Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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1Corinthians
1Corinthians 1
¶1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother, Sosthenes.
1Corinthians 1:1-172. To the Assembly of God that is in Corinth, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
¶4. I thank my God always for you, for the grace of God which is given to you in Christ Jesus,
5.because in every way, you are enriched in him in all speech and in all knowledge,
6.just as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
7.so that you are not lacking in any gift as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8.who shall also establish you until the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
¶10. I urge you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there not be divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11. For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12. What I mean is that each of you says, “I am of Paul”; “I am of Apollos”; “I am of Cephas”; “I am of Christ.”
13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14. I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
15.lest anyone should say that I baptized in my own name.
16. And I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.
17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect.
¶18. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
19. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intellectuals will I bring to nothing.”
20. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21. For when, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom did not know God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save those who believe.
22. For the Jews demand a sign, and Greeks search for wisdom;
23.but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks.
24. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.
25. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
¶26. You see your calling brothers, that not many are wise in the flesh, not many are powerful, not many are of noble birth.
27. On the contrary, God chose the foolish things of the world, that He might put to shame those who are wise, and God chose the weak things of the world that He might put the strong things to shame,
28.and God chose the base things of the world, and things that are despised, and things that are not, that He might bring to nothing the things that are,
29.so that no flesh might boast before God.
30. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
31.so that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
1Corinthians 2
¶1. Now, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with lofty speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4. And my message and my preaching were not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power,
5.so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
¶6. Yet, we do speak wisdom among those who are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world who are being brought to nothing.
7. Rather, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
8.which none of the rulers of this age understood, for had they understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
9.but as it is written, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11. For who among men knows the things of man except the spirit of man that is in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God.
12. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we might know the things freely given to us by God.
13. These things we also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the holy Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.
14. A natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot comprehend them because they are spiritually discerned.
15. But a spiritual person judges everything, yet he himself is judged by no one.
16. For “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who will instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1Corinthians 3
¶1. Now, brothers, I have not been able to speak to you as spiritual people but as carnal, as babies in Christ.
2. I gave you milk to drink, and not meat; for you were not yet able to take it. In fact, even now, you still are not able,
3.for you are still carnal. For as long as envy and strife and dissensions are among you, are you not carnal, and behave like a human?
4. For when one says, “I am of Paul”, and another, “I of Apollos”, are you not carnal?
5. Who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but servants through whom you believed, as the Lord appointed to each man?
6. I planted; Apollos watered; but God has been giving the growth.
7. So then, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God, who gives the growth.
8. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9. For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
¶10. According to the grace of God that is given to me as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each man take heed how he builds.
11. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12. If upon this foundation, anyone builds gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13.each man’s work shall be made manifest. The day of God will disclose it, for it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will prove each man’s work, what sort it is.
14. If anyone’s work which he has built survives, he shall receive a reward.
15. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
¶16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
¶18. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he might be wise.
19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness.”
20. And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
21. Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours,
22.whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things that are present, or things to come; all things are yours,
23.and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1Corinthians 4
¶1. Let a man think of us as assistants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2. And what is more, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful.
3. But to me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by any human judgment; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
4. I am conscious of nothing against myself; however, by that, I am not justified. The Lord is the one who judges me.
5. So, judge nothing before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and expose the intentions of hearts, and then from God will praise be given to each one.
¶6. These things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us, you may learn not to think of men beyond what is written, so that no one be puffed up for one against the other.
7. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why glory as if you did not receive it?
8. You are already full, already rich; you reign without us – and I wish you did reign so that we might reign with you.
9. For it seems to me that God has put us, the apostles, on display as the lowest of all, like men sentenced to death, for we are made a spectacle before the world, to both angels and men.
10. We are fools on account of Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are highly esteemed, but we are dishonored.
11. Until this very hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are beaten, and are homeless,
12.and we toil, laboring with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;
13.being slandered, we entreat; we have become, to this moment, like the scum of the world, the offscouring of all things.
¶14. I am not writing these things to shame you but to admonish you, as my dear children.
15. You may have countless tutors in Christ, but not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel.
16. So then, I urge you, be imitators of me.
17. This is why I sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, which I teach in every Assembly everywhere.
18. Now, some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
19. But I am coming to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I will know, not the talk of those who have become puffed up, but the power.
20. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
1Corinthians 5
¶1. An immorality among you is widely reported, and such an immorality that is not even mentioned among Gentiles, in that a man has his father’s wife!
2. And yet, you are puffed up, and have not mourned instead, so that the one who has done this deed might be put out from your midst.
3. As for me, absent in body but present in spirit, I have already judged, as if present, the one who has done such a thing.
4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you and my spirit are gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5.turn such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7. Purge out the old leaven so that you might be a new lump, since you are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us,
8.so that we might keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
¶9. In a letter, I wrote to you not to associate with immoral people,
10.and yet, by no means the immoral of this world, or the covetous, or swindlers, or idolaters; in that case, you would have to leave the world.
11. But I wrote to you meaning not to associate with anyone called a brother if he be immoral, or covetous, or idolatrous, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to eat with such a one.
12. For what have I to do with judging those outside the Assembly? Do you not judge those who are within?
13. But those outside, God will judge. So, put that wicked man out from among you!
1Corinthians 6
¶1. Does any one of you, having a dispute with another, dare to go before the unjust to be judged, and not before the saints?
2. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to judge the smallest matters?
3. Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more, then, matters of this life?
4. If you use law-courts for matters of this life, you are authorizing as judges those who have no standing in the Assembly.
5. I say this to your shame. Is it really so, that there is not a single wise man among you who is able to judge among his brothers?
6. Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!
7. Therefore, you have already suffered complete defeat because you have lawsuits against each other. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
8. Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat – and do these things to brothers!
9. Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor catamites, nor sodomites,
10.nor the greedy, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And some of you were these things; but you were washed; but you were sanctified; but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
¶12. All things are lawful for me, but not everything is beneficial; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought into subjection by anything.
13. Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. And the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;
14.and God has raised up the Lord, and shall raise us up by His power.
15. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Absolutely not!
16. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? For it says, “The two shall become one flesh.”
17. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man might commit is outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body.
19. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit that is in you, which you have from God? Moreover, you are not your own,
20.for you were bought with a price; so then, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1Corinthians 7
¶1. Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2. But to avoid fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5. Do not deprive one another, except it be by mutual consent for a time in order to devote yourselves to fasting and prayer; then, come together again so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
6. But I am saying this as a concession, not as a command.
7. I wish that all men were as I am; however, each has his own gift from God, one to be this way, and another that way.
¶8. So now, to the unmarried and the widows, I say it is good for them to remain unmarried, even as I am.
9. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.
10. And to those who are married, I give commandment (not I, but the Lord): a wife is not to separate from a husband.
11. But if she does separate, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to the husband, and a husband is not to divorce a wife.
12. And to the rest, I myself speak, not the Lord. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is pleased to dwell with him, he is not to leave her.
13. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is pleased to dwell with her, she is not to leave him.
14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise, your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not bound in such cases; but, God has called us to peace.
16. For, wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Or, husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
17. Only let each one live as God has apportioned, as the Lord has called each one. And this is what I command in all the Assemblies.
18. Is any man called being circumcised? His circumcision is not to be reversed. Is any man called being uncircumcised? He is not to be circumcised.
19. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God.
20. Each one is to remain in the calling in which he was called.
21. Were you called being a slave? Do not let it concern you; on the contrary, even if you are able to obtain freedom, use it all the more.[1]
22. For in the Lord, he who is called, being a slave, is the Lord’s freedman, and likewise, the free man who is called is Christ’s slave.
23. You are bought with a price; do not be slaves of men.
24. Each man, brothers, is to continue with God in the condition in which he was called.
¶25. Now concerning virgins, I have no directive from the Lord, but I give counsel as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful.
26. So then, I consider this to be right, in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man so to be.
27. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such will have trouble in the flesh; nevertheless, I spare you.
29. And this I say, brothers, the time is short. In remaining matters, it is that those who have wives are also as those not having them,
30.and those who weep as those not weeping, and those who rejoice as those not rejoicing, and those who buy as those not owning,
31.and those who use this world as those not making use of it, for the manner of this world is passing away.
32. I want you to be without anxiousness. The unmarried man is concerned for things of the Lord, how he will please the Lord,
33.but the married man is concerned about things of the world, how he will please his wife.
34. There is also a difference between a married woman and a virgin. The unmarried woman is concerned for things of the Lord so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned for things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35. I am saying this for your benefit, not to put restrictions on you, but that you might do what is proper and render constant service to the Lord without distraction.
