1 Corinthians 1:29

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
so that no one may boast in his presence.

King James Version (1611)
That no flesh should glory in his presence.

King James Version
That no flesh should glory in his presence.

English Standard Version
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

New American Standard Bible
so that no human may boast before God.

New Century Version
God did this so that no one can brag in his presence.

Amplified Bible
so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
so that no man may boast before God.

Legacy Standard Bible
so that no flesh may boast before God.

Berean Standard Bible
so that no one may boast in His presence.

Contemporary English Version
God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him.

Complete Jewish Bible
so that no one should boast before God.

Darby Translation
so that no flesh should boast before God.

Easy-to-Read Version
God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast about anything.

Geneva Bible (1587)
That no flesh shoulde reioyce in his presence.

George Lamsa Translation
So that no man should boast in his presence.

Good News Translation
This means that no one can boast in God's presence.

Lexham English Bible
so that all flesh may not boast before God.

Literal Translation
so that no flesh might glory in His presence.

American Standard Version
that no flesh should glory before God.

Bible in Basic English
So that no flesh might have glory before God.

Hebrew Names Version
that no flesh should boast before God.

International Standard Version
so that no human beingno flesh">[fn] may boast in God's presence.Romans 3:27; Ephesians 2:9;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
that no flesh may boast before him.

Murdock Translation
so that no flesh might, glory before him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
That no fleshe shoulde reioyce in his presence.

English Revised Version
that no flesh should glory before God.

World English Bible
that no flesh should boast before God.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who is made by God unto us wisdom,

Weymouth's New Testament
to prevent any mortal man from boasting in the presence of God.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that ech man haue not glorie in his siyt.

Update Bible Version
that no flesh should glory before God.

Webster's Bible Translation
That no flesh should glory in his presence.

New English Translation
so that no one can boast in his presence.

New King James Version
that no flesh should glory in His presence.

New Living Translation
As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

New Life Bible
In that way, no man can be proud as he stands before God.

New Revised Standard
so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So that no flesh should boast before God.

Douay-Rheims Bible
That no flesh should glory in his sight.

Revised Standard Version
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
that no flesshe shulde reioyce in his presence.

Young's Literal Translation
that no flesh may glory before Him;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
that no flesh shulde reioyse in his presence.

Mace New Testament (1729)
that no man might glory before God;

Simplified Cowboy Version
He did all this to humble every single one of us. Ain't none of us can stand before him and brag about who we are.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words. ¹⁸The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It's written, I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots. So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation. ²²While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness." ²⁶Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Corinthians 1:31, 1 Corinthians 4:7, 1 Corinthians 5:6, Psalms 49:6, Isaiah 10:15, Jeremiah 9:23, Romans 3:19, Romans 3:27, Romans 4:2, Romans 15:17, Ephesians 2:9

Reciprocal: Judges 7:2 - Israel 2 Chronicles 25:19 - to boast Psalms 44:8 - In God Psalms 105:3 - Glory Isaiah 2:11 - and the Lord Zechariah 4:10 - despised Matthew 19:27 - what Luke 18:12 - fast 2 Corinthians 10:17 - General Galatians 6:14 - that I Philippians 3:3 - rejoice Colossians 3:11 - but

Cross-References

Genesis 1:14
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.

Genesis 1:16
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.

Genesis 1:24
God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds." And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26
God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Genesis 2:16
God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."

Psalms 24:1
A David Psalm God claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it. He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.

1 Timothy 6:17
Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That no flesh should glory in his presence. That is, "in the presence of God", as some copies, and the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read; not in their blood, birth, families, lineage, and natural descent; nor in their might, power, and dominion; nor in their riches, wealth, and substance; nor in their wisdom, learning, and parts: for however these may be gloried in before men, yet not before God. These are of no account with him, nor will they be regarded by him, or men on account of them; and he has taken a method in choosing and calling the reverse of these, to stain the glory of all flesh, that no man may attribute his salvation to any thing of the creature, but wholly to the sovereign grace and good pleasure of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That no flesh - That no person; no class of people. The word “flesh” is often thus used to denote human beings. Matthew 24:22; Luke 3:6; John 17:2; Acts 2:17; 1 Peter 1:24; etc.

Should glory - Should boast; Romans 3:27.

In his presence - Before him. That man should really have nothing of which to boast; but that the whole scheme should be adapted to humble and subdue him. On these verses we may observe:

(1) That it is to be expected that the great mass of Christian converts will be found among those who are of humble life - and it may be observed also, that true virtue and excellence; sincerity and amiableness; honesty and sincerity, are usually found there also.

(2) That while the mass of Christians are found there, there are also those of noble birth, and rank, and wealth, who become Christians. The aggregate of those who from elevated ranks and distinguished talents have become Christians, has not been small. It is sufficient to refer to such names as Pascal, and Bacon, and Boyle, and Newton, and Locke, and Hale, and Wilberforce, to show that religion can command the homage of the most illustrious genius and rank.

(3) The reasons why those of rank and wealth do not become Christians, are many and obvious:

1. They are beset with special temptations.
1. They are usually satisfied with rank, and wealth, and do not feel their need of a hope of heaven.
2. They are surrounded with objects which flatter their vanity, which minister to their pride, and which throw them into the circle of alluring and tempting pleasures.
3. They are drawn away from the means of grace and the places of prayer, by fashion, by business, by temptation.
4. There is something about the pride of learning and philosophy, which usually makes those who possess it unwilling to sit at the feet of Christ; to acknowledge their dependence on any power; and to confess that they are poor, and needy, and blind, and naked before God.

(4) The gospel is designed to produce humility, and to place all people on a level in regard to salvation. There is no royal way to the favor of God. No monarch is saved because he is a monarch; no philosopher because he is a philosopher; no rich man because he is rich; no poor man because he is poor. All are placed on a level. All are to be saved in the same way. All are to become willing to give the entire glory to God. All are to acknowledge him as providing the plan, and as furnishing the grace that is needful for salvation. God’s design is to bring down the pride of man, and to produce everywhere a willingness to acknowledge him as the fountain of blessings and the God of all.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 29. That no flesh should glory — God does his mighty works in such a way as proves that though he may condescend to employ men as instruments, yet they have no part either in the contrivance or energy by which such works are performed.