Bible (Literal Standard Version)/1 Corinthians

Chapter 1
Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, to the Assembly of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called holy ones, with all those calling on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I give thanks to my God always concerning you for the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all discourse and all knowledge, according as the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not behind in any gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will confirm you to the end—unblamable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ; faithful [is] God, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And I call on you, brothers, through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the same thing you may all say, and there may not be divisions among you, and you may be perfected in the same mind, and in the same judgment, for it was signified to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that contentions are among you; and I say this, that each one of you says, "I, indeed, am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has the Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you immersed into the name of Paul? I give thanks to God that I immersed no one of you, except Crispus and Gaius— that no one may say that to my own name I immersed; and I also immersed Stephanas' household—further, I have not known if I immersed any other. For Christ did not send me to immerse, but to proclaim good news, not in wisdom of discourse, that the Cross of the Christ may not be made of no effect; for the word of the Cross to those indeed perishing is foolishness, and to us—those being saved—it is the power of God, for it has been written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing"; where [is] the wise? Where the scribe? Where a disputer of this age? Did God not make foolish the wisdom of this world? For seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing. Since also Jews ask a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom, also we preach Christ crucified, to Jews, indeed, a stumbling-block, and to Greeks foolishness, and to those called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men; for see your calling, brothers, that not many [are] wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that He may put the wise to shame; and God chose the weak things of the world that He may put the strong to shame; and God chose the base things of the world, and the things despised, and the things that are not, that He may make useless the things that are— that no flesh may glory before Him; but out of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, righteousness also, and sanctification, and redemption, that, according as it has been written: "He who is glorying—let him glory in the LORD."

Chapter 2
And I, having come to you, brothers, came—not in superiority of discourse or wisdom—declaring to you the testimony of God, for I decided not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified; and I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you; and my word and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power— that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age—of those becoming useless, but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory, which no one of the rulers of this age knew, for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory; but according as it has been written: "What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and on the heart of man did not come up, what God prepared for those loving Him"; but God revealed [them] to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God, for who of men has known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? So also the things of God no one has known, except the Spirit of God. And we did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things, and the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know [them], because they are discerned spiritually; and he who is spiritual, indeed discerns all things, and he himself is discerned by no one; for who knew the mind of the LORD that he will instruct Him? And we have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3
And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly—as to babies in Christ; with milk I fed you, and not with meat, for you were not yet able, but not even yet are you now able, for yet you are fleshly, for where [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not fleshly, and walk in the manner of men? For when one may say, "I, indeed, am of Paul," and another, "I—of Apollos," are you not fleshly? Who, then, is Paul, and who Apollos, but servants through whom you believed, and to each as the LORD gave? I planted, Apollos watered, but God was giving growth; so that neither is he who is planting anything, nor he who is watering, but He who is giving growth—God; and he who is planting and he who is watering are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor, for we are fellow-workmen of God; you are God's tillage, God's building. According to the grace of God that was given to me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid a foundation, and another builds on [it], for no one is able to lay another foundation except that which is laid, which is Jesus the Christ; and if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work will become visible of each, for the day will declare [it], because it is revealed in fire, and the work of each, what kind it is, the fire will prove; if the work of anyone remains that he built on [it], he will receive a wage; if the work of any is burned up, he will suffer loss, but himself will be saved, but so as through fire. Have you not known that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone ruins the temple of God, God will ruin him; for the temple of God is holy, which you are. Let no one deceive himself; if anyone seems to be wise among you in this age—let him become a fool, that he may become wise, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it has been written: "Who is taking the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The LORD knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain." So then, let no one glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things about to be—all are yours, and you [are] Christ's, and Christ [is] God's.

