Bible in 90 Days

15 So now what? We who are strong are not just to satisfy our own desires. We are called to carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong. ² Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong. ³ The Anointed One Himself is our model for this kind of living, for He did not live to please Himself. And as the Scriptures declared, “When they insult You, they insult me.”^{[a] 4} You see, everything written in the days of old was recorded to give us instructions for living. We find encouragement through the Scriptures and a call to perseverance that will produce hopeful living. ⁵ I pray that our God, who calls you and gives you perseverance and encouragement, will join all of you together to share one mind according to Jesus the Anointed. ⁶ In this unity, you will share one voice as you glorify the one True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.

⁷ So accept one another in the same way the Anointed has accepted you so that God will get the praise He is due. ⁸ For, as I am fond of saying, the Anointed One has become a servant of the Jews^[b] in order to demonstrate God’s truth. Effectively this confirms the promises He made to our ancestors ⁹ and causes the non-Jewish nations to glorify God for His mercy. As the Scriptures say,

¹⁰ Again the Scriptures say,

¹¹ And again,

¹² Again Isaiah says,

¹³ I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, I am ultimately confident that you are full of goodness, knowledge, and the ability to help and instruct one another. ¹⁵ I have written to you with unflinching honesty on many topics because I do not want you to ever lose sight of the tremendous grace God has given me. ¹⁶ His grace makes me who I am, a minister of the Anointed One, Jesus, called to serve the nations.

The good news of God is the focus of my priestly work. In effect, these nations have become an offering to God, totally acceptable, indeed made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ So in Jesus, the Anointed One, I have reason to celebrate the things I do for God. ¹⁸ I don’t want to be presumptuous, so I will restrict myself to what the Anointed has accomplished through my words and actions, which has culminated in the obedience of the nations. ¹⁹ My words and actions have been rooted in Spirit-empowered signs and miracles. The upshot is this: I have been able to preach the good news of the Anointed One in city after city from Jerusalem all the way around the Mediterranean to Illyricum. ²⁰ I have dreamed of preaching the gospel in places where no one has ever heard of the Anointed so that I do not build on a foundation laid by anyone else. ²¹ But as the Scriptures say,

²² Because of many issues, I have not been able to visit you in the city of Rome. ²³ But my time to serve those here is coming to an end, there’s no room left for me in this region, and I have longed to come to you for many years. So I plan to visit you ²⁴ on my journey to Spain. I am hoping that I will not only see you face-to-face, but that you will assist me in the journey west after I have enjoyed our time together. ²⁵ But right now I must make the journey to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. ²⁶ Those in Macedonia and Achaia decided it was a good idea to share their funds to help the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ I must tell you that they were thrilled to be able to help. They realize that they are indebted to the believers in Jerusalem. If the nations share in the Jews’ spiritual goods, then it’s only right that they minister back to them in material goods. ²⁸ When this work is complete and the funds we’ve collected are delivered, I will make my way to Spain through your grand city of Rome and enjoy some of your hospitality. ²⁹ I’m sure that when I come to you I will come as a blessing and as one fully blessed by the Anointed One.

³⁰ My brothers and sisters, I urgently plead with you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, and by the love of the Spirit to join together with me in your prayers to God for my success in these next endeavors. ³¹ Pray that I will be rescued from those who deny and persecute the faith in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem will meet the approval of all the saints there. ³² If that happens, then my journey to you will be filled with joy; and, if God wills, I can rest and be refreshed in your presence. ³³ I pray the God of all peace will be with you all. Amen.

16 I commend to you our beloved sister Phoebe; she serves the church in Cenchrea as a faithful deacon. ² It is important that you welcome her in the Lord in a manner befitting your saintly status. Join in her work, and assist her in any way she needs you. She has spent her energy and resources helping others, and I am blessed to have her as my benefactor as well.

³ Give my best to Prisca and Aquila; they are not only my colleagues in my profession of tent making, but more importantly they are my fellow servants of Jesus the Anointed. ⁴ They put their lives on the line to keep me safe. Not only do I owe them my thanks, so do all the churches of the non-Jews. ⁵ Send my regards to the church that meets in their house.

Send greetings to Epaenetus. I love him dearly and celebrate his journey to faith because he was the first to believe in the Anointed One in all of Asia.

⁶ Salute Mary for me; she has worked hard for all of you.

⁷ Give my regards to Andronicus and Junias, who are part of my own family and served time in prison with me. They are well known among the emissaries^[h] and have been in the Anointed longer than I.

⁸ Give my best to Ampliatus whom I love in the Lord, ⁹ and greet Urbanus (our fellow worker in service to the Anointed One) and my beloved Stachys.

¹⁰ Send greetings to Apelles, a tried and true believer in the Anointed, and to the entire family of Aristobulus.

¹¹ Do not forget to greet Herodion, another of my relatives, and everyone in the family of Narcissus who belong to the Lord.

¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, faithful laborers in the Lord, and our beloved Persis, who also has accomplished a great deal in the Lord.

¹³ Give my best to Rufus, clearly one of the Lord’s chosen, and also his mother. She’s like a mother to me.

¹⁴ My regards also go to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the brothers and sisters who are along with them.

¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and let me not forget Olympas and all the saints who journey with them.

¹⁶ Greet each other with a holy kiss. All of the churches of the Anointed under my care send their greetings to all of you.

¹⁷ I am pleading with all of you, brothers and sisters, to keep up your guard against anyone who is causing conflicts and enticing others with teachings contrary to what you have already learned. If there are people like that in your churches, stay away from them. ¹⁸ These kinds of people are not truly serving our Lord Jesus the Anointed; they have devoted their lives to satisfying their own appetites. With smooth talking and a well-rehearsed blessing, they lead a lot of unsuspecting people down the wrong path. ¹⁹ The stories about the way you are living in obedience to God have traveled to all the churches. So celebrate your faithfulness to God that is being displayed in your lives—seek wisdom about the good life, and remain innocent when it comes to evil. ²⁰ If you do this, the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet soon. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King, be ever present with you.

²¹ Timothy, my coworker in the spreading of the gospel, also sends his greeting to all of you, as do my kinsmen, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater.

