| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New International Version |
| 1A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God's mysteries. | 1This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. |
| 2In this regard, it is expected of managers that each one of them be found faithful. | 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. |
| 3It is of little importance to me that I should be evaluated by you or by any human court. In fact, I don't even evaluate myself. | 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. |
| 4For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord. | 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. |
| 5Therefore don't judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God. | 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. |
| 6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the saying: "Nothing beyond what is written." The purpose is that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another. | 6Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. |
| 7For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it? | 7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? |
| 8You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us--and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you! | 8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign--and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! |
| 9For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men. | 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. |
| 10We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! | 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! |
| 11Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless; | 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. |
| 12we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; | 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; |
| 13when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the world's garbage, like the dirt everyone scrapes off their sandals. | 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world--right up to this moment. |
| 14I'm not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children. | 14I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. |
| 15For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can't have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. | 15Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. |
| 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me. | 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me. |
| 17This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. | 17For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. |
| 18Now some are inflated with pride, as though I were not coming to you. | 18Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. |
| 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the talk but the power of those who are inflated with pride. | 19But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. |
| 20For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. | 20For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. |
| 21What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness? | 21What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit? |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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