1 Corinthians 1

1 I, Paul, [am writing this letter]. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with [me as I write it]. [God] appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus because that is what God desired.

Paul, called as an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God; and Sosthenes, a brother:

2 [I am sending this letter] to all you who are God’s believers in Corinth [city]. You have been set apart [by God] {[God] has set you apart} for himself because (of your close relationship with/you belong to) Christ Jesus. God has appointed you to be his people and to live in a morally pure way, just like he has appointed all the people everywhere who belong to him to live in a morally pure way. You and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY]. He is their sovereign Lord as well as the sovereign Lord of all of us [(inc)] who have trusted in him.

to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all who are invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and of ours.

3 We [(exc)] desire that God, who is our [heavenly] Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our sovereign Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to experience [inner] peace.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I very often [HYP] thank God for you because he has acted toward you kindly, acting in ways that you do not deserve. He has done this because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ Jesus.

I give thanks to my God continuously for you because of the grace of God that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.

5 That is, [God] has [HYP] helped you spiritually very much because of your (having a close relationship with/being united to) Christ. Specifically, God has very much [HYP] enabled you to speak messages [that his Spirit revealed to you], and he has very much enabled you to know many things [HYP] that his Spirit revealed to you.

By that grace, in all things, you have become wealthy in him, in every word and in all knowledge.

6 In that way, [he] confirmed to you that what we [(exc)] proclaimed about Christ is true.

And so, the testimony of Christ has been strengthened in you.

7 As a result, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return, within your group you truly have [LIT] every ability that [God’s] Spirit gives [to believers].

In this way, nothing is lacking to you in any grace, as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8 God will also cause you to steadfastly [trust Christ to the very end of your lives] [EUP]. The result will be that God will not consider you guilty [of any sin] when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth [MTY].

And he, too, will strengthen you, even until the end, without guilt, until the day of the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 You can depend on God to do that. He is the one who chose you to become intimately associated with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.

God is faithful. Through him, you have been called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 My fellow believers, by the authority of [MTY] our Lord Jesus Christ, I urgently appeal to all of you to agree with one another. What I mean is, stop dividing into groups. Instead, be united [MET] concerning what you understand [about spiritual matters], and be united in what you decide.

And so, I beg you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every one of you speak in the same way, and that there be no schisms among you. So may you become perfect, with the same mind and with the same judgment.

11 My fellow believers, [I urge this] because some members of Chloe’s household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves.

For it has been indicated to me, about you, my brothers, by those who are with Chloes, that there are contentions among you.

12 That is, some of you say, “Paul is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and others say, “Peter is the one to whom we [are loyal],” and still others say, “Christ is the one to whom we [are loyal].”

Now I say this because each of you is saying: “Certainly, I am of Paul;” “But I am of Apollo;” “Truly, I am of Cephas;” as well as: “I am of Christ.”

13 [It is ridiculous that] [RHQ] [you are quarreling and] dividing up [into groups instead of being loyal to] Christ alone. Christ certainly has not divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out [to groups of people who oppose each other]! [MET, RHQ] I, Paul, certainly did not die on the cross for you! [RHQ] When you were baptized {When someone baptized you}, you certainly did not promise that you were submitting to me! [RHQ]

Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I thank [God] that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized.

I give thanks to God that I have baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

15 As a result, no one [there in Corinth except those two] can say, “Paul baptized me so that I would become (his disciple/submissive to him).”

lest anyone say that you have been baptized in my name.

16 [Now I remember that] I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else [there].

And I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Other than these, I do not recall if I baptized any others.

17 Christ sent me not [primarily] to baptize people but to preach the good message about him. When I do that, he does not want me to use words that human philosophers [consider] wise [IRO]. I do not want the message about [what] he [accomplished when he was nailed to] the cross [MTY] to lose its power.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize: not through the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ become empty.

18 Those who are perishing spiritually [because they do not believe that message consider] that the message [about what Christ accomplished when he was nailed to the] cross [MTY] [is] foolish. But to us who are being saved {whom [God] is saving} [spiritually because we believe that message], it [demonstrates that] God acts powerfully [in order to save us].

