 Genesis 2:24
1 Corinthians 7:3 xiii 1 Corinthians 7:13

3Let the husband give his wife the affection

owed her,† and likewise also the wife her hus-
band.
4 The wife doesn’t have authority over her own
body, but the husband does. Likewise also the
husband doesn’t have authority over his own
body, but the wife does.
5 Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by con-
sent for a season, that you may give yourselves
to fasting and prayer, and may be together again,
that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack
of self-control.
6 But this I say by way of concession, not of
commandment.
7 Yet I wish that all men were like me. However,
each man has his own gift from God, one of this
kind, and another of that kind.
8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is
good for them if they remain even as I am.
9 But if they don’t have self-control, let them
marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with
passion.
10 But to the married I command—not I, but the
Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11 (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried,
or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the
husband not leave his wife.
12 But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any
brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is con-
tent to live with him, let him not leave her.
13 The woman who has an unbelieving husband,
and he is content to live with her, let her not leave
† 7:3 NU and TR have “what is owed her” instead of “the affection
owed her”.
1 Corinthians 7:14 xiv 1 Corinthians 7:24

her husband.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in
the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in
the husband. Otherwise your children would be
unclean, but now they are holy.
15 Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be
separation. The brother or the sister is not under
bondage in such cases, but God has called us in
peace.
16 For how do you know, wife, whether you
will save your husband? Or how do you know,
husband, whether you will save your wife?
17 Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man,
as God has called each, so let him walk. So I
command in all the assemblies.
18 Was anyone called having been circumcised?
Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone
been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be
circumcised.
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision
is nothing, but what matters is keeping God’s com-
mandments.
20 Let each man stay in that calling in which he
was called.
21 Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t
let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity
to become free, use it.
22 For he who was called in the Lord being a
bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he
who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
23 You were bought with a price. Don’t become
bondservants of men.
24 Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition
he was called, stay in that condition with God.
1 Corinthians 7:25 xv 1 Corinthians 7:34

25 Now concerning virgins, I have no command-

ment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as
one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be
trustworthy.
26 Therefore I think that because of the distress
that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is.
27 Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be
freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
28 But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a
virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will
have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare
you.
29 But I say this, brothers: the time is short.
From now on, both those who have wives may be
as though they had none;
30 and those who weep, as though they didn’t
weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t
rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t
possess;
31 and those who use the world, as not using it
to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes
away.
32 But I desire to have you to be free from cares.
He who is unmarried is concerned for the things
of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but he who is married is concerned about the
things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34 There is also a difference between a wife and
a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the
things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in
body and in spirit. But she who is married cares
about the things of the world—how she may please
her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:35 xvi 1 Corinthians 8:4

35 This I say for your own benefit, not that I may

ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate,
and that you may attend to the Lord without dis-
traction.
36 But if any man thinks that he is behaving
inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past
the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let
him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them
marry.
37 But he who stands steadfast in his heart,
having no urgency, but has power over his own
will, and has determined in his own heart to keep
his own virgin, does well.
38 So then both he who gives his own virgin in
marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her
in marriage does better.
39 A wife is bound by law for as long as her
husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is
free to be married to whomever she desires, only
in the Lord.
40 But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my
judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.

8
1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We
know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge
puffs up, but love builds up.
2 But if anyone thinks that he knows anything,
he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.
3 But anyone who loves God is known by him.
4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sac-
rificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in
the world, and that there is no other God but one.
1 Corinthians 8:5 xvii 1 Corinthians 9:1

5 For though there are things that are called

“gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth—as
there are many “gods” and many “lords”—
6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom
are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus
Christ, through whom are all things, and we live
through him.
7 However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But
some, with consciousness of an idol until now,
eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their
conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8 But food will not commend us to God. For
neither, if we don’t eat are we the worse, nor if we
eat are we the better.
9 But be careful that by no means does this
liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the
weak.
10 For if a man sees you who have knowledge
sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if
he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed
to idols?
11 And through your knowledge, he who is weak
perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
12 Thus, sinning against the brothers, and
wounding their conscience when it is weak, you
sin against Christ.
13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stum-
ble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t
cause my brother to stumble.