²² I, Tertius, the one who wrote this letter for Paul, greet you in the name of the Lord. ²³ Gaius, my host here as well as patron for the whole church, sends his^[i] best to all of you. Erastus, the city administrator, sends his greetings along with brother Quartus. [²⁴ May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, touch you all. Amen.]^[j]

²⁵ So to the One who is able to strengthen you to live consistently with my good news and the preaching of Jesus, the Anointed, with the revelation of the ancient mystery that has been kept secret since the earliest days, ²⁶ this mystery is revealed through the prophetic voices passed down in the Scriptures, as they have been commanded by the Eternal God. In this time, this mystery is being made known to the nations so that all may be led to faith-filled obedience.

²⁷ To the one true and wise God, we offer glory for all times through Jesus, the Anointed One. Amen.

1 Paul, called out by God’s will to be an emissary^[k] for Jesus the Anointed, along with brother Sosthenes, ² to God’s church gathering in the city of Corinth. As people who are united with Jesus, the Anointed One, you have been set apart for service. You are all called into community to live as saints with all who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed

³ I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, will shower you with grace and peace.

⁴ I am continuously thanking my God for you when I think about the grace God has offered you in Jesus the Anointed. ⁵ In this grace, God is enriching every aspect of your lives by gifting you with the right words to say and everything you need to know. ⁶ In this way, your life story confirms the life story of the Anointed One, ⁷ so you are not ill-equipped or slighted on any necessary gifts as you patiently anticipate the day when our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, is revealed. ⁸ Until that final day, He will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. ⁹ Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed.

¹⁰ My brothers and sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, to come together in agreement. Do not allow anything or anyone to create division among you. Instead, be restored, completely fastened together with one mind and shared judgment. ¹¹ I have heard troubling reports from Chloe’s people that you, my siblings, are consumed by fighting and petty disagreements. ¹² What I have heard is that each of you is taking sides, saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with the Anointed One.” ¹³ Has the Anointed One been split up into many small pieces? Do you think Paul was crucified for you? Were you ceremonially washed through baptism^[l] into the name of Paul? Absolutely not!

¹⁴ Now I am thankful that I baptized^[m] only Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so none of you can falsely declare you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ Now wait, as I think about it, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; if there are others in your community whom I baptized, I cannot recall at this moment. ¹⁷ The mission given to me by the Anointed One is not about baptism, but about preaching good news. The point is not to impress others by spinning an eloquent, intellectual argument; that type of rhetorical showboating would only nullify the cross of the Anointed.

¹⁸ For people who are stumbling toward ruin, the message of the cross is nothing but a tall tale for fools by a fool. But for those of us who are already experiencing the reality of being rescued and made right, it is nothing short of God’s power. ¹⁹ This is why the Scripture says:

²⁰ So now, where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the skilled debater, the best of your time? Step up, if you dare. Hasn’t God made fools out of those who count on the wisdom of this rebellious, broken world? ²¹ For in God’s deep wisdom, He made it so that the world could not even begin to comprehend Him through its own style of wisdom; in fact, God took immense pleasure in rescuing people of faith through the foolishness of the message we preach. ²² It seems the Jews are always asking for signs and the Greeks are always on the prowl for wisdom. ²³ But we tell a different story. We proclaim a crucified Jesus, God’s Anointed. For Jews this is scandalous, for outsiders^[o] this is moronic, ²⁴ but for those of us living out God’s call—regardless of our Jewish or Greek heritage—we know the Anointed embodies God’s dynamic power and God’s deep wisdom. ²⁵ You can count on this: God’s foolishness will always be wiser than mere human wisdom, and God’s weakness will always be stronger than mere human strength.

²⁶ Look carefully at your call, brothers and sisters. By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right? ²⁷ But celebrate this: God selected the world’s foolish to bring shame upon those who think they are wise; likewise, He selected the world’s weak to bring disgrace upon those who think they are strong. ²⁸ God selected the common and the castoff, whatever lacks status, so He could invalidate the claims of those who think those things are significant. ²⁹ So it makes no sense for any person to boast in God’s presence. ³⁰ Instead, credit God with your new situation: you are united with Jesus the Anointed. He is God’s wisdom for us and more. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption. ³¹ As the Scripture says: “If someone wants to boast, he should boast in the Lord.”^[p]

2 My brothers and sisters, I did not pose as an expert with all the answers. I did not pretend to explain the mystery of God with eloquent speech and human wisdom. ² I claimed to know nothing with certainty other than the reality that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who was crucified on our behalf. ³ I was moved to utter despair during my time with you. I would find myself trembling in dread and fear. ⁴ The sermons I preached were not delivered with the kind of persuasive elegance some have come to expect, but they were effective because I relied on God’s Spirit to demonstrate God’s power. ⁵ If this were not so, your faith would be based on human wisdom and not the power of God.

⁶ However, in the presence of mature believers, we do impart true wisdom—not the phony wisdom typical of this rebellious age or of the hostile powers who rule this age. Despite what you may think, these ruling spirits are losing their grip on this world. ⁷ But we do impart God’s mysterious and hidden wisdom. Before the ages began, God graciously decided to use His wisdom for our glory. ⁸ This wisdom has not been grasped by the ruling powers of this age; if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. ⁹ But as the Scriptures say,

¹⁰ God has shown us these profound and startling realities through His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep mysteries of God. ¹¹ Who can see into a man’s heart and know his thoughts? Only the spirit that dwells within the man. In the same way, the thoughts of God are known only by His Spirit. ¹² You must know that we have not received the spirit of this rebellious and broken world but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may experience and comprehend the gifts that come from God. ¹³ We do not speak of these gifts of God in words shaped by human wisdom; we speak in words crafted by the Spirit because our collective judgment on spiritual matters is accessible to those who have the Spirit. ¹⁴ But a person who denies spiritual realities will not accept the things that come through the Spirit of God; they all sound like foolishness to him. He is incapable of grasping them because they are disseminated, discerned, and valued by the Spirit. ¹⁵ A person who walks by the Spirit examines everything, sizing it up and seeking out truth. But no one is able to examine or size up that kind of spiritual person, ¹⁶ for the Scripture asks, “Does anyone know the mind of the Lord well enough to become His advisor?”^[r] But we do possess the mind of the Anointed One.

