Corinthios I 4
1 Sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi, et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei.
Let people look on us as Christ’s servants, and as stewards of the hidden truths of God.
2 Hic jam quæritur inter dispensatores ut fidelis quis inveniatur.
Now what we look for in stewards is that they should be trustworthy.
3 Mihi autem pro minimo est ut a vobis judicer, aut ab humano die: sed neque meipsum judico.
But it weighs very little with me that I am judged by you or by any human tribunal. No, I do not even judge myself;
4 Nihil enim mihi conscius sum, sed non in hoc justificatus sum: qui autem judicat me, Dominus est.
for, though I am conscious of nothing against myself, that does not prove me innocent. It is the Lord who is my judge.
5 Itaque nolite ante tempus judicare, quoadusque veniat Dominus: qui et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestabit consilia cordium: et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo.
Therefore do not pass judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes. He will throw light on what is now dark and obscure, and will reveal the motives in people’s minds; and then everyone will receive due praise from God.
6 Hæc autem, fratres, transfiguravi in me et Apollo, propter vos: ut in nobis discatis, ne supra quam scriptum est, unus adversus alterum infletur pro alio.
All this, friends, I have, for your sakes, applied to Apollos and myself, so that, from our example, you may learn to observe the precept – “Keep to what is written,” that none of you may speak boastfully of one teacher to the disparagement of another.
7 Quis enim te discernit? quid autem habes quod non accepisti? si autem accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis?
For who makes any one of you superior to others? And what have you that was not given you? But if you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if you had not?
8 Jam saturati estis, jam divites facti estis: sine nobis regnatis: et utinam regnetis, ut et nos vobiscum regnemus.
Are you all so soon satisfied? Are you so soon rich? Have you begun to reign without us? Would indeed that you had, so that we also might reign with you!
9 Puto enim quod Deus nos Apostolos novissimos ostendit, tamquam morti destinatos: quia spectaculum facti sumus mundo, et angelis, et hominibus.
For, as it seems to me, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all, as people doomed to death. We are made a spectacle to the universe, both to angels and to people!
10 Nos stulti propter Christum, vos autem prudentes in Christo: nos infirmi, vos autem fortes: vos nobiles, nos autem ignobiles.
We, for Christ’s sake, are fools, but you, by your union with Christ, are people of discernment. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honoured, but we are despised.
11 Usque in hanc horam et esurimus, et sitimus, et nudi sumus, et colaphis cædimur, et instabiles sumus,
To this very hour we go hungry, thirsty, and naked; we are beaten; we are homeless;
12 et laboramus operantes manibus nostris: maledicimur, et benedicimus: persecutionem patimur, et sustinemus:
we work hard, toiling with our own hands. We meet abuse with blessings, we meet persecution with endurance,
13 blasphemamur, et obsecramus: tamquam purgamenta hujus mundi facti sumus, omnium peripsema usque adhuc.
we meet slander with gentle appeals. We have been treated as the scum of the earth, the vilest of the vile, to this very hour.
14 Non ut confundam vos, hæc scribo, sed ut filios meos carissimos moneo.
It is with no wish to shame you that I am writing like this; but to warn you as my own dear children.
15 Nam si decem millia pædagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres. Nam in Christo Jesu per Evangelium ego vos genui.
Though you may have thousands of instructors in the faith of Christ, yet you have not many fathers. It was I who, through union with Christ Jesus, became your father by means of the good news.
16 Rogo ergo vos, imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi.
Therefore I entreat you – Follow my example.
17 Ideo misi ad vos Timotheum, qui est filius meus carissimus, et fidelis in Domino: qui vos commonefaciet vias meas, quæ sunt in Christo Jesu, sicut ubique in omni ecclesia doceo.
This is my reason for sending Timothy to you. He is my own dear faithful child in the Master’s service, and he will remind you of my methods of teaching the faith of Christ Jesus – methods which I follow everywhere in every church.
18 Tamquam non venturus sim ad vos, sic inflati sunt quidam.
Some, I hear, are puffed up with pride, thinking that I am not coming to you.
19 Veniam autem ad vos cito, si Dominus voluerit: et cognoscam non sermonem eorum qui inflati sunt, sed virtutem.
But come to you I will, and that soon, if it please the Lord; and then I will find out, not what words these people use who are so puffed up, but what power they possess;
20 Non enim in sermone est regnum Dei, sed in virtute.
for the kingdom of God is based, not on words, but on power.
21 Quid vultis? in virga veniam ad vos, an in caritate, et spiritu mansuetudinis?
What do you wish? Am I to come to you with a rod, or in a loving and gentle spirit?
