Chapter 1

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

to the church of God at Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints with all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place---their Lord as well as ours.

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gifts of God

I give thanks to my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

because in everything you have been enriched in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge;

even as the witness to the Christ has been made so firm in you

that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who will also keep you secure unto the end, unimpeachable in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is trustworthy, by him you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Nature of the Division

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing; and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment.

For I have been informed about you, my brethren, by those of the house of Chloe, that there are strifes among you.

Now this is what I mean: each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.

Has Christ been divided up? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius,

lest anyone should say that you were baptized in my name.

I baptized also the household of Stephanas, I am not aware of having baptized anyone else. Salvation Not by Wisdom of Words

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made void.

For the doctrine of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, but to those who are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God.

For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject."

Where is the "wise man"? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputant of this world? Has not God turned to foolishness the "wisdom" of this world?

For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not come to know God by "wisdom," it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save those who believe.

For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks look for "wisdom";

but we, for our part, preach a crucified Christ---to the Jews indeed a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles foolishness,

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Their Case an Example

For consider your own call, brethren; that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

But the foolish things of the world has God chosen to put to shame the "wise," and the weak things of the world has God chosen to put to shame the strong,

and the base things of the world and the despised has God chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are;

lest any flesh should pride itself before him.

From him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us God-given wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption;

so that, just as it is written, "Let him who takes pride, take pride in the Lord."