3 My brothers and sisters, I cannot address you as people who walk by the Spirit; I have to speak to you as people who tend to think in merely human terms, as spiritual infants in the Anointed One. ² I nursed you with milk, as a mother would feed her baby, because you were not, and still are not, developed enough to digest complex spiritual food. ³ And here’s why: you are still living in the flesh, not in the Spirit. How do I know? Are you fighting with one another? Are you comparing yourselves to others and becoming consumed with jealousy? Then it sounds like you are living in the flesh, no different from the rest who live by the standards of this rebellious and broken world. ⁴ If one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” and the other says, “I am with Apollos,” aren’t you like everybody else? ⁵ So who is Apollos really? Or Paul for that matter? We are only servants, agents who led you to faith, and the Lord commissioned each of us to do a particular job.

⁶ My job was to plant the seed, and Apollos was called to water it. Any growth comes from God, ⁷ so the ones who water and plant have nothing to brag about. God, who causes the growth, is the only One who matters. ⁸ The one who plants is no greater than the one who waters; both will be rewarded based on their work. ⁹ We are gardeners and field workers laboring with God. You are the vineyard, the garden, the house where God dwells. ¹⁰ Like a skilled architect and master builder, I laid a foundation based upon God’s grace given to me. Now others will come along to build on the foundation. Each serves in a different way and is to build upon it with great care. ¹¹ There is, in fact, only one foundation, and no one can lay any foundation other than Jesus the Anointed. ¹² As others build on the foundation (whether with gold, silver, gemstones, wood, hay, or straw), ¹³ the quality of each person’s work will be revealed in time as it is tested by fire. ¹⁴ If a man’s work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. ¹⁵ If a man’s work is consumed by the fire, his reward will be lost but he will be spared, rescued from the fire. ¹⁶ Don’t you understand that together you form a temple to the living God and His Spirit lives among you? ¹⁷ If someone comes along to corrupt, vandalize, and destroy the temple of God, you can be sure that God will see to it that he meets destruction because the temple of God is sacred. You, together, are His temple.

¹⁸ Don’t let anyone deceive himself. If any one of you thinks he is wise in matters pertaining to this world, he is going to be really disappointed. In fact, one must be deemed a fool by worldly standards in order to become truly wise ¹⁹ because the wisdom of this rebellious and broken world looks like foolishness when put next to God. So it stands in Scripture, “He catches the wise in their deceitful plotting.”^{[s] 20} And the Scriptures add, “The Lord knows the highest thoughts of the wise, and they are worthless.”^{[t] 21} So there is no reason for anyone to boast in human leaders. You already have it all. ²² So whether it is Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life or death, the present or the future—it all belongs to you. ²³ You belong to the Anointed One, and the Anointed One belongs to God.

4 Rather than power brokers, think of us as servants of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, caretakers of the mysteries of God. ² Because we are in this particular role, it is especially important that we are people of fidelity and integrity. ³ It makes little difference to me how you or any human court passes judgment on me. I even resist the temptation to compare myself to the ever-changing human standard. ⁴ Although I am not aware of any flaw that might exclude me from this divine service, that’s not the reason I stand acquitted—the only supreme judge, our Lord, will examine me in the proper time. ⁵ So resist the temptation to act as judges before all the evidence is in. When the Lord comes, He will draw our buried motives, thoughts, and deeds (even things we don’t know or admit to ourselves) out of the dark shadows of our hearts into His light. When this happens, the voice of God will speak to each of us the only praise that will ever matter.

⁶ Right now, brothers and sisters, the best thing I can do for you is to apply these principles to the situation with Apollos and me. Maybe we can show you the meaning of the saying, “not beyond the things written.” If you learn that, perhaps none of you will swell with pride because you fall into the seductive trap of pitting one against the other. ⁷ Is there any reason to consider yourselves better than others? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If you received it as a gift, why do you boast like it is something you achieved on your own?

⁸ Now let’s see if I have it straight. You suppose that you already have all you need. You already are rich and prosperous. And without us you’ve already begun to reign like kings. To be honest, I wish you did reign so that we could reign with you ⁹ because it seems to me that God has put His emissaries^[u] at the end of the line, like convicts in their final walk to certain death. We have become a spectacle to the rest of the world—to all people and heaven’s messengers. ¹⁰ We are nothing but fools for the cause of the Anointed One while you are wise in Him. Am I right? We are feeble and tired while you are mighty and full of life. You are well respected by others while we’re treated as contemptuous creatures by pretty much everyone everywhere. ¹¹ Up to this very minute, we are famished, we are thirsty, and our clothes are shabby, practically rotted to pieces. We are homeless, hapless wanderers. ¹² But still we labor, working with our hands to meet our needs because, despite all of this, when a fist is raised against us, we respond with a blessing; when we face violence and persecution, we stay on mission; and ¹³ when others choose taunts and slander against us, we speak words of encouragement and reconciliation. We’re treated as the scum of the earth—and I am not talking in the past tense; I mean today! We’re the scraps of society, nothing more than the foulest human rubbish.

¹⁴ I am not telling you all this so that you’ll feel guilty or be ashamed of how you have acted. I am only trying to warn you, just as a father would warn his children. ¹⁵ You may have 10,000 instructors in the faith of the Anointed One, but you have only one father. In Jesus the Anointed I have become your father through my efforts in spreading the good news. ¹⁶ So as your father in the faith, I want to encourage you to live as I have lived. Imitate my life. ¹⁷ This is one of the reasons I sent Timothy to be with you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord. His mission is to remind you of the way I experience life in the Anointed. In all the churches everywhere I go, I teach the same lessons the same way, and I live out those lessons. ¹⁸ But the reality is, some of you have put yourselves on pedestals and live like you are high above the rest—it’s as if you assumed I would not return to confront your misguided pride. ¹⁹ But I am coming. Lord willing, I will be with you soon. Then I will know what power is backing those arrogant folks and their words. ²⁰ The kingdom of God is not a realm of grandiose talk; it is a realm of power. ²¹ So tell me what you want. Should I visit you, rod in hand ready to discipline a crew of self-important people; or should I embrace you, love you, and gently teach you as we celebrate the blessings of God together?

5 Because of my deep love for you, I must express my concern about the report brought to me regarding the lewd and immoral behavior exhibited in your community. This scandal has come to my attention because this kind of thing is unheard of even among the outsiders around us: I understand a man is having sexual relations with his father’s wife. ² You have turned into an arrogant lot who refuse to see the tragedy right in front of your eyes and mourn for it. If you would face these hard realities, the one living in this sin would be removed from the community.