Chapter 4
Let a man so reckon us as officers of Christ, and stewards of the secrets of God, and as to the rest, it is required in the stewards that one may be found faithful, and to me it is for a very little thing that by you I may be judged, or by man's Day, but I do not even judge myself, for I have been conscious of nothing for myself, but I have not been declared right in this—and He who is discerning me is the LORD: so, then, judge nothing before the time, until the LORD may come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of the darkness, and will reveal the counsels of the hearts, and then the praise will come to each from God. And these things, brothers, I transferred to myself and to Apollos because of you, that in us you may learn not to think above that which has been written, that you may not be puffed up one for one against the other, for who makes you to differ? And what do you have, that you did not receive? And if you also received, why do you glory as not having received? Already you are having been filled, already you were rich, apart from us you reigned, and I also wish you reigned, that we also may reign together with you, for I think that God set forth us the apostles last—as appointed to death, because we became a spectacle to the world, and messengers, and men; we [are] fools because of Christ, and you wise in Christ; we [are] ailing, and you strong; you glorious, and we dishonored; to the present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are battered, and wander, and labor, working with [our] own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being spoken evil of, we plead; we became as filth of the world—of all things an outcast—until now. Not [as] putting you to shame do I write these things, but I admonish as my beloved children, for if a myriad of child-conductors you may have in Christ, yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus, through the good news, I begot you; I call on you, therefore, become followers of me; because of this I sent to you Timotheus, who is my child, beloved and faithful in the LORD, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, according as everywhere in every assembly I teach. And some were puffed up as if I were not coming to you; but I will come quickly to you, if the LORD may will, and I will not know the word of those puffed up, but the power; for not in word is the Kingdom of God, but in power. What do you wish? Will I come to you with a rod, or in love, also with a spirit of meekness?

Chapter 5
Whoredom is actually heard of among you, and such whoredom as is not even named among the nations—as that one has the wife of the father! And you are having been puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he may be removed out of the midst of you who did this work, for I indeed, as being absent as to the body, and present as to the spirit, have already judged, as being present, him who so worked this thing: in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ—you being gathered together, also my spirit—with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver up such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying [is] not good; have you not known that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out, therefore, the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, according as you are unleavened, for our Passover was sacrificed for us also—Christ, so that we may keep the celebration, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in the letter, not to keep company with whoremongers— and certainly not with the whoremongers of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, seeing you ought then to go forth out of the world— and now, I wrote to you not to keep company with [him], if anyone, being named a brother, may be a whoremonger, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—do not even eat together with such a one; for what have I also to judge those outside? Do you not judge those within? And judge those without God; and put away the evil from among yourselves.

Chapter 6
Dare anyone of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the holy ones? Have you not known that the holy ones will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy of the smaller judgments? Have you not known that we will judge messengers? Why not then the things of life? Of the things of life, indeed, then, if you may have judgment, those despised in the Assembly—these you cause to sit; I speak to your shame: so there is not among you one wise man, not even one, who will be able to discern in the midst of his brothers! But brother with brother goes to be judged, and this before unbelievers! Already, indeed, then, there is altogether a fault among you, that you have judgments with one another; why do you not rather suffer injustice? Why not be defrauded? But you do injustice, and you defraud, and these—brothers! Have you not known that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be led astray; neither whoremongers, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. And certain of you were these! But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were declared righteous, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful to me, but all things are not profitable; all things are lawful to me, but I will not be under authority by any; the meats [are] for the belly, and the belly for the meats. And God will make useless both this and these; and the body [is] not for whoredom, but for the LORD, and the LORD for the body; and God raised both the LORD, and will raise us up through His power. Have you not known that your bodies are members of Christ? Having taken, then, the members of the Christ, will I make [them] members of a prostitute? Let it not be! Have you not known that he who is joined to the prostitute is one body? For it says, "The two will be into one flesh." And he who is joined to the LORD is one spirit; flee the whoredom; every sin—whatever a man may commit—is outside the body, and he who is committing whoredom sins against his own body. Have you not known that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from God? And you are not your own, for you were bought with a price; glorify, then, God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