36. Now, if anyone thinks he is behaving inappropriately concerning his virginity,[2] if he has strong passions, and if it must be that way, let him do what he wants. He is not sinning; let them marry.
37. But he does well who stands steadfast in heart, feeling no necessity, but has power over his own will and has determined in his heart to preserve his own virginity.
38. So then, he who marries does well, but he who does not marry does better.
39. A wife is bound to her husband by the law as long as her husband is alive, but if her husband passes away, she is free to marry whom she will, only in the Lord.
40. But she is more blessed if she remains as she is, in my judgment. And I think I also have the Spirit of God.
1Corinthians 8
¶1. Now, concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
2. And if anyone thinks he knows anything, he still knows nothing as he should know.
3. (But if anyone loves God, the same is known by Him.)
4. Now, concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one.
5. For even if there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many gods and many lords);
6.yet, for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him, and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we exist by him.
7. However, this knowledge is not in everyone. But some, with conscience of the idols, still eat it as a thing offered to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8. But food does not bring us close to God. We are neither better if we eat nor worse if we do not eat.
9. But beware, lest this privilege of yours become a stumbling block to the weak.
10. For if someone should see you who has knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat what is offered to idols?
11. And then, will not the weak brother, for whom Christ died, be destroyed by your knowledge?
12. In sinning thus against brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
13. Wherefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, lest I cause my brother to stumble.
1Corinthians 9
¶1. 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?
2. If to others I am not an apostle, yet I certainly am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3. My answer to those who examine me is this.
4. Do we not have authority to eat and drink freely?
5. Do we not have authority to take along a married sister, as also the rest of the apostles do, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6. Or do Barnabas and I alone have no right to refrain from working?
7. Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink of the milk from the flock?
8. Am I saying these things on human authority, or does not the law also say these things?
9. For in the law of Moses it is written, “Do not muzzle an ox when he is treading out the grain.” Is God concerned about oxen?
10. Or is He not speaking altogether for our sake? For our sake it was written, because the one who plows ought to plow in hope, and the one who threshes in hope ought to partake of his hope.
11. If we have sown spiritual things in you, is it a great thing if we reap material things from you?
12. If others are partaking of this authority over you, should we not, instead? Nevertheless, we have not used this authority; on the contrary, we endure all things, lest we cause any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
13. Do you not know that those who labor about the temple eat from the temple, and that those who tend to the altar partake of sacrifices with the altar?
14. Just so, the Lord has also ordained that they who proclaim the gospel should live from the gospel.
15. But I have used none of these things, and I did not write these things so that it might be so with me, for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting empty!
16. If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, for I am under an obligation. Woe be to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17. If I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am still assigned a stewardship.
18. What, then, is my reward? That in preaching the gospel, I may provide the gospel of Christ free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19. Although I am free from all, I make myself a slave to all so that I might gain the more.
20. To the Jews, I became like a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to those under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those under the law;
21.to those without the law, I became like one without the law (not being lawless before God, but under the law in Christ), that I might gain those without the law.
22. To the weak, I became like the weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
23. I do this for the sake of the gospel, so that I might be a partaker of it with others.
24. Do you not know that all of those who race in a stadium are running, but one takes the prize? Run like that, so that you might win the prize.
25. Every one who competes exercises self-control in all things; however, these do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible one.
26. So, thus do I run, not aimlessly, and thus do I box, not punching air.
27. On the contrary, I discipline my body and make it obey, lest after I have preached to others, I myself be rejected.
1Corinthians 10
¶1. I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2.and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3.and all ate the same spiritual food,
4.and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ.
5. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the desert.
6. Now, these things happened as examples for us, that we should not desire evil things, as those people did.
7. Neither be idolators, as were some of them, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
8. Nor let us commit fornication, as some of them did, and there fell, in one day, twenty-three thousand.
9. Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.
10. And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
11. Now, all these things happened to them as examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have met.
12. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
13. No trial has overtaken you but what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tried beyond what you can bear, but He will also with the trial make a way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it.
¶14. Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15. I speak as to wise men; judge what I say.
16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?
17. For we, being many, are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18. Consider the fleshly Israel. Are not they who eat the sacrifices partakers with the altar?