³ Despite the fact that I am not physically present with you, I am there in spirit and already have spoken judgment against the man who has engaged in this conduct. ⁴ When you gather in the name of the Lord Jesus and I am present with you in spirit, and the infinite power of our Lord Jesus is present also, ⁵ I direct you to release this man over to Satan so his rebellious nature will be destroyed and his spirit might be rescued in the day the Lord Jesus returns.

⁶ Your proud boasting in this matter is terrible. Don’t you understand that the tiniest infraction can bring about an unwelcome chain of events? That just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise? ⁷ Get rid of all the old yeast; then you’ll become new dough, just as you are already a people without sin’s leavening influence. You see, the Anointed One is our Passover lamb; He has been sacrificed for us. ⁸ So let the real feast begin. Get rid of all the old yeast, the yeast of hatred and evil. Throw it out so we can feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ In the letter I wrote to you previously, I made it clear that you are not to band together with those who have embraced immoral lives. ¹⁰ Don’t misunderstand; I’m not telling you to hole up and hunker down from the rest of the world. That’s impossible. The world is filled with immoral people consumed by their desire for more; they steal from one another without hesitation and will worship man-made idols with no shame at all. If you attempted to avoid these people, you would have to leave the world itself. ¹¹ What I was saying is that you should not associate with someone who calls himself a brother or sister but lives contrary to all we stand for: committing immoral sexual acts, consumed with desire for more, worshiping tangible lifeless things, using profanity, drinking into oblivion, swindling and cheating others. Do not even sit at the table with a person like this. ¹² Why would I ever attempt to judge those outside the church? Aren’t we called to judge those within the church? ¹³ God judges the outsiders. Your job is this: “Expel the wicked from your own community.”^[v]

6 Here’s another troubling issue. If you have a grievance against another follower of Jesus, do you have the audacity to bring that brother or sister into the civil courts rather than submitting yourselves to the authority of God’s people? ² Don’t you know that His people are destined to judge the world? If you have the authority to judge the world, can’t you handle these small matters and render a better judgment than the civil courts? ³ Further, don’t you know that we are destined to judge the heavenly messengers? So if we are to exercise authority in the heavenly realms, can’t we take care of the conflicts that arise in this life? ⁴ To put it another way, if you are asking the courts to adjudicate your mundane conflicts, aren’t you placing your problems under the authority of judges who have no standing within the church? ⁵ My words should embarrass you. Is it possible that you have no one among you with the wisdom to mediate between two siblings? ⁶ So one brother sues another brother in public and drags the dispute before outsiders who have no allegiance to Jesus?

⁷ The truth is that these public lawsuits cause all of you to lose and lose big. Wouldn’t it be better to be ripped off or defrauded? ⁸ In fact, you are guilty of ripping off and defrauding your own brothers and sisters, not the other way around.

^9-10 Do you need reminding that the unjust have no share in the blessings of the kingdom of God? Do not be misled. A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God’s coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual deviancy, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling. ¹¹ Some of you used to live in these ways, but you are different now; you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God.

¹² I can hear some of you saying, “For me, all things are permitted.” But face the facts: all things are not beneficial. So you say, “For me, all things are permitted.” Here’s my response: I will not allow anything to control me. ¹³ Another chimes in: “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” I suppose so, but a day will come when God will dispense with both food and the stomach. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body. ¹⁴ God has raised the Lord Jesus from death, but He won’t stop there. His dynamic power will raise us up from the grips of death as well. ¹⁵ Don’t you realize that your bodies are members of the Anointed One? So should I take the members of the Anointed One and unite them to a prostitute? This illicit union should never take place! ¹⁶ Don’t you understand that when your body is joined with a prostitute, the two of you have become one body? For as it says, “The two come together as one flesh.”^{[w] 17} But when you are joined with the Lord, you become one spirit with Him. ¹⁸ Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. ¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. ²⁰ You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God!

7 Now to the topics you raised in your last letter. Some have said, “It is better for a man to abstain from having sex with his wife.” ² Well, I disagree. Because of our tendency to embrace immoralities, each man should feel free to join together in sexual intimacy with his own wife, and each woman should join with her own husband. ³ Husbands and wives have reciprocal duties. Each husband has the responsibility to meet his wife’s sexual desires, and each wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ In marriage neither the husband nor the wife should act as if his or her body is private property—your bodies now belong to one another, and together they are whole. ⁵ So do not withhold sex from one another, unless both of you have agreed to devote a certain period of time to prayer. When the agreed time is over, come together again so that Satan will not tempt you when you are short on self-control. ⁶ I am trying to encourage you and give you some wise counsel, so don’t take this advice as a command. ⁷ I wish that all of you could live as I do, unmarried. But the truth is all people are different, each gifted by God in various and dissimilar ways.

⁸ To those who are unmarried or widowed, here’s my advice: it is a good thing to stay single as I do. ⁹ If they do not have self-control, they should go ahead and get married. It is much better to marry than to be obsessed by sexual urges.

¹⁰ To those who are married, here’s my command (to be clear, this isn’t merely my opinion; it comes from the teaching of the Lord Jesus): it is not right for a wife to leave her husband. ¹¹ If she does, she must either remain single or reconcile with her husband, but she should not marry someone else. Likewise, the husband should not divorce his wife.

^12-13 To everyone else, here’s my counsel (this is not a direct command from the Lord; it is my opinion): if a brother has a wife who does not believe Jesus’ teachings and the truth of His resurrection, he is to stay with her as long as she is willing to live with him. The same is true for any sister; you should not leave your husband even if he has no allegiance to Jesus. ¹⁴ Here’s the reason: An unbelieving husband is consecrated by that union—touched by the grace of God through his believing wife—and the same is true when the husband is a man of faith and he’s wed to an unbelieving wife. His wife is consecrated through their union. If this weren’t so, your children wouldn’t be pure; but as it is when faith enters in, God sets apart these children to be used uniquely for His purposes. ¹⁵ If the unbelieving spouse decides the marriage is over, then let him or her go; the believing partner is freed from the marital vows because God has called you to peace. ¹⁶ Remember that anything is possible, so the life you lead and the love you show under this strain may be what finally liberates your partner.

¹⁷ So here is my instruction to all the churches: each must live with the gifts the Lord Jesus grants you and with the call God offers you. ¹⁸ When you heard the voice of Jesus, what were your circumstances? Were you living as a circumcised Jew? If so, then don’t try to undo your circumcision. Were you living as if you were an uncircumcised outsider? If so, you don’t need to become a Jew. ¹⁹ You see, whether you are circumcised or not—these outward signs aren’t the issue—the way you live out the commands of God is what really matters. ²⁰ It is important for all people to live out faith in the circumstances they know.