Chapter 7
And concerning the things of which you wrote to me: [it is] good for a man not to touch a woman, and because of the whoredom let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her proper husband; to the wife let the husband render the due benevolence, and in like manner also the wife to the husband; the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband; and in like manner also, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. Do not defraud one another, except by consent for a time, that you may be free for fasting and prayer, and again may come together, that Satan may not tempt you because of your self-indulgence; and this I say by way of concurrence—not of command, for I wish all men to be even as I myself [am]; but each has his own gift of God, one indeed thus and one thus. And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they may remain even as I [am]; and if they do not have continence—let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn; and to the married I announce—not I, but the LORD—do not let a wife separate from a husband: but, and if she may separate, let her remain unmarried, or let her be reconciled to the husband, and do not let a husband send a wife away. And to the rest I speak—not the LORD—if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is pleased to dwell with him, do not let him send her away; and a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is pleased to dwell with her, do not let her send him away; for the unbelieving husband has been sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified in the husband; otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. And if the unbelieving separates himself—let him separate himself: the brother or the sister is not under servitude in such [cases], and in peace has God called us; for what, have you known, O wife, whether you will save the husband? Or what, have you known, O husband, whether you will save the wife? If not, as God distributed to each, as the LORD has called each—so let him walk; and thus I direct in all the assemblies: being circumcised—was anyone called? Do not let him become uncircumcised; in uncircumcision was anyone called? Do not let him be circumcised; the circumcision is nothing, and the uncircumcision is nothing—but a keeping of the commands of God. Each in the calling in which he was called—in this let him remain; a servant—were you called? Do not be anxious; but if also you are able to become free—use [it] rather; for he who [is] in the LORD—having been called a servant—is the LORD's freedman: in like manner also he the freeman, having been called, is servant of Christ: you were bought with a price, do not become servants of men; each, in that in which he was called, brothers, in this let him remain with God. And concerning the virgins, I do not have a command of the LORD; and I give judgment as having obtained kindness from the LORD to be faithful. I suppose, therefore, this to be good because of the present necessity, that [it is] good for a man that the matter be thus: Have you been bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed; have you been loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But, and if you may marry, you did not sin; and if the virgin may marry, she did not sin; and such will have tribulation in the flesh: and I spare you. And this I say, brothers, the time from now on is having been shortened—that both those having wives may be as not having; and those weeping, as not weeping; and those rejoicing, as not rejoicing; and those buying, as not possessing; and those using this world, as not using [it] up; for the [present] form of this world is passing away. And I wish you to be without anxiety; the unmarried is anxious for the things of the LORD, how he will please the LORD; and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how he will please the wife. The wife and the virgin have been distinguished: the unmarried is anxious for the things of the LORD, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how she will please the husband. And this I say for your own profit: not that I may cast a noose on you, but for the seemliness and devotedness to the LORD, undistractedly, and if anyone thinks [it] to be unseemly to his virgin, if she may be beyond the bloom of age, and it ought to be so, what he wills let him do; he does not sin—let him marry. And he does well who has stood steadfast in the heart—not having necessity—and has authority over his own will, and he has determined this in his heart—to keep his own virgin; so that both he who is giving in marriage does well, and he who is not giving in marriage does better. A wife has been bound by law [for] as long [a] time as her husband may live, and if her husband may sleep, she is free to be married to whom she will—only in the LORD; and she is happier if she may so remain—according to my judgment; and I think I also have the Spirit of God.

Chapter 8
And concerning the things sacrificed to idols, we have known that we all have knowledge: knowledge puffs up, but love builds up; and if anyone thinks to know anything, he has not yet known anything according as it is required to know; and if anyone loves God, this one has been known by Him. Concerning the eating then of the things sacrificed to idols, we have known that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that there is no other God except one; for even if there are those called gods, whether in Heaven, whether on earth—as there are many gods and many lords— yet to us [is] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we to Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom [are] all things, and we through Him; but not in all men [is] the knowledge, and certain with conscience of the idol, until now, eat [it] as a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God, for neither if we may eat are we in advance; nor if we may not eat, are we behind; but see, lest this privilege of yours may become a stumbling-block to the weak, for if anyone may see you that have knowledge in an idol's temple reclining to eat, will not his conscience—he being weak—be emboldened to eat the things sacrificed to idols? For the [one] being weak—the brother for whom Christ died—will perish by your knowledge. And thus sinning in regard to the brothers, and striking their weak conscience—you sin in regard to Christ; for this reason, if food causes my brother to stumble, I may not eat flesh—throughout the age—that I may not cause my brother to stumble.

