Greeting

11Paul, ^acalled ^bby the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those ^csanctified in Christ Jesus, ^dcalled to be saints together with all those who in every place ^ecall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3^dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

4I ^fgive thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,

5that in every way ^gyou were enriched in him in all ^hspeech and all knowledge

6even as ⁱthe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you

7so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you ^jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8^kwho will sustain you to the end, ^lguiltless ^min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9ⁿGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the ^ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10I appeal to you, brothers,¹ by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no ^pdivisions among you, but that you be united ^qin the same mind and the same judgment.

11For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is ^rquarreling among you, my brothers.

12What I mean is that ^seach one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow ^tApollos,” or “I follow ^uCephas,” or “I follow Christ.”

13^vIs Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you ^wbaptized in the name of Paul?

14I thank God that I baptized none of you except ^xCrispus and ^yGaius,

15so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.

16(I did baptize also ^zthe household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and ^anot with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18For the word of the cross is ^bfolly to ^cthose who are perishing, but to us ^dwho are being saved it is ^ethe power of God.

19For it is written,

^f“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

  and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20^gWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^hHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach² to save those who believe.

22For ⁱJews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

23but we preach Christ ^jcrucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^kthe power of God and ^lthe wisdom of God.

25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26For consider your calling, brothers: ^mnot many of you were wise according to worldly standards,³ not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27But ⁿGod chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^oGod chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^pthings that are not, to ^qbring to nothing things that are,

29so ^rthat no human being⁴ might boast in the presence of God.

30And because of him⁵ you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^swisdom from God, ^trighteousness and ^usanctification and ^vredemption,

31so that, as it is written, ^w“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”