²¹ Did you hear God’s voice while you were a slave? Don’t be concerned. (But if the opportunity comes to gain your freedom, then take it.) ²² For the slave who hears the Lord’s call is set free to belong to the Lord. In the same way, the so-called free person is called to become a slave of the Anointed One. ²³ A high price has been paid for your freedom, so don’t devalue God’s investment by becoming a slave to people. ²⁴ My brothers and sisters, each of you should remain in whatever external circumstances you were in when God called you.

²⁵ Now when it comes to unmarried young women, I do not have a command from our Lord. The best I can do is to give you my advice as a trustworthy brother who knows the Lord’s mercy well. ²⁶ Because of the challenging times we live in, I think the best plan is to stay as you are. ²⁷ If you are married, don’t divorce. If you are single, there is no need to get married. ²⁸ But if you decide to get married, this is not a sin; there is nothing wrong with a young woman taking a husband, but know that marriage is not easy and those who marry will face hard times. I am only trying to protect you. ²⁹ But hear what I say, brothers and sisters: the time is short and growing shorter. So for the time remaining, even if you have wives, live with the undivided focus of those who do not have them. ³⁰ Those who cry should live as those who have no tears. Those who rejoice should live as those who have no pleasure. Those who buy things should live as those who do not possess anything. ³¹ If you make use of this rebellious and broken world, live as if you have no use for it—because the form of this world is fading away.

³² My primary desire is for you to be free from the worries that plague humanity. A single man can focus on the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord, ³³ but a married man has to worry about the details of the here and now and how to please his wife. ³⁴ A married man will always have divided loyalties. The same idea is true for a young unmarried woman. She concerns herself only with the work of the Lord and how to dedicate herself entirely, body and spirit, to her Lord. On the other hand, a married woman has vast responsibilities for her family and a desire to please her husband. ³⁵ I am not trying to give you more rules and regulations. I only want to give you advice that is fitting and helpful. I want to help you live lives of faithful devotion to the Lord without any distraction.

³⁶ But I have this advice for every single man: If anyone thinks he is behaving badly toward his fiancée, if his desires prove to be too much for him, and if he feels they ought to marry, then he should do what he wants; it is not wrong to marry her. It is better that we let men and women in this situation do as they wish and get married. ³⁷ If a man has no compulsion and chooses not to marry his fiancée, but commits himself to live a celibate life for the sake of following God and has the strength to live out his conviction, then he is doing a good thing. ³⁸ So those who marry do a good thing, and they will share in a holy blessing; those who do not marry do an even better thing because they are part of an even greater blessing in the service of God.

³⁹ A wife should stay by her husband’s side all of his life. But if he dies, she is free to marry any man she wishes as long as it is in the Lord. ⁴⁰ You can likely guess that in my opinion this woman would be better off to remain single, and I think that I have this insight from God’s Spirit.

8 As to the concern of eating food dedicated to idols: we know that all of us have knowledge, but knowledge can be risky. Knowledge promotes overconfidence and worse arrogance, but charity of the heart (love, that is) looks to build up others. ² Just because a person presumes to have some bit of knowledge, that person doesn’t necessarily have the right kind of knowledge. ³ But if someone loves God, it is certain that God has already known that one.

⁴ So to address your concerns about eating food offered to idols, let me start with what we know. An idol is essentially nothing, as there is no other God but the One. ⁵ And even if the majority believes there are many so-called gods in heaven and on earth (certainly many worship such “gods” and “lords”), this is not our view. ⁶ For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives. And there is one Lord—Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King; through Him all things were created, and by Him we are redeemed.

⁷ But this knowledge is not in everyone. Up until now, some have been so familiar with idols and what goes on in the temples that when they eat meat that has been offered first to some idol, their weak consciences are polluted. This is the issue. ⁸ Again, here’s what we know: what we eat will not bring us closer to God—we gain nothing in feasting and lose nothing by fasting. ⁹ Now let me warn you: don’t let your newfound liberty cause those who don’t know this to fall face-first. ¹⁰ Let’s say a person (someone who knows of Jesus) sees you eating in the temple of an idol; and because the person with a weaker conscience is still unsure of things, he becomes confident, follows your lead, and eats idol food. ¹¹ Now, because of your knowledge on display in your conduct, the weaker brother or sister—for whom the Anointed One died—is destroyed! Ruined! ¹² What’s more, by living according to your knowledge, you have sinned against these brothers and sisters and wounded their weak consciences—and because you sinned against them, you have sinned against the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

¹³ So if any type of food is an issue that causes my brothers and sisters to fall away from God, then God forbid I should ever eat it again so that I would never be the crack, the rise, or the rock on the road that causes them to stumble.

9 Am I not truly free? Am I not an emissary^[x] of the Liberating King? Have I not personally encountered Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work, my mission in the Lord? ² Even if others don’t recognize that I am His emissary,^[y] at least you do because you are the seal, the living proof that the Lord commissioned me to be His representative.

³ Let me speak in my own defense against those keeping themselves busy picking me apart. ⁴ Have we lost the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Have we lost the right to bring along our wives, our sisters in Jesus? Other emissaries travel with their wives, and so do the brothers of our Lord, not to mention Cephas. ⁶ Is it just Barnabas and I who have lost the right to earn a living? ⁷ Is a soldier in combat required to pay his own salary? Who would plant a vineyard and not enjoy one grape from it? Who would care for and nurture a flock but never taste the fresh milk?

⁸ These ideas aren’t based on merely human notions; the law says these same things. ⁹ In Moses’ law, it is written: “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out your grain.”^[z] Is God’s concern here limited to oxen, ¹⁰ or does He speak here ultimately for our benefit? These things were written for us, so as the plowman plows and the worker gathers, they can labor with the hopeful expectation that they, too, will share in the good harvest. ¹¹ The same principle applies here: Is it too much to ask that we would be compensated materially for planting life- and world-changing spiritual realities? ¹² If you have rightfully supported others, shouldn’t we deserve your support even more?

But we have never insisted on this right; instead, we would rather put up with anything than to put some obstacle in the way that prevents even one person from experiencing the good news of the Anointed One. ¹³ Perhaps it has escaped your notice that leaders and priests of the temple make their livings off the temple and that those who tend the altar eat their dinners from part of the sacrifices. ¹⁴ So it shouldn’t be a stretch that the Lord has arranged for preachers of the gospel to make a living by those who have embraced and been liberated by the gospel.

¹⁵ Despite what I’ve said here, I have never staked a claim for such things, and I have no intention to start now; that’s not why I’m writing. I would rather die than have anyone (including me) invalidate my right to boast. ¹⁶ You see, if I preach the good news, it’s nothing to brag about. This urgency, this necessity has been laid on me. In fact, if I were to stop sharing this good news, I’d be in big trouble. ¹⁷ You see, my story is different. I didn’t volunteer for this. Had I volunteered to preach the good news, then I would deserve a wage, a reward, or something. But I didn’t choose this. God chose me and entrusted me with this mission. ¹⁸ You’re looking for the catch. I know you’re wondering, “What reward is he talking about?” My reward, besides being with you and knowing you, is sharing the good news of the Anointed One with you free and clear. That means I don’t insist on all my rights for support in the good news; ¹⁹ that also means that I am free of obligations to all people. And, even though no one (except Jesus) owns me, I have become a slave by my own free will to everyone in hopes that I would gather more believers. ²⁰ When around Jews, I emphasize my Jewishness in order to win them over. When around those who live strictly under the law, I live by its regulations—even though I have a different perspective on the law now—in order to win them over. ²¹ In the same way, I’ve made a life outside the law to gather those who live outside the law (although I personally abide by and live under the Anointed One’s law). ²² I’ve been broken, lost, depressed, oppressed, and weak that I might find favor and gain the weak. I’m flexible, adaptable, and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end I can use every means at my disposal to offer them salvation. ²³ I do it all for the gospel and for the hope that I may participate with everyone who is blessed by the proclamation of the good news.

²⁴ We all know that when there’s a race, all the runners bolt for the finish line, but only one will take the prize. When you run, run for the prize! ²⁵ Athletes in training are very strict with themselves, exercising self-control over desires, and for what? For a wreath that soon withers or is crushed or simply forgotten. That is not our race. We run for the crown that we will wear for eternity. ²⁶ So I don’t run aimlessly. I don’t let my eyes drift off the finish line. When I box, I don’t throw punches in the air. ²⁷ I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after all this, after I have brought the gospel to others, I will still be qualified to win the prize.

10 I wouldn’t want you to be ignorant of our history, brothers and sisters. Our ancestors were once safeguarded under a miraculous cloud in the wilderness and brought safely through the sea. ² Enveloped in water by cloud and by sea, they were, you might say, ritually cleansed into Moses through baptism.^{[aa] 3} Together they were sustained supernaturally: they all ate the same spiritual food, manna; ⁴ and they all drank the same spiritual water, flowing from a spiritual rock that was always with them, for the rock was the Anointed One, our Liberating King. ⁵ Despite all of this, they were punished in the wilderness because God was unhappy with most of them.

⁶ Look at what happened to them as an example; it’s right there in the Scriptures so that we won’t make the same mistakes and hunger after evil as they did. So here’s my advice: ⁷ don’t degrade yourselves by worshiping anything less than the living God as some of them did. Remember it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and then rose up in dance and play.”^{[ab] 8} We must be careful not to engage in sexual sins as some of them did. In one day, 23,000 died because of sin.^{[ac] 9} None of us must test the limits of the Lord’s patience. Some of the Israelites did, and serpents bit them and killed them. ¹⁰ You need to stop your groaning and whining. Remember the story. Some of them complained, and the messenger of death came for them and destroyed them. ¹¹ All these things happened for a reason: to sound a warning. They were written down and passed down to us to teach us. They were meant especially for us because the beginning of the end is happening in our time. ¹² So let even the most confident believers remember their examples and be very careful not to fall as some of them did.

¹³ Any temptation you face will be nothing new. But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. But He always provides a way of escape so that you will be able to endure and keep moving forward. ¹⁴ So then, my beloved friends, run from idolatry in any form. ¹⁵ As wise as I know you are, understand clearly what I am saying and determine the right course of action. ¹⁶ When we give thanks and share the cup of blessing, are we not sharing in the blood of the Anointed One? When we give thanks and break bread, are we not sharing in His body? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we, though many, are also one body since we all share one bread. ¹⁸ Look no further than Israel and the temple practices, and you’ll see what I mean. Isn’t it true that those who eat sacrificial foods are communing at the altar, sharing its benefits? ¹⁹ So what does all this mean? I’m not suggesting that idol food itself has any special qualities or that an idol itself possesses any special powers, ²⁰ but I am saying that the outsiders’ sacrifices are actually offered to demons, not to God. So if you feast upon this food, you are feasting with demons—I don’t want you involved with demons! ²¹ You can’t hold the holy cup of the Lord in one hand and the cup of demons in the other. You can’t share in the Lord’s table while picking off the altar of demons. ²² Are we trying to provoke the Lord Jesus? Do we think it’s a good idea to stir up His jealousy? Do we have ridiculous delusions about matching or even surpassing His power?

²³ There’s a slogan often quoted on matters like this: “All things are permitted.” Yes, but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted,” they say. Yes, but not all things build up and strengthen others in the body. ²⁴ We should stop looking out for our own interests and instead focus on the people living and breathing around us. ²⁵ Feel free to eat any meat sold in the market without your conscience raising questions about scruples ²⁶ because “the earth and all that’s upon it belong to the Lord.”^[ad]

²⁷ So if some unbelievers invite you to dinner and you want to go, feel free to eat whatever they offer you without raising questions about conscience. ^28-29 But if someone says, “This is meat from the temple altar, a sacrifice to god so-and-so,” then do not eat it. Not so much because of your own conscience [because the earth and everything on it belongs to the Lord],^[ae] but out of consideration for the conscience of the other fellow who told you about it. So you ask, “Why should I give up my freedom to accommodate the scruples of another?” ³⁰ or, “If I am eating with gratitude to God, why am I insulted for eating food that I have properly given thanks for?” These are good questions.

³¹ Whatever you do—whether you eat or drink or not—do it all to the glory of God! ³² Do not offend Jews or Greeks or any part of the church of God for that matter. ³³ Consider my example: I strive to please all people in all my actions and words—but don’t think I am in this for myself—their rescued souls are the only profit.