19. What then am I saying? That an idol is anything? Or that food offered to idols is anything?
20. On the contrary, I am saying that the things Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to be partakers with demons.
21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
¶23. Everything is lawful for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is lawful, but not everything edifies.
24. Let no one seek his own good, but each the good of the other.
25. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking nothing for conscience’ sake,
26.for “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
27. If one of the unbelievers gives you an invitation, and you want to go, eat whatever is placed before you, asking nothing for conscience’ sake.
28. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered to an idol,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake, for “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
29. Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other person. For why is my liberty determined by someone else’s conscience?
30. If I partake with thankfulness, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I am giving thanks?
31. Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or do anything, do it all for the glory of God.
32. Give no offense, whether to Jews, or Greeks, or to the Assembly of God,
33.just as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own benefit, but that of many, that they might be saved.
1Corinthians 11
¶1. Be followers of me, just as I also follow Christ.
¶2. I commend you, brothers, because you remember me in all things, and you hold firm the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
3. I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
4. Every man, having his head covered while praying or prophesying, dishonors his head.
5. And every woman, having her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as having her head shaved.
6. For if a woman is not covered, let her also have her hair cut. But if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or be shaved, let her be covered.
7. For a man certainly should not cover his head, being the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
8. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
9. Neither was a man created for the woman, but a woman was created for the man.
10. For this reason, the woman should have authority on her head because of the angels.
11. Nevertheless, in the Lord, the man is not without the woman, neither the woman without the man.
12. For just as the woman was made from the man, so also the man comes through the woman; but all things are from God.
13. Judge for yourselves: Is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God uncovered?
14. Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him?
15. But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is given to her as a covering.
16. But if anyone is inclined to be contentious about it, we have no such custom, nor do the Assemblies of God.
¶17. Now, in the following instruction, I do not praise you, for you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18. For, first of all, when you come together as an Assembly, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it.
19. For it is necessary that there be factions among you so that those among you who are approved by God might be made manifest.
20. So then, when you meet together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
21. For in eating, each goes ahead and eats his own supper first, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk.
22. What? Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the Assembly of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
23. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
24.and when he had offered thanks, he broke it and said, “Take and eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25. Likewise, after supper he also took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26. So it is, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he come.
27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a manner unworthy of the Lord shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28. Let a man examine himself; only then is he to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29. For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30. Because of this, many are feeble and sick among you, and quite a few have fallen asleep.
31. If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
32. But when we are judged, we are being chastened by the Lord so that we might not be condemned along with the world.
33. So then, my brothers, when coming together to eat, wait for one another.
34. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together into condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
1Corinthians 12
¶1. Now concerning things of the Spirit, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
2. You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led, but misled, to voiceless idols.
3. Wherefore, I give you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God is saying, “Cursed be Jesus.” And no one is able to say, “Lord Jesus,” but by the holy Spirit.
¶4. Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,
5.and there are varieties of ministries, and yet, the same Lord,
6.and there are varieties of operations, but it is the same God who is operating everything in everybody.
7. And to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8. For through the Spirit is given to one a word of wisdom; and to another, by the same Spirit, a word of knowledge;
9.and to someone else, faith by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10.and to another, the operation of miracles; and to another, prophesying; and to another, discernment of spirits; and to someone else, various kinds of tongues; and to another, interpretation of tongues;
11.but the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one his own part, as it will.
¶12. For just as the body is one, and yet has many members, and all the members of the one body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13. For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and all were given to drink of one Spirit.
14. For the body is not one member, but many.
15. If the foot says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not a hand,” does that mean it is not a part of the body?
16. And if the ear says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not an eye,” does that mean it is not part of the body?
17. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be?
18. But as it is, God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as He pleases.
19. If everything was one member, where would the body be?
20. But now, there are indeed many members, but one body.
21. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you”; nor, again, the head to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22. Very much to the contrary, the members of the body which seem to be weaker are needed,
23.and those parts of the body that we consider to be indecent, we make the more presentable, and so our shameful parts have greater presentability.
24. But our presentable members have no need. On the other hand, God has blended the body together by giving more respectability to the needy part,
25.so that there might be no divisions in the body, but that members might have the same concern for one another.
26. And then, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27. You, yourselves, are the body of Christ and, individually, members of it.
28. And those whom God has placed most prominently in the Assembly are apostles, secondly, prophets, thirdly, teachers, then miracle-workers, then gifts of healing, helps, management of affairs, and various kinds of tongues.
29. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle-workers?
30. Does everyone have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
31. Earnestly seek the greater gifts. And yet, I show you a far better way.
1Corinthians 13
¶1. If I speak in the languages of men and of angels, yet I do not have love, I am become like a noisy brass gong or a clanging cymbal.
2. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and if I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3. Even if I give away all that I own, and even if I hand over my body to be burned up, and have not love, it does me no good.
4. Love is patient and is kind; love does not envy; love is not boastful; nor is it puffed up;
5.nor is it indecent; nor does it seek its own; nor is it short-tempered; nor does it keep an account of wrong;
6.nor does it rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7.it quietly bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things.
8. Love never fails. But whether there be prophecies, they will come to an end; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will pass away.
9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,
10.but when that which is perfect comes, that which is in part shall be done away.
11. When I was a child, I spoke like a child; I thought like a child; I reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
12. For now we see as in a mirror with a dim reflection, but then, face to face. Now I know in part, but then, I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known.
13. But for now, these three remain: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.
1Corinthians 14
¶1. Pursue love, yet earnestly desire the things of the Spirit, especially that you may prophesy.
2. For he who speaks in a tongue is speaking not to men but to God, for no one understands, but he is speaking mysteries in the Spirit.
3. But the one who prophesies is speaking edification, and comfort, and encouragement to men.
4. The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies an Assembly.
5. I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more that you prophesy, for the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the Assembly might receive edification.
6. Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophecy, or by doctrine?
7. Even with lifeless instruments making sound, be it flute or lyre, if I make no distinction in the notes, how will it be known what is played on the flute or lyre?
8. And if a trumpet gives an unclear sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
9. And so it is with you. Unless with the tongue you give an intelligible message, how will what is spoken be understood? You are just talking to the air.
10. There are, as it were, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them void of meaning.
11. If, then, I do not know the meaning of the voice, I am a foreigner to the one who is speaking, and the one who is speaking is a foreigner to me.
12. And so it is with you. Since you are zealots for spiritual things, seek to abound in them for the edification of the Assembly.
13. Wherefore, let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he might interpret.
14. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is praying, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15. How is it, then? I will pray in the Spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding; I will sing in the Spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
16. Otherwise, if you give thanks in the Spirit, how will the one who occupies the place of the ignorant say, “Amen” to your thanksgiving, inasmuch as he does not know what you are saying?
17. For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18. I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than all of you;
19.however, in an Assembly, I prefer to speak five words with my understanding so that I might benefit others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
¶20. Brothers, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be children in evil, and in thinking, be mature.
21. In the law it is written, “With strange tongues and other lips will I speak to this people, and even at that, they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”
22. This means that tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to those who do not believe. Prophecy, however, is not for those who do not believe but for those who believe.
23. So then, if the whole Assembly comes together in the same place and everyone speaks in tongues, when ignorant or unbelieving people come in, will they not say that you have lost your mind?
24. But if all prophesy, and there come in someone unbelieving or ignorant, he is exposed by all; he is discerned by all.
25. Thus, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring, “God is certainly among you!”
¶26. How is it then, brothers? When you come together, each of you has a song of praise, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let everything be done for edification.
27. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two, or at the most, three, each in turn, and let one interpret,
28.but if there be no interpreter, let him be silent in an Assembly, but let him speak to himself and to God.
29. Let two or three prophets speak, and then let the others judge.
30. And if a revelation is given to another sitting there, let the first one be silent.
31. For you can all prophesy, in turn, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
32. And so, the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
33. For God is not the God of disorder but of peace, as in all the Assemblies of the saints.
¶34. Your wives are to be silent in the Assemblies, for it is not permitted for them to speak but to be in submission, as the law says also.
35. If they would learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to speak in an Assembly.
36. Is it from you that the word of God came forth? Or did it come only to you?
¶37. If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things I am writing to you, that they are the Lord’s commandments.
38. But if anyone disregards these commandments, let him be disregarded.
¶39. So then, brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues.
40. Let everything be done decently and in order.
1Corinthians 15
¶1. Now, I remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2.by which also you are being saved if you are holding fast that message which I preached to you; otherwise, you believed in vain.