1 Am
9
I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I
seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work
in the Lord?
1 Corinthians 9:2 xviii 1 Corinthians 9:12

2 If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am

to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the
Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?
5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a
believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the
brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6 Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not
work?
7 What soldier ever serves at his own expense?
Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit?
Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the
flock’s milk?
8 Do I speak these things according to the ways
of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same
thing?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall
not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.”* Is
it for the oxen that God cares,
10 or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes,
it was written for our sake, because he who plows
ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in
hope should partake of his hope.
11 If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great
thing if we reap your fleshly things?
12 If others partake of this right over you, don’t
we yet more?
Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we
bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance
to the Good News of Christ.
* 9:9 Deuteronomy 25:4
1 Corinthians 9:13 xix 1 Corinthians 9:21

13 Don’t you know that those who serve around

sacred things eat from the things of the temple,
and those who wait on the altar have their portion
with the altar?
14 Even so the Lord ordained that those who
proclaim the Good News should live from the
Good News.
15 But I have used none of these things, and I
don’t write these things that it may be done so in
my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone
should make my boasting void.
16 For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing
to boast about, for necessity is laid on me; but woe
is to me if I don’t preach the Good News.
17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward.
But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship
entrusted to me.
18 What then is my reward? That when I preach
the Good News, I may present the Good News
of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my
authority in the Good News.
19 For though I was free from all, I brought
myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the
more.
20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain
Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the
law,† that I might gain those who are under the
law;
21 to those who are without law, as without law
(not being without law toward God, but under law
toward Christ), that I might win those who are
without law.
† 9:20 NU adds: though I myself am not under the law
1 Corinthians 9:22 xx 1 Corinthians 10:6

22 To the weak I became as weak, that I might

gain the weak. I have become all things to all men,
that I may by all means save some.
23 Now I do this for the sake of the Good News,
that I may be a joint partaker of it.
24 Don’t you know that those who run in a race
all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that,
so that you may win.
25 Every man who strives in the games exercises
self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight
like that, not beating the air,
27 but I beat my body and bring it into submis-
sion, lest by any means, after I have preached to
others, I myself should be disqualified.

10
1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers,
that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all
passed through the sea;
2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea;
3 and all ate the same spiritual food;
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For
they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them,
and the rock was Christ.
5 However with most of them, God was not
well pleased, for they were overthrown in the
wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the
intent we should not lust after evil things as they
also lusted.
1 Corinthians 10:7 xxi 1 Corinthians 10:18

7 Don’tbe idolaters, as some of them were. As it

is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink,
and rose up to play.”*
8 Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some
of them committed, and in one day twenty-three
thousand fell.
9 Let’s not test Christ,† as some of them tested,
and perished by the serpents.
10 Don’t grumble, as some of them also grum-
bled, and perished by the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them by
way of example, and they were written for our
admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have
come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands be
careful that he doesn’t fall.
13 No temptation has taken you except what is
common to man. God is faithful, who will not
allow you to be tempted above what you are able,
but will with the temptation also make the way of
escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say.
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a
sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which
we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who
are many, are one body; for we all partake of the
one loaf of bread.
18 Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t
those who eat the sacrifices participate in the
altar?
* 10:7 Exodus 32:6 † 10:9 NU reads “the Lord” instead of
“Christ”.
1 Corinthians 10:19 xxii 1 Corinthians 10:29

19What am I saying then? That a thing sacri-

ficed to idols is anything, or that an idol is any-
thing?
20 But I say that the things which the Gentiles
sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God,
and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship
with demons.
21 You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and
the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the
table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are
we stronger than he?
23 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all
things are profitable. “All things are lawful for
me,” but not all things build up.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one his
neighbor’s good.
25 Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat,
asking no question for the sake of conscience,
26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”*
27 But if one of those who don’t believe invites
you to a meal, and you are inclined to go, eat
whatever is set before you, asking no questions
for the sake of conscience.
28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to
idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told
you, and for the sake of conscience. For “the earth
is the Lord’s, with all its fullness.”
29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but the
other’s conscience. For why is my liberty judged
by another conscience?

* 10:26 Psalms 24:1

1 Corinthians 10:30 xxiii 1 Corinthians 11:8

30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I de-

nounced for something I give thanks for?
31 Whether therefore you eat or drink, or what-
ever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to
Jews, to Greeks, or to the assembly of God;
33 even as I also please all men in all things, not
seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many,
that they may be saved.

11
1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember
me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even
as I delivered them to you.
3 But I would have you know that the head† of
every man is Christ, and the head‡ of the woman
is man, and the head§ of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his
head covered, dishonors his head.
5 But every woman praying or prophesying with
her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is
one and the same thing as if she were shaved.
6 For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also
be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have
her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to have his head
covered, because he is the image and glory of God,
but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from
man;
† 11:3 or, origin ‡ 11:3 or, origin § 11:3 or, origin
1 Corinthians 11:9 xxiv 1 Corinthians 11:22

9for man wasn’t created for the woman, but

woman for the man.
10 For this cause the woman ought to have au-
thority over her own head, because of the angels.
11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman indepen-
dent of the man, nor the man independent of the
woman, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, so a man also
comes through a woman; but all things are from
God.
13 Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a
woman pray to God unveiled?
14 Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a
man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to
her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.
16 But if any man seems to be contentious, we
have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.
17 But in giving you this command I don’t praise
you, because you come together not for the better
but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when you come together in the
assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you,
and I partly believe it.
19 For there also must be factions among you,
that those who are approved may be revealed
among you.
20 When therefore you assemble yourselves to-
gether, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
21 For in your eating each one takes his own sup-
per first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to
drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and
1 Corinthians 11:23 xxv 1 Corinthians 11:33

put them to shame who don’t have enough? What

shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t
praise you.
23 For I received from the Lord that which also I
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night
in which he was betrayed took bread.
24 When he had given thanks, he broke it and
said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25 In the same way he also took the cup after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in
memory of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks
the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will
be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy
way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he
doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
30 For this cause many among you are weak and
sickly, and not a few sleep.
31 For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be
judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined
by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with
the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come to-
gether to eat, wait for one another.
1 Corinthians 11:34 xxvi 1 Corinthians 12:10

34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home,

lest your coming together be for judgment. The
rest I will set in order whenever I come.

12
1Now concerning spiritual things, brothers, I
don’t want you to be ignorant.
2 You know that when you were heathen,† you
were led away to those mute idols, however you
might be led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no man
speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.”
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the Holy
Spirit.
4 Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the
same Spirit.
5 There are various kinds of service, and the
same Lord.
6 There are various kinds of workings, but the
same God who works all things in all.
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of
the Spirit for the profit of all.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the word
of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge
according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to
another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 and to another workings of miracles, and to
another prophecy, and to another discerning of
spirits, to another different kinds of languages,
and to another the interpretation of languages.
† 12:2 or Gentiles
1 Corinthians 12:11 xxvii 1 Corinthians 12:23

11 But the one and the same Spirit produces all

of these, distributing to each one separately as he
desires.
12 For as the body is one and has many members,
and all the members of the body, being many, are
one body; so also is Christ.
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or
free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the
hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore
not part of the body.
16 If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye,
I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part
of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would
the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where
would the smelling be?
18 But now God has set the members, each one
of them, in the body, just as he desired.
19 If they were all one member, where would the
body be?
20 But now they are many members, but one
body.
21 The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for
you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need
for you.”
22 No, much rather, those members of the body
which seem to be weaker are necessary.
23 Those parts of the body which we think to be
less honorable, on those we bestow more abun-
1 Corinthians 12:24 xxviii 1 Corinthians 13:2

dant honor; and our unpresentable parts have

more abundant modesty,
24 while our presentable parts have no such
need. But God composed the body together, giving
more abundant honor to the inferior part,
25 that there should be no division in the body,
but that the members should have the same care
for one another.
26 When one member suffers, all the members
suffer with it. When one member is honored, all
the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members
individually.
28 God has set some in the assembly: first apos-
tles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle
workers, then gifts of healings, helps, govern-
ments, and various kinds of languages.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Are all miracle workers?
30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with
various languages? Do all interpret?
31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover,
I show a most excellent way to you.

13
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of an-
gels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding
brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have
love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3 xxix 1 Corinthians 14:1

3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and

if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love,
it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy.
Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t
seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no ac-
count of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but re-
joices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, and endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophe-
cies, they will be done away with. Where there are
various languages, they will cease. Where there is
knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come,
then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a
child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become
a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then
face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will
know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these
three. The greatest of these is love.