11 So imitate me, watch my ways, follow my example, just as I, too, always seek to imitate the Anointed One.

² I must say how pleased I am to hear that you remember me in everything and continue to hold on to the traditions I have passed on to you. ³ But it is important that you understand this about headship: the Anointed One is the head of every man, the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of the Anointed. ⁴ Knowing this, any man wearing a covering over his head while praying or prophesying in your gathering disgraces his head, Jesus. ^5-6 On the other hand, any woman—I mean, of course, a married woman—not wearing a veil over her head while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, her husband. It wouldn’t be much different than if she walked into worship with her head shaved. For if a woman isn’t going to be veiled properly, she ought to go ahead and cut off her hair; but if it brings shame to the woman and her husband to have all her hair cut off or her head shaved clean, then by all means let her wear a veil.

⁷ Here’s the distinction: man is created in God’s image and for His glory, so he should not cover his head. But a wife is the glory of her husband. She ought to be covered. ⁸ Man, you remember, was not fashioned from the body of a woman. But woman, though she was sculpted by the hands of God, was fashioned from the bones and flesh of man.^{[af] 9} Furthermore, don’t forget that man was not created for woman; woman was created for man to be his helper in everything. ¹⁰ This means that a wife should wear a veil on her head as a sign she is under authority, especially when gathering in the company of heavenly messengers. ¹¹ Regardless of how it all began, husbands and wives should recognize they are not independent; ¹² for just as woman was pulled from the side of man, man is pulled from the womb of woman. In a similar way, all things and all people share the same ultimate source, God.

¹³ Judge for yourselves: when you gather to worship, is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God without covering her head? ¹⁴ Consider the ways of nature: doesn’t nature itself teach you that a man who wears his hair long invites shame and dishonor to cover him? ¹⁵ But doesn’t nature also teach that when a woman has long hair, it is her glory? It radiates her beauty and acts as a natural veil. ¹⁶ If you feel like debating more on this, just know that we, along with all other churches of God, have adopted the same custom.

¹⁷ On this next matter, I wish I could applaud you; but I can’t because your gatherings have become counterproductive, making things worse for the community rather than better. ¹⁸ Let me start with this: I hear that your gatherings are polarizing the community; and to be honest, this doesn’t surprise me. ¹⁹ I’ve accepted the fact that factions are sometimes useful and even necessary so that those who are authentic and those who are counterfeit may be recognized. ²⁰ This distinction is obvious when you come together because it is not the Lord’s Supper you are eating at all. ²¹ When it’s time to eat, some hastily dig right in; but look—some have more than others: over there someone is hungry, and over here someone is drunk! ²² What is going on? If a self-centered meal is what you want, can’t you eat and drink at home? Do you have so little respect for God’s people and this community that you shame the poor at the Lord’s table? I don’t even know what to say to you! Are you looking for my approval? You won’t find it.

²³ I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; ²⁴ and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” ²⁵ After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, “This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” ²⁶ Every time you taste this bread and every time you place the cup to your mouths and drink, you are declaring the Lord’s death, which is the ultimate expression of His faithfulness and love, until He comes again.

²⁷ So if someone takes of this bread and drinks from the Lord’s cup improperly—as you are doing—he is guilty of violating the body and blood of our Lord. ²⁸ Examine yourselves first. Then you can properly approach the table to eat the bread and drink from the cup; ²⁹ because otherwise, if you eat and drink without properly discerning the significance of the Lord’s body, then you eat and drink a mouthful of judgment upon yourself. ³⁰ Because of this violation, many in your community are now sick and weak; some have even died. ³¹ But if we took care to judge ourselves, then we wouldn’t have to worry about being judged by another. ³² In fact, the Lord’s hand of judgment is correcting us so that we don’t suffer the same fate as the rest of the rebellious world: condemnation.

³³ From now on, brothers and sisters, this is what I want you to do: when you come together to eat at the Lord’s table, wait for each other. ³⁴ If someone is hungry and can’t wait, he should go home and eat. In that way, your gatherings won’t result in God’s judgment. The rest of the instructions I have for you will have to wait until I come.

12 Now let me turn to some issues about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters. There’s much you need to learn.

² Remember the way you used to live when you were pagans apart from God? You were engrossed—enchanted with voiceless idols, led astray by mere images carved by human hands. ³ With that in mind, I want you to understand that no one saying “Jesus is cursed” is operating under God’s Spirit, and no one confessing “Jesus is Lord” can do so without the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.

⁴ Now there are many kinds of grace gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. ⁵ There are many different ways to serve, but they’re all directed by the same Lord. ⁶ There are many amazing working gifts in the church, but it is the same God who energizes them all in all who have the gifts.

⁷ Each believer has received a gift that manifests the Spirit’s power and presence. That gift is given for the good of the whole community. ⁸ The Spirit gives one person a word of wisdom, but to the next person the same Spirit gives a word of knowledge. ⁹ Another will receive the gift of faith by the same Spirit, and still another gifts of healing—all from the one Spirit. ¹⁰ One person is enabled by the Spirit to perform miracles, another to prophesy, while another is enabled to distinguish those prophetic spirits. The next one speaks in various kinds of unknown languages, while another is able to interpret those languages. ¹¹ One Spirit works all these things in each of them individually as He sees fit.