3. Among the first things I delivered to you, which I also received, is that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures,
4.and that he was buried, and that he was raised the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures,
5.and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve;
6.afterward, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time (most of whom remain alive until now, though some have fallen asleep);
7.next, he appeared to James, and after that, to all the apostles;
8.and last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he appeared also to me.
9. I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Assembly of God.
10. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace toward me has not been in vain; on the contrary, I have labored more abundantly than all of them, and yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
11. Therefore, whether I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
¶12. Now, if Christ is preached, that he is raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen,
14.and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.
15. And we are found also to be false witnesses of God because we have borne witness, as being from God, that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up if, in fact, the dead are not raised.
16. For if the dead are not raised, neither is Christ risen;
17.and if Christ is not risen, your faith is pointless; you are still in your sins.
18. And in that case, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
¶20. But Christ is, in fact, raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who sleep.
21. For since death came by a man, resurrection from the dead also came by a man.
22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
23. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then they who belong to Christ at his coming.
24. Then comes the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has done away with all government, and all authority, and power.
25. For he must reign until He puts all his enemies under his feet.
26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27. For “He has subdued all things under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are subdued”, it is obvious that He who subdued all things under him is an exception.
28. And when all things are subdued under him, then will the Son himself submit to Him who subdued all things under him, that God might be all things to all people.
¶29. Otherwise, what shall they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not at all raised, then why are they baptized for the dead?
30. And why do we face danger every hour?
31. I die daily, as assuredly as the boast which I have concerning you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32. If I have fought with beasts (humanly speaking) in Ephesus, what good is it to me if the dead do not rise? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
33. Do not be deceived; bad companions corrupt good manners.
34. Sober up, as is right, and stop sinning! For some do not have the knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
¶35. Still, someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come forth?”
36. You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies,
37.and that which you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but bare grain, be it of wheat or of some other seed;
38.then God gives it a body as it pleases Him, and to each of the seeds, its own body.
39. Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one kind for humans, another flesh for land animals, another for fish, and another for birds.
40. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one sort, and that of the earthly, another.
41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42. The resurrection from the dead is the same way. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption;
43.it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power;
44.it is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a physical body, and there is a spiritual body.
45. As also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46. However, the spiritual was not first, but the physical; then the spiritual.
47. The first man was from the earth, made of dirt; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48. As is the earthly, so also are those who are earthly; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are of heaven,
49.and as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly.
¶50. This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51. Behold, I am telling you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed
52.in an instant, at the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54. And when this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death is swallowed up in victory.
55.O Death! Where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,
57.but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58. So then, my dearly loved brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord always, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1Corinthians 16
¶1. Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the Assemblies of Galatia, so you also are to do.
2. On the first day of the week, let each one of you put something aside at home, storing up whatever surplus he has, so that there be no collections made when I come.
3. And when I arrive, those whom you recommend by letters will I send to take your gift to Jerusalem,
4.and if it seems advisable for me to make the journey also, they will go with me.
5. Now, I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia,
6.and if possible, I will stay on with you, perhaps even to spend the winter, so that you may help me on my way, wherever I may go.
7. I do not want to see you this time merely in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permit.
8. But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost,
9.for a great and effectual door is opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
¶10. If Timothy comes, see that he is among you without fear, for he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am.
11. Therefore, let no one show him disrespect, but help him on his journey in peace so that he may come to me, for I am waiting for him with the brothers.
12. As regards brother Apollos, I urged him greatly that he come to you with the brothers, and yet, it was not at all his will that he should come at this time, but he will come when he has opportunity.
¶13. Be alert; stand firm in the faith; be manly; be strong!
14. Let everything about you be done with love.
¶15. I exhort you, brothers – you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and they have placed themselves at the service of the saints –
16.that you submit to such, as well as to everyone who labors and toils with us.
17. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus because they have made up for your absence.
18. They have refreshed my spirit as well as yours; therefore, acknowledge such men.
¶19. The Assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla, along with the Assembly in their home, send you warm greetings in the Lord.
20. All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
¶21. The greeting of Paul, by my own hand.
22. If anyone feels no affection for the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Maranatha![3]
23. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
24. My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Footnotes
[1] Or, “but and if you can obtain your freedom, use it rather.”
[2] Or, “toward his [female] virgin”
[3] “Our Lord, come!”, “Our Lord will come”, or possibly, “Our Lord has come.”