Chapter 9
Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the LORD? If I am not an apostle to others—yet doubtless I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the LORD. My defense to those who examine me in this: do we not have authority to eat and to drink? Do we not have authority to lead about a sister—a wife—as also the other apostles, and the brothers of the LORD, and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I have no authority not to work? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense at any time? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock and does not eat of the milk of the flock? Do I speak these things according to man? Or does the Law not also say these things? For in the Law of Moses it has been written: "you will not muzzle an ox treading out grain"; does God care for the oxen? Or by all means does He say [it] because of us? Yes, because of us it was written, because in hope ought the plower to plow, and he who is treading [ought] of his hope to partake in hope. If we sowed to you the spiritual things—[is it] great if we reap your fleshly things? If others partake of the authority over you—[do] we not more? But we did not use this authority, but we bear all things, that we may give no hindrance to the good news of the Christ. Have you not known that those working about the things of the temple eat of the temple, and those waiting at the altar are partakers with the altar? So also the LORD directed to those proclaiming the good news to live of the good news. And I have used none of these things; neither did I write these things that it may be so done in my case, for [it is] good for me rather to die, than that anyone may make my glorying void; for if I may proclaim good news, it is no glorying for me, for necessity is laid on me, and woe is to me if I may not proclaim good news; for if I do this willingly, I have a reward; and if unwillingly—I have been entrusted with a stewardship! What, then, is my reward? That proclaiming good news, without charge I will make the good news of the Christ, not to abuse my authority in the good news; for being free from all men, I made myself servant to all men, that the more I might gain; and to the Jews I became like a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those under law as under law, that I might gain those under law; to those without law, as without law—(not being without law to God, but within law to Christ)—that I might gain those without law; to the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; to all men I have become all things, that by all means I may save some. And I do this because of the good news, that I may become a fellow-partaker of it; have you not known that those running in a race—all indeed run, but one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain; and everyone who is striving is temperate in all things; these, indeed, then, that they may receive a corruptible garland, but we an incorruptible; I, therefore, thus run, not as uncertainly, thus I fight, as not beating air; but I bruise my body, and bring [it] into servitude, lest by any means, having preached to others—I myself may become disapproved.

Chapter 10
And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were immersed into Moses in the cloud, and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking of a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was the Christ; but in the most of them God was not well pleased, for they were strewn in the wilderness, and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these desired. Neither become idolaters, as certain of them, as it has been written: "The people sat down to eat and to drink, and stood up to play"; neither may we commit whoredom, as certain of them committed whoredom, and there fell in one day twenty-three thousand; neither may we tempt the Christ, as also certain of them tempted, and perished by the serpents; neither murmur, as also some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. And all these things happened to those persons as types, and they were written for our admonition, to whom the end of the ages came, so that he who is thinking to stand—let him observe, lest he fall. No temptation has taken you—except that of man; and God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted above what you are able, but He will make, with the temptation, also the outlet, for your being able to bear [it]. For this reason, my beloved, flee from the idolatry; as to wise men I speak—judge what I say. The cup of the blessing that we bless—is it not the fellowship of the blood of the Christ? The bread that we break—is it not the fellowship of the body of the Christ? Because one bread, one body, are we the many—for we all partake of the one bread. See Israel according to the flesh! Are those not eating the sacrifices in the fellowship of the altar? What do I say then? That an idol is anything? Or that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything? [No,] but that the things that the nations sacrifice—they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not wish you to come into the fellowship of the demons. You are not able to drink the cup of the LORD and the cup of demons; you are not able to partake of the table of the LORD and of the table of demons; do we arouse the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? All things are lawful to me, but not all things are profitable; all things are lawful to me, but not all things build up; let no one seek his own—but each another's. Eat whatever is sold in the meat-market, not inquiring, because of the conscience, for the earth and its fullness [are] the LORD's; and if anyone of the unbelieving calls you, and you wish to go, eat all that is set before you, inquiring nothing, because of the conscience; and if anyone may say to you, "This is a thing sacrificed to an idol," do not eat, because of that one who showed [it], and of the conscience, for the LORD's [is] the earth and its fullness: and conscience, I say, not of yourself, but of the other, for why [is it] that my liberty is judged by another's conscience? And if I partake thankfully, why am I spoken of [as] evil, for that for which I give thanks? Whether, then, you eat, or drink, or do anything, do all to the glory of God; become offenseless, both to Jews and Greeks, and to the Assembly of God; as I also please all in all things, not seeking my own profit, but that of many—that they may be saved.

