Paul Greets the Church in Corinth

1From:a Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiahb Jesusc by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

2To: God’s church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiahd Jesus and called to be holy,e together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiahf —their Lordg and ours.

3May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,h be yours!

You are Rich

4I always thank myi God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiahj Jesus. 5For by him you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6while our testimony about the Messiahk has been confirmed among you. 7Therefore, you don’t lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiahl to be revealed. 8He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.m 9Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah,n our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,o I urge all of you to be in agreementp and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. 11My brothers, some members of Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. 12This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,”q or “I belong to the Messiah.”r

13Is the Messiahs divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you? 14I thank Godt that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16(Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) 17For the Messiahu did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiahv won’t be emptied of its power.

The Messiah is God’s Power and Wisdom

18For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject.”w

20Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn’t he? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God,x God was pleased to save those who believe through the nonsense of our preaching. 22Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach the Messiahy crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to gentiles, 24but to those who are called,z both Jews and Greeks, the Messiahaa is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25For God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom,bb and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.cc

26Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,dd not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed. 28And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something, 29so that no oneee may boast in God’s presence. 30It is because of Godff that you are in union with the Messiahgg Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written, “The person who boasts must boast in the Lord.”hh