¹² Just as a body is one whole made up of many different parts, and all the different parts comprise the one body, so it is with the Anointed One. ¹³ We were all ceremonially washed through baptism^[ag] together into one body by one Spirit. No matter our heritage—Jew or Greek, insider or outsider—no matter our status—oppressed or free—we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Here’s what I mean: the body is not made of one large part but of many different parts. ¹⁵ Would it seem right for the foot to cry, “I am not a hand, so I couldn’t be part of this body”? Even if it did, it wouldn’t be any less joined to the body. ¹⁶ And what about an ear? If an ear started to whine, “I am not an eye; I shouldn’t be attached to this body,” in all its pouting, it is still part of the body. ¹⁷ Imagine the entire body as an eye. How would a giant eye be able to hear? And if the entire body were an ear, how would an ear be able to smell? ¹⁸ This is where God comes in. God has meticulously put this body together; He placed each part in the exact place to perform the exact function He wanted. ¹⁹ If all members were a single part, where would the body be? ²⁰ So now, many members function within the one body. ²¹ The eye cannot wail at the hand, “I have no need for you,” nor could the head bellow at the feet, “I won’t go one more step with you.” ²² It’s actually the opposite. The members who seem to have the weaker functions are necessary to keep the body moving; ²³ the body parts that seem less important we treat as some of the most valuable; and those unfit, untamed, unpresentable members we treat with an even greater modesty. ²⁴ That’s something the more presentable members don’t need. But God designed the body in such a way that greater significance is given to the seemingly insignificant part. ²⁵ That way there should be no division in the body; instead, all the parts mutually depend on and care for one another. ²⁶ If one part is suffering, then all the members suffer alongside it. If one member is honored, then all the members celebrate alongside it. ²⁷ You are the body of the Anointed, the Liberating King; each and every one of you is a vital member. ²⁸ God has appointed gifts in the assembly: first emissaries,^[ah] second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, and then those who speak with various unknown languages. ²⁹ Are all members gifted as emissaries? Are all gifted with prophetic utterance? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Or are all gifted in healing arts? Do all speak or interpret unknown languages? Of course not. ³¹ Pursue the greater gifts, and let me tell you of a more excellent way—love.

13 What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. ² What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. ³ I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; ⁵ it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs ⁶ or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight! ⁷ Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. ⁸ Love will never become obsolete. Now as for the prophetic gifts, they will not last; unknown languages will become silent, and the gift of knowledge will no longer be needed. ⁹ Gifts of knowledge and prophecy are partial at best, at least for now, ¹⁰ but when the perfection and fullness of God’s kingdom arrive, all the parts will end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind. ¹² For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know just as I have been wholly known by God. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain; these three virtues must characterize our lives. The greatest of these is love.

14 So in everything strive to love. Passionately seek the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gift of prophecy. ² You see, a person speaking in an unknown language is not addressing the church because he is really addressing God—those who overhear don’t understand because he is speaking in the Spirit the depths of the mysteries of the Lord. ³ But a person who has the gift of prophecy teaches in a way that builds up the community, draws them near, and comforts them. ⁴ Those who speak in an unknown language only strengthen themselves, but those who prophesy strengthen the community. ⁵ While I’d like for you all to be able to speak by the Spirit in unknown languages, my preference would be for you all to prophesy by the Spirit. Those who speak prophetically are God’s mouthpiece and are far more useful to the church than those who speak in exotic languages—unless there is another who interprets so that the community may be strengthened.

⁶ If I come to you, brothers and sisters, talking in unknown languages, what good would that be for any of you? You receive no benefit unless I speak to you some word of revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or instruction in your own language. ⁷ Look, if inanimate objects, musical instruments like a pipe or harp, don’t make a clear, distinct sound, how would you know what tune is being played? ⁸ If the bugle blares more like a clank, who would know to prepare for battle? ⁹ It’s the same with you. Unless you speak a message in a language everyone understands, they won’t know what you’re talking about. You’ll be talking into the wind. ¹⁰ This world is full of languages, each and every one of them having meaning; ¹¹ but if I don’t understand the meaning of some sound, then I become like a foreigner to the person speaking, and the person speaking will be like a foreigner to me. ¹² It’s the same with you; in your passion for spiritual gifts, seek to strengthen the community of believers, and you will all be better off.

¹³ So anyone who speaks in an unknown language should pray for the ability to interpret ¹⁴ because if I pray in such a language, although my spirit prays, my mind isn’t productive. ¹⁵ What do I do then? I pray. I pray with my spirit but also with my mind engaged; I sing with my spirit but also with my mind engaged. ¹⁶ If you speak a word of blessing in the spirit only, then how will an uninformed person who can’t understand your prayer say “Amen” when you are done giving thanks? ¹⁷ Even though you give thanks to God well, the unknowing person doesn’t benefit. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in unknown languages more than the rest of you; ¹⁹ but when the church gathers, I would rather speak five words with my mind so I can be understood and train others than utter 10,000 exotic words.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, don’t think like children. Be innocent of malice but mature in understanding. ²¹ In the law, it states:

²² So speaking in unknown languages is not a sign to the believing but a miracle to the unbelieving; prophecy, though, is not a sign to the unbelieving but for the believing. ²³ Imagine what would happen if the entire church gathered together speaking in different languages, one foreign to the next. Then people who have never heard of such a thing or unbelieving people walk up on all that’s going on. Would they not think each and every one of you were raving lunatics? ²⁴ But let’s say an outsider or unbeliever walks in on a different scene: all are speaking for God with great power and insight in a language they know. What then? Well, the outsider would come under the conviction of his own sins and be called to accountability by the words of all the prophets. ²⁵ The very secrets of his heart would be revealed, and right there—mystified—he would fall on his face in worship to God, proclaiming all the while that God most certainly dwells among you.

²⁶ What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each person has a vital role because each has gifts. One person might have a song, another a lesson to teach, still another a revelation from God. One person might speak in an unknown language, another will offer the interpretation, but all of this should be done to strengthen the life and faith of the community. ²⁷ But if any do speak in an exotic language, limit it to two or three people at the most, and have them speak one at a time, while another interprets for the rest. ²⁸ If there is not an interpreter present, then the one should stay silent during the gathering, speaking only to himself and God. ²⁹ Have two to three prophets speak, and let others with discerning gifts evaluate the messages they hear. ³⁰ Now if in the course of things a message comes to another who is seated, then the first one speaking should be silent until this new message can be spoken. ³¹ To avoid confusion and create a space where all can learn and be encouraged, let only one prophet speak at a time without interruption. ³² You see, the prophetic spirits are under the control of the prophets ³³ because God is the author of order, not confusion. This is how it is in all gatherings of the saints. ³⁴ Wives should be respectfully silent at the gatherings, as they are not allowed to speak; and they should yield themselves to those in authority just as it is written in the law. ³⁵ When they want to learn anything in particular, they should ask their husbands when they get home. It creates a shameful situation for them to speak at church. ³⁶ Do you think the word of God came to the world by you? Or that it came only to you?

³⁷ Let any person who thinks he is a prophet or a spiritual person affirm that these things I write to you are the commands of the Lord. ³⁸ Whoever chooses to be ignorant of this will be treated as ignorant. ³⁹ So, my dear brothers and sisters, passionately desire to prophesy; but don’t ban the gift of speaking in unknown languages. ⁴⁰ Just maintain the proper order in all things.