Chapter 11
Become followers of me, as I also [am] of Christ. And I praise you, brothers, that in all things you remember me, and according as I delivered to you, you keep the deliverances, and I wish you to know that the Christ is the head of every man, and the head of a woman is the husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having the head covered, dishonors his head, and every woman praying or prophesying with the head uncovered, dishonors her own head, for it is one and the same thing with her being shaven, for if a woman is not covered—then let her be shorn, and if [it is] a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven—let her be covered; for a man, indeed, ought not to cover the head, being the image and glory of God, and a woman is the glory of a man, for a man is not of a woman, but a woman [is] of a man, for also was a man not created because of the woman, but a woman because of the man; because of this the woman ought to have [a token of] authority on the head, because of the messengers; but neither [is] a man apart from a woman, nor a woman apart from a man, in the LORD, for as the woman [is] of the man, so also the man [is] through the woman, and all the things [are] of God. Judge in your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you, that if a man indeed has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? And a woman, if she has long hair, it is a glory to her, because the hair has been given to her instead of a covering; and if anyone thinks to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the assemblies of God. And declaring this, I give no praise, because you do not come together for the better, but for the worse; for first, indeed, coming together in an assembly, I hear of divisions being among you, and I partly believe [it], for it is also necessary for sects to be among you, that those approved may become visible among you; you, then, coming together at the same place—it is not to eat the LORD's Dinner; for each takes his own dinner before in the eating, and one is hungry, and another is drunk; why, do you not have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the Assembly of God, and shame those not having? What may I say to you? Will I praise you in this? I do not praise! For I received from the LORD that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was delivered up, took bread, and having given thanks, He broke, and said, "Take, eat, this is My body that is being broken for you; do this—to the remembrance of Me." In like manner also the cup after the supping, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you may drink [it]—to the remembrance of Me"; for as often as you may eat this bread, and may drink this cup, you show forth the death of the LORD—until He may come; so that whoever may eat this bread or may drink the cup of the LORD unworthily, he will be guilty of the body and blood of the LORD: and let a man be proving himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and let him drink of the cup; for he who is eating and drinking unworthily, he eats and drinks judgment to himself—not discerning the body of the LORD. Because of this many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep; for if we were discerning ourselves, we would not be being judged, and being judged by the LORD, we are disciplined, that we may not be condemned with the world; so then, my brothers, coming together to eat, wait for one another; and if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, that you may not come together to judgment; and the rest, whenever I may come, I will arrange.

Chapter 12
And concerning the spiritual things, brothers, I do not wish you to be ignorant; you have known that you were nations, being carried away as you were led to the mute idols; for this reason, I give you to understand that no one, speaking in the Spirit of God, says Jesus [is] accursed, and no one is able to say Jesus [is] LORD, except in the Holy Spirit. And there are diversities of gifts, and the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, and the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings, and it is the same God—who is working all in all. And to each has been given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit; for to one through the Spirit has been given a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; and to another faith in the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings in the same Spirit; and to another in-workings of mighty deeds; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits; and to another [various] kinds of tongues; and to another interpretation of tongues: and the one and the same Spirit works all these, dividing to each individually as He intends. For even as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the one body, being many, are one body, so also [is] the Christ, for also in one Spirit we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether servants or freemen, and all were made to drink one Spirit, for also the body is not one member, but many. If the foot may say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it not, because of this, not of the body? And if the ear may say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it not, because of this, not of the body? If the whole body [were] an eye, where the hearing? If the whole hearing, where the smelling? And now, God set the members, each one of them in the body, according as He willed, and if all were one member, where [is] the body? And now, indeed, [are] many members, but one body; and an eye is not able to say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." But much more the members of the body seeming to be weaker are necessary, and those that we think to be less honorable of the body, around these we put more abundant honor, and our unseemly things have more abundant seemliness, and our seemly things have no need; but God tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to the lacking part, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same anxiety for one another, and whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with [it], or one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with [it]; and you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And some, indeed, God set in the Assembly: first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, afterward powers, afterward gifts of healings, helpings, governings, various kinds of tongues. [Are] all apostles? [Are] all prophets? [Are] all teachers? [Are] all powers? [Do] all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? And earnestly desire the better gifts; and yet I show to you a far [more] excelling way:

Chapter 13
If I speak with the tongues of men and of messengers, and do not have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal; and if I have prophecy, and know all the secrets, and all the knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and do not have love, I am nothing; and if I give away all my goods to feed others, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and do not have love, I am profited nothing. Love is long-suffering, it is kind, love does not envy, love does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, does not act unseemly, does not seek its own things, is not provoked, does not impute evil, [does] not rejoice over unrighteousness, and rejoices with the truth; it bears all things, it believes all, it hopes all, it endures all. Love never fails; and whether [there be] prophecies, they will become useless; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will become useless; for we know in part, and we prophesy in part; and when that which is perfect may come, then that which [is] in part will become useless. When I was a child, I was speaking as a child, I was thinking as a child, I was reasoning as a child, and when I have become a man, I have made useless the things of the child; for we now see obscurely through a mirror, and then face to face; now I know in part, and then I will fully know, as I was also known; and now there remains faith, hope, love—these three; and the greatest of these [is] love.

Chapter 14
Pursue love, and earnestly seek the spiritual things, and rather that you may prophesy, for he who is speaking in an [unknown] tongue—he does not speak to men, but to God, for no one listens, and he speaks secrets in spirit; and he who is prophesying to men speaks edification, and exhortation, and comfort; he who is speaking in an [unknown] tongue, edifies himself, and he who is prophesying, edifies the Assembly; and I wish you all to speak with tongues, and more that you may prophesy, for greater is he who is prophesying than he who is speaking with tongues, except one may interpret, that the Assembly may receive edification. And now, brothers, if I may come to you speaking tongues, what will I profit you, except I will speak to you either in revelation, or in knowledge, or in prophesying, or in teaching? Yet the things without life giving sound—whether pipe or harp—if they may not give a difference in the sounds, how will be known that which is piped or that which is harped? For also, if a trumpet may give an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, if you may not give speech easily understood through the tongue—how will that which is spoken be known? For you will be speaking to air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is unmeaning. If, then, I do not know the power of the voice, I will be a foreigner to him who is speaking, and he who is speaking is a foreigner to me; so you also, since you are earnestly desirous of spiritual gifts, seek for the building up of the Assembly that you may abound; for this reason he who is speaking in an [unknown] tongue—let him pray that he may interpret; for if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit prays, and my understanding is unfruitful. What then is it? I will pray [in] the spirit, and I will also pray [with] understanding; I will sing psalms [in] the spirit, and I will also sing psalms [with] understanding; since, if you may bless in spirit, he who is filling the place of the commoner, how will he say the Amen at your giving of thanks, since he has not known what you say? For you, indeed, give thanks well, but the other is not built up! I give thanks to my God—more than you all with tongues speaking— but I wish to speak five words in an assembly through my understanding, that I also may instruct others, rather than myriads of words in an [unknown] tongue. Brothers, do not become children in the understanding, but in the evil be children, and in the understanding become perfect; in the Law it has been written, that, "With other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and even so they will not hear Me, says the LORD"; so that the tongues are for a sign, not to the believing, but to the unbelieving; and the prophecy [is] not for the unbelieving, but for the believing. If, therefore, the whole assembly may come together to the same place, and all may speak with tongues, and there may come in commoners or unbelievers, will they not say that you are mad? And if all may prophesy, and anyone may come in, an unbeliever or commoner, he is convicted by all, he is discerned by all, and so the secrets of his heart become visible, and so having fallen on [his] face, he will worship God, declaring that God really is among you. What then is it, brothers? Whenever you may come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be for building up; if anyone speaks an [unknown] tongue, by two, or at the most, by three, and in turn, and let one interpret; and if there may be no interpreter, let him be silent in an assembly, and let him speak to himself, and to God. And prophets—let two or three speak, and let the others discern, and if [anything] may be revealed to another [who is] sitting, let the first be silent; for you are able, one by one, all to prophesy, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted, and the spiritual gift of prophets are subject to prophets, for God is not [a God] of tumult, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the holy ones. Your women, let them be silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted to them to speak, but to be subject, as the Law also says; and if they wish to learn anything, let them question their own husbands at home, for it is a shame to women to speak in an assembly. Did the word of God come forth from you? Or did it come to you alone? If anyone thinks to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to you—that they are commands of the LORD; and if anyone is ignorant—let him be ignorant; so that, brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues; let all things be done decently and in order.