14
1 Follow after love and earnestly desire spiritual
gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:2 xxx 1 Corinthians 14:10

2 For he who speaks in another language speaks

not to men, but to God, for no one understands,
but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries.
3 But he who prophesies speaks to men for their
edification, exhortation, and consolation.
4 He who speaks in another language edifies
himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assem-
bly.
5 Now I desire to have you all speak with other
languages, but even more that you would proph-
esy. For he is greater who prophesies than he who
speaks with other languages, unless he interprets,
that the assembly may be built up.
6 But now, brothers,† if I come to you speaking
with other languages, what would I profit you un-
less I speak to you either by way of revelation, or
of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching?
7 Even lifeless things that make a sound,
whether pipe or harp, if they didn’t give a
distinction in the sounds, how would it be known
what is piped or harped?
8 For if the trumpet gave an uncertain sound,
who would prepare himself for war?
9 So also you, unless you uttered by the tongue
words easy to understand, how would it be known
what is spoken? For you would be speaking into
the air.
10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of lan-
guages in the world, and none of them is without
meaning.
† 14:6 The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may
also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
1 Corinthians 14:11 xxxi 1 Corinthians 14:21

11If then I don’t know the meaning of the lan-

guage, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner,
and he who speaks would be a foreigner to me.
12 So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual
gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up
of the assembly.
13 Therefore let him who speaks in another lan-
guage pray that he may interpret.
14 For if I pray in another language, my spirit
prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What should I do? I will pray with the spirit,
and I will pray with the understanding also. I
will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the
understanding also.
16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how
will he who fills the place of the unlearned say the
“Amen” at your giving of thanks, seeing he doesn’t
know what you say?
17 For you most certainly give thanks well, but
the other person is not built up.
18 I thank my God, I speak with other languages
more than you all.
19 However, in the assembly I would rather
speak five words with my understanding, that
I might instruct others also, than ten thousand
words in another language.
20 Brothers, don’t be children in thoughts, yet in
malice be babies, but in thoughts be mature.
21 In the law it is written, “By men of strange
languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak
to this people. They won’t even listen to me that
1 Corinthians 14:22 xxxii 1 Corinthians 14:31

way, says the Lord.”*

22 Therefore other languages are for a sign, not
to those who believe, but to the unbelieving; but
prophesying is for a sign, not to the unbelieving,
but to those who believe.
23 If therefore the whole assembly is assembled
together and all speak with other languages, and
unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won’t
they say that you are crazy?
24 But if all prophesy, and someone unbelieving
or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and
he is judged by all.
25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed.
So he will fall down on his face and worship God,
declaring that God is among you indeed.
26 What is it then, brothers? When you come
together, each one of you has a psalm, has a
teaching, has a revelation, has another language,
or has an interpretation. Let all things be done to
build each other up.
27 If any man speaks in another language, let
there be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and
let one interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep
silent in the assembly, and let him speak to him-
self and to God.
29 Let two or three of the prophets speak, and let
the others discern.
30 But if a revelation is made to another sitting
by, let the first keep silent.
31 For you all can prophesy one by one, that all
may learn and all may be exhorted.
* 14:21 Isaiah 28:11-12
1 Corinthians 14:32 xxxiii 1 Corinthians 15:3

32 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the

prophets,
33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace,
as in all the assemblies of the saints.
34 Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for
it has not been permitted for them to be talking
except in submission, as the law also says,*
35 if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask
their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for
a wife to be talking in the assembly.”
36 What!? Was it from you that the word of God
went out? Or did it come to you alone?
37 If any man thinks himself to be a prophet
or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I
write to you, that they are the commandment of
the Lord.
38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
39 Therefore, brothers, desire earnestly to
prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking with other
languages.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

15
1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News
which I preached to you, which also you received,
in which you also stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly
the word which I preached to you—unless you
believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received: that Christ died for our sins accord-
ing to the Scriptures,
* 14:34 Deuteronomy 27:9
1 Corinthians 15:4 xxxiv 1 Corinthians 15:16

4 thathe was buried, that he was raised on the

third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve.
6 Then he appeared to over five hundred broth-
ers at once, most of whom remain until now, but
some have also fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles,
8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong
time, he appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not
worthy to be called an apostle, because I perse-
cuted the assembly of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His
grace which was given to me was not futile, but I
worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me.
11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and
so you believed.
12Now if Christ is preached, that he has been
raised from the dead, how do some among you say
that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
neither has Christ been raised.
14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preach-
ing is in vain and your faith also is in vain.
15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God,
because we testified about God that he raised up
Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the
dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has
Christ been raised.
1 Corinthians 15:17 xxxv 1 Corinthians 15:30

17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is

vain; you are still in your sins.
18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ
have perished.
19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we
are of all men most pitiable.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead.
He became the first fruit of those who are asleep.
21 For since death came by man, the resurrec-
tion of the dead also came by man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will
be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first
fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming.
24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up
the Kingdom to God the Father, when he will have
abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his
enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his

feet.”* But when he says, “All things are put in

subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who
subjected all things to him.
28 When all things have been subjected to him,
then the Son will also himself be subjected to him
who subjected all things to him, that God may be
all in all.
29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for
the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then
are they baptized for the dead?
30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

