Greetings

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

²to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:

³Grace and peace to y’all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving Prayer

⁴I always thank my God concerning y’all for the grace of God that was given to y’all in Christ Jesus,

⁵For in him y’all were enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,

⁶even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in y’all,

⁷so that y’all do not lack in any gift, as y’all wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸He will also establish y’all until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful, through whom y’all were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰Now I urge y’all, siblings, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that y’all agree with one another and that there be no divisions among y’all, but that y’all be perfected together in the same mind and in the same opinion.

¹¹For members of Chloe’s household have informed me concerning y’all, my siblings, that there is infighting among y’all.

¹²Now I mean this, that one of y’all says, “I follow Paul,” another, “I follow Apollos,” another, “I follow Cephas,” and another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for y’all? Or were y’all baptized into the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of y’all except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so that no one can say that y’all were baptized in my name.

¹⁶(I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Otherwise, I don’t know if I baptized any others.)

¹⁷For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent words, lest the cross of Christ be made void.

The Wisdom of God in the Cross

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.

I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of this world foolish?

²¹For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the ethnic groups.

²⁴Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

²⁵because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Consider y’all’s calling, siblings. Not many were wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

²⁸God chose the lowly things of the world, the despised things, the things that don’t exist, in order to nullify what does exist,

²⁹so that no flesh can boast before God.

³⁰It is because of him that y’all are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

³¹so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord [YHWH].”[#Jeremiah 9:24]