Greeting

1Paul,a called as an apostleb of Christ Jesus by God’s will,c and Sosthenes our brother:d

2To God’s church at Corinth,e to those who are •sanctifiedf in Christ Jesus and calledg as •saints, with all those in every place who call on the nameh of Jesus Christ our Lord — both their Lord and ours.

3Grace to you and peace from God our Fatheri and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

4I always thankj my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus, 5that by Him you were enrichedk in everything — in all speech and all knowledge.l 6In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,m 7so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly waitn for the revelationo of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end,p so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.q 9God is faithful;r you were called by Hims into fellowship with His Son,t Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions at Corinth

10Now I urge you, •brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. 11For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalryu among you. 12What I am saying is this: Each of you says, “I’m with Paul,” or “I’m with Apollos,”v or “I’m with •Cephas,”w or “I’m with Christ.”x 13Is Christ divided?y Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14I thank Godz, aa that I baptized none of you except Crispusab and Gaius,ac 15so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16I did, in fact, baptize the householdad of Stephanas;ae beyond that, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize — not with clever words, so that the crossaf of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.ag 19For it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.ah, ai

20Where is the philosopher?aj Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age?ak Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21For since, in God’s wisdom, the •world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22For the Jews ask for signsal and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified,am a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.an 24Yet to those who are called,ao both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Boasting Only in the Lord

26Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective,ap not many powerful,aq not many of noble birth. 27Instead, God has chosenar what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the worldas — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29so that no oneat can boast in His presence.au 30But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us — our righteousness,av sanctification,aw and •redemption,ax 31in order that, as it is written:ay The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.az, ba