1 Corinthians 1

1I am Paul. God chose me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Our brother Sosthenes joins me in writing this letter.

2We are writing to the church of God in Corinth. God made you holy through Christ Jesus. He called you to be His special holy people. We also write to everyone everywhere who calls on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

3May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

4I always thank my God for you, because of the grace God has given you in Christ Jesus.

5In Him you have been made rich in every way, in all your speaking and all your knowledge,

6because what we told you about Christ was proven true in you.

7So you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to appear.

8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be without blame on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9God is faithful. He is the One who called you to share life with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10Brothers and sisters, I make a serious appeal to you. I speak in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please agree with one another. Stop arguing and dividing the church! Be completely united in what you think and believe.

11My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have told me that there is quarreling among you.

12What I mean is this: some of you say, I follow Paul. Others say, I follow Apