Read the Bible

¹ From[fn] Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus[fn] by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes,[xr] ² to the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy,[fn] together with all those everywhere who continually call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord[fn] and ours.[xr] ³ May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be yours![xr] ⁴ I always thank my[fn] God for you because of the grace of God given you in Christ Jesus.[xr] ⁵ For in him you have become rich in every way - in speech and knowledge of every kind.[xr] ⁶ In this way, our testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you.[xr] ⁷ Therefore, you don't lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.[xr] ⁸ He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.[xr] ⁹ Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.[xr]

¹⁰ Brothers, I urge all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in agreement[fn] and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions.[xr] ¹¹ My brothers, some members of Chloe's family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas,"[fn] or "I belong to Christ."[xr] ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Paul wasn't crucified for you, was he? You weren't baptized in Paul's name, were you?[xr]

¹⁴ I thank God[fn] that I did not baptize any of you except Chrispus and Gaius,[xr] ¹⁵ lest anyone can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanus. Beyond that, I'm not sure whether I baptized anyone else.)[xr]

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.[xr] ¹⁸ For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved.[xr] ¹⁹ For it is written,[xr] "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject."[fn] ²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn't he?[xr] ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God decided through the nonsense of our preaching to save those who believe.[xr] ²² Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,[xr] ²³ but we preach Christ crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to Gentiles,[xr] ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom.[xr] ²⁵ For God's nonsense is wiser than human wisdom,[fn] and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.[fn] ²⁶ Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,[fn] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.[xr] ²⁷ But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed.[xr] ²⁸ And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something,[xr] ²⁹ so that no human being[fn] may boast in God's presence.[xr] ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in union with Christ Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.[xr] ³¹ Therefore, as it is written, "The person who boasts must boast in the Lord."[fn][xr]