* 15:27 Psalms 8:6

1 Corinthians 15:31 xxxvi 1 Corinthians 15:42

31 Iaffirm, by the boasting in you which I have

in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human
purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are
not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die.”*
33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships
corrupt good morals.”
34 Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some
have no knowledge of God. I say this to your
shame.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead
raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they
come?”
36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow
is not made alive unless it dies.
37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body
that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or
of some other kind.
38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him,
and to each seed a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one
flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of
fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial
bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from
that of the terrestrial.
41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of
the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one
star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The
body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
* 15:32 Isaiah 22:13
1 Corinthians 15:43 xxxvii 1 Corinthians 15:52

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in [Link] is

sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body. There is a natural body and there is also a
spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, “The first man Adam
became a living soul.” * The last Adam became
a life-giving spirit.
46 However, that which is spiritual isn’t first, but
that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The
second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who
are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly.
49 As we have borne the image of those made of
dust, let’s† also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now I say this, brothers,‡ that flesh and blood
can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the per-
ishable inherit imperishable.
51 Behold,§ I tell you a mystery. We will not all
sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be
changed.

* 15:45 Genesis 2:7 † 15:49 NU, TR read “we will” instead of

“let’s” ‡ 15:50 The word for “brothers” here and where context
allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or
“siblings.” § 15:51 “Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take
notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
1 Corinthians 15:53 xxxviii 1 Corinthians 16:5

53 For this perishable body must become imper-

ishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable body will have be-
come imperishable, and this mortal will have put
on immortality, then what is written will happen:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”*
55 “Death, where is your sting?

Hades,† where is your victory?”*

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work,
because you know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord.

16
1Now concerning the collection for the saints:
as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do
likewise.
2 On the first day of every week, let each one of
you save as he may prosper, that no collections are
made when I come.
3 When I arrive, I will send whoever you ap-
prove with letters to carry your gracious gift to
Jerusalem.
4 If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will
go with me.
5 I will come to you when I have passed through
Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia.
* 15:54 Isaiah 25:8 † 15:55 or, Hell * 15:55 See Hosea 13:14
1 Corinthians 16:6 xxxix 1 Corinthians 16:18

6 But with you it may be that I will stay with you,

or even winter with you, that you may send me on
my journey wherever I go.
7 For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but
I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.
8 But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost,
9 for a great and effective door has opened to me,
and there are many adversaries.
10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you
without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I
also do.
11 Therefore let no one despise him. But set
him forward on his journey in peace, that he may
come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.
12 Now concerning Apollos the brother, I
strongly urged him to come to you with the
brothers, but it was not at all his desire to
come now; but he will come when he has an
opportunity.
13 Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be coura-
geous! Be strong!
14 Let all that you do be done in love.
15 Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house
of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia,
and that they have set themselves to serve the
saints—
16 that you also be in subjection to such, and to
everyone who helps in the work and labors.
17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, Fortuna-
tus, and Achaicus; for that which was lacking on
your part, they supplied.
18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours.
Therefore acknowledge those who are like that.
1 Corinthians 16:19 xl 1 Corinthians 16:24

19 The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and

Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, together
with the assembly that is in their house.
20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another
with a holy kiss.
21 This greeting is by me, Paul, with my own
hand.
22 If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be cursed.† Come, Lord!‡
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

† 16:22 Greek: anathema. ‡ 16:22 Aramaic: Maranatha!

 xli

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that if you CHANGE the actual text of the World English Bible in any way,
you not call the result the World English Bible any more. This is to avoid
confusion, not to limit your freedom. The Holy Bible is God's Word. It
belongs to God. He gave it to us freely, and we who have worked on this
translation freely give it to you by dedicating it to the Public Domain.
Donations to help with the expenses of this project and thus help others
have free access to the Word of God may be made to us, but are not required.
Please see [Link] if you are interested in helping
to fund this work.
This is the 2020 stable text edition of the World English Bible. The main
editing/ updating work is done on all books. Although we may choose to
consider corrections of obvious typos or problems in the text, we are done
with style updates and modernization of the language used in this Bible
translation, preferring to leave the text stable. New updates, if any, will be
posted on [Link] and at [Link]

PDF generated using Haiola and XeLaTeX on 17 Dec 2024 from source files
dated 17 Dec 2024
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