For the Word of the Cross is certainly foolishness to those who are perishing. But to those who have been saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God.

19 [It is like what God said that] a prophet wrote long ago, [By the things that I will do], I will show that the ideas of those who [think] [IRO] they are wise are completely useless. I will ignore the ideas that they think are [IRO] so smart.

For it has been written: “I will perish the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the discernment of the prudent.”

20 So, do you know [what God thinks] about what [RHQ] people who [IRO] consider themselves to be wise and scholars and philosophers say? [He does not pay attention to what they say, because] [RHQ] he has shown clearly that what unbelievers [think is] [IRO] wise is [not wise at all], but is really foolish. (aiōn g165)

Where are the wise? Where are the scribes? Where are the truth-seekers of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of this world into foolishness? (aiōn g165)

21 God, acting very wisely, made it impossible for unbelievers to know God by doing what they thought was [IRO] wise. Instead, he was happy to save those who trust [in Christ] as the result of their hearing [the message that] was proclaimed to them, a message that others consider to be foolish.

For the world did not know God through wisdom, and so, in the wisdom of God, it pleased God to accomplish the salvation of believers, through the foolishness of our preaching.

22 The Jews want [people to prove, by performing] miracles, [that their message is true]. The non-Jews want to hear only messages consisting of talk that they consider to be very wise.

For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom.

23 As for us, we proclaim [the message about what] Christ [accomplished for us when] he was nailed {[when they] nailed him} to the cross. That message offends Jews [because they do not think that the Messiah will die, and] non-Jews think it is [IRO] a foolish message.

But we are preaching Christ crucified. Certainly, to the Jews, this is a scandal, and to the Gentiles, this is foolishness.

24 But to us whom God has chosen to belong to himself, both Jews and non-Jews, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely [by sending] Christ [to die] for us.

But to those who have been called, Jews as well as Greeks, the Christ is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God.

25 [Unbelievers may think] [IRO] [that] God was [acting] foolishly [by doing that], but [the truth is that] he was acting more wisely than unbelievers who [just think that] [IRO] they are wise. And unbelievers may think that God was [acting] weakly [by sending his son to die], but he was acting more powerfully than unbelievers who [just think] [IRO] [that they] act powerfully.

For what is foolishness to God is considered wise by men, and that which is weakness to God is considered strong by men.

26 My fellow believers, remember what [kind of people you] were when God chose you. [Not many of you] whom he chose are people whom [unbelievers considered to be] wise. Very few of you were considered to be important. Very few of you came from families with a high social standing.

So take care of your vocation, brothers. For not many are wise according to the flesh, not many are powerful, not many are noble.

27 Instead, it was [usually] those whom [unbelievers considered to be] foolish whom God chose. He did that in order to shame/discredit those whom [unbelievers consider] [IRO] wise. It was [usually] those [whom unbelievers] considered [IRO] unimportant whom God chose, in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider important.

But God has chosen the foolish of the world, so that he may confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak of the world, so that he may confound the strong.

28 It was usually those who are despised and considered {whom [unbelievers] despise and consider} worthless whom God chose, in order to make completely ineffective [what unbelievers consider to be important].

And God has chosen the ignoble and contemptible of the world, those who are nothing, so that he may reduce to nothing those who are something.

29 [He did that] in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important.

So then, nothing that is of the flesh should glory in his sight.

30 It is because of what God [has done] that you (have a close relationship with/belong to) Christ Jesus. God [put into effect] his wise [plan to save us] by what Christ did for us. As a result of what Christ did, God erases the record of our sins, sets us apart for himself, and frees us from our being guilty [for our sins].

But you are of him in Christ Jesus, who was made by God to be our wisdom and justice and sanctification and redemption.

31 So, it is the Lord whom we should boast about, [not about one spiritual leader being better than another]. We should do as ([a prophet/Jeremiah]) wrote [in the Scriptures that we should do]: Those who boast should boast [only] about what the Lord [has done].

And so, in the same way, it was written: “Whoever glories, should glory in the Lord.”