Chapter 15
And I make known to you, brothers, the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you also received, in which you also have stood, through which you are also being saved, if you hold fast [to] the word—what I proclaimed as good news to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Writings, and that He was buried, and that He has risen on the third day according to the Writings, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, afterward He appeared to above five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, and some also fell asleep; afterward He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all—as to the untimely birth—He also appeared to me, for I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Assembly of God, and by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace that [is] toward me did not come in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that [is] with me; whether, then, I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. And if Christ is preached, that He has risen out of the dead, how [do] certain among you say that there is no resurrection of [the] dead? And if there is no resurrection of [the] dead, neither has Christ risen; and if Christ has not risen, then our preaching [is] void, and your faith [is] also void, and we are also found [to be] false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised up the Christ, whom He did not raise if then dead persons do not rise; for if dead persons do not rise, neither has Christ risen, and if Christ has not risen, your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins; then, also, those having fallen asleep in Christ perished; if we only have hope in Christ in this life, we are to be most pitied of all men. And now, Christ has risen out of the dead—He became the first-fruits of those sleeping, for since through man [is] death, also through Man [is] a resurrection of the dead, for even as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ all will be made alive, and each in his proper order: Christ, a first-fruit, afterward those who are the Christ's in His coming, then—the end, when He may deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He may have made all rule useless, and all authority and power. For it is necessary for Him to reign until He may have put all the enemies under His feet. The last enemy is done away with—death. For He put all things under His feet, and when one may say that all things have been subjected, [it is] evident that He is excepted who subjected all things to Him, and when all things may be subjected to Him, then also the Son Himself will be subject to Him, who subjected to Him all things, that God may be the all in all. Seeing what will they do who are immersed for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why are they also immersed for the dead? Why do we also stand in peril every hour? I die every day, by the glorying of you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought with wild beasts in Ephesus after the manner of a man, what [is] the advantage to me if the dead do not rise? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! Do not be led astray; evil communications corrupt good manners; wake up, as is right, and do not sin; for some have an ignorance of God; I say [it] to you for shame. But someone will say, "How do the dead rise?" Unwise! You—what you sow is not quickened except it may die; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of someone of the others, and God gives a body to it according as He willed, and its proper body to each of the seeds. All flesh [is] not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds; and [there are] heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but one [is] the glory of the heavenly, and another that of the earthly; one glory of sun, and another glory of moon, and another glory of stars, for star differs from star in glory. So also [is] the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; so also it has been written: "The first man Adam became a living creature," the last Adam [is] for a life-giving spirit, but that which is spiritual [is] not first, but that which [was] natural, afterward that which [is] spiritual. The first man [is] out of the earth—earthly; the second Man [is] the LORD out of Heaven; as [is] the earthly, such [are] also the earthly; and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] also the heavenly; and according as we bore the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. And this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the corruption inherit the incorruption. Behold, I tell you a secret: we indeed will not all sleep, but we will all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trumpet, for it will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed; for it is necessary for this corruptible to put on incorruption, and this mortal to put on immortality; and when this corruptible may have put on incorruption, and this mortal may have put on immortality, then will be brought to pass the word that has been written: "Death was swallowed up—to victory; Where, O Death, your sting? Where, O Death  or Hades  , your victory?" And the sting of death [is] sin, and the power of sin the Law; and to God—thanks, to Him who is giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ; so that, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the LORD at all times, knowing that your labor in the LORD is not vain.

Chapter 16
And concerning the collection that [is] for the holy ones, as I directed to the assemblies of Galatia, so also you—do; on every first [day] of the week, let each one of you lay by him, treasuring up whatever he may have prospered, that when I may come then collections may not be made; and whenever I may come, whomsoever you may approve, through letters, these I will send to carry your favor to Jerusalem; and if it be worthy for me also to go, with me they will go. And I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia—for I pass through Macedonia— and with you, it may be, I will abide, or even winter, that you may send me forward wherever I go, for I do not wish to see you now in the passing, but I hope to remain a certain time with you, if the LORD may permit; and I will remain in Ephesus until the Pentecost, for a door has been opened to me—great and effectual—and withstanders [are] many. And if Timotheus may come, see that he may become without fear with you, for he works the work of the LORD, even as I, no one, then, may despise him; and send him forward in peace, that he may come to me, for I expect him with the brothers; and concerning Apollos our brother, I begged him much that he may come to you with the brothers, and it was not at all [his] will that he may come now, and he will come when he may find convenient. Watch, stand in the faith; be men, be strong; let all your things be done in love. And I beg you, brothers, you have known the household of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruit of Achaia, and they set themselves to the ministry to the holy ones— that you also be subject to such, and to everyone who is working with [us] and laboring; and I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus, because these filled up the lack of you; for they refreshed my spirit and yours; acknowledge, therefore, those who [are] such. The assemblies of Asia greet you; Aquilas and Priscilla greet you much in the LORD, with the assembly in their house; all the brothers greet you; greet one another in a holy kiss. The salutation of [me], Paul, with my hand; if anyone does not cherish the Lord Jesus Christ—let him be accursed! The LORD has come! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ [is] with you; my love [is] with you all in Christ Jesus! Amen.