Greetings and Thanksgiving

Chapter 1

Address to a Church.^{[a] 1} Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes^[b] our brother, ² to the Church of God in Corinth,^[c] to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I continually give thanks to my God for you because of his grace that has been granted to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For through him you have been enriched in every way in all facets of speech and knowledge, ⁶ as our testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you.

⁷ Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will keep you steadfast until the very end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, and it is by him that you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church of Corinth^[d]

¹⁰ The Existence of Factions. Brethren, I exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in full agreement with one another and not permit any divisions to arise among you. Be perfectly united in mind and purpose. ¹¹ For I have heard reports from Chloe’s people, brethren, that there are quarrels among you.^[e]

¹² What I mean is that each of you is asserting, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”^[f] or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ now been divided? Did Paul die on the cross for you? Was it in Paul’s name that you were baptized?

¹⁴ I am thankful that I never baptized any of you, aside from Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. ( ¹⁶ I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Aside from those I do not know if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷ The Message of the Cross and Human Wisdom.^[g] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel—and to do so without words of human wisdom lest the cross of Christ be devoid of its meaning. ¹⁸ Indeed, the message 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,

²⁰ Where now are the wise ones? Where are the men of learning? Where are the debaters of this present age? Has God not shown the wisdom of the world to be foolish? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world was unable to come to know him through wisdom, he chose, through the folly of preaching, to save those who have faith.

²² Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we proclaim Christ crucified. This is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles;^{[i] 24} but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ God Has Chosen Those Who Count for Nothing. Consider, brethren, your calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,^[j] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ Rather, God chose those who were regarded as foolish by the world to shame the wise; God chose those in the world who were weak to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose those in the world who were lowly and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were regarded as worthy, ^29 [k]so that no one could boast in the presence of God.

³⁰ It is through him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom of God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written, “If anyone wishes to boast, let him boast in the Lord.”