| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. | 1Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. |
| 2Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. | 2In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. |
| 3As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. | 3But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. |
| 4My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. | 4For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. |
| 5So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due. | 5Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God. |
| 6Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. | 6Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. |
| 7For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift? | 7For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? |
| 8You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. | 8You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. |
| 9Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike. | 9For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. |
| 10Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. | 10We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. |
| 11Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. | 11To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; |
| 12We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. | 12and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; |
| 13We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment. | 13when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. |
| 14I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. | 14I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. |
| 15For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. | 15For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. |
| 16So I urge you to imitate me. | 16Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. |
| 17That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go. | 17For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. |
| 18Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. | 18Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. |
| 19But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. | 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. |
| 20For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. | 20For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. |
| 21Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit? | 21What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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