1 Corinthians
From Paul, called to be an Apostle of Messiah Jesus through the will of
God, and Sosthenes, our brother,
to the church of God in Corinth, those who
are made holy in Messiah Jesus, invited to be saints,
with all those
everywhere who call on the name of our lord Jesus Messiah,
their lord and
ours:
Grace and peace to you from God who is our Father
and from the lord Jesus
Messiah.
I am always giving thanks to my God for you because of the grace of God
given to you in Messiah Jesus.
I am thankful that in him you have been enriched in gifts, in all speech and all knowledge.
In this way the testimony of
Messiah was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any
spiritual gift as you expectantly wait for the revelation
of our lord Jesus Messiah.
He also
will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day
of our lord Jesus Messiah.
God is faithful, who invited you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Messiah our lord.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you by the authority of our lord Jesus
Messiah to all agree and have no divisions among you, but to
develop a united mind and purpose.
For it has been
reported to me, my brothers and sisters, by some of Chloe’s household that there are rivalries among
you.
What I mean is this: You are each making different claims: “I am
with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Peter,” or “I am with
Messiah.”
Is Messiah divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you really
baptized into the name of Paul?
I am thankful to God that I did not baptize
any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
so that nobody can claim that you
were baptized into my name.
I do remember that I also baptized the
household of Stephanas — I do not remember whether I baptized anyone
else.
For Messiah did not commission me to do baptisms,
but to preach
the Gospel, and not with words of elegant human wisdom;
otherwise the cross of the Messiah would be deprived of its power.
For the message of the cross is stupidity to those who are being lost,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
As it is
written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the learning
of the learned.”
Where is the wise person, the scholar, and the debater of
this age? Has not God made stupid the wisdom of this world?
For since in God’s wisdom the world did not know God through its wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe the “stupidity” of the preaching.
For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks search for wisdom,
but we preach about a Messiah
killed on a cross, which is a
stumbling block to Jews and stupidity to Gentiles.
Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Messiah is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the “foolishness” of God is wiser than
human wisdom, and the “weakness” of God is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, reflect on your circumstances when you were
called. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view; not many
were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
Instead God has chosen what the world considers stupid to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the powerful.
God chose what the
world considers unimportant and looks down on, what the world regards as nothing, to reduce to nothing what it regards as something,
so that no human being can ever
boast in the presence of God.
It is because of Him that you are in union with
Messiah Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, and uprightness,
holiness and redemption,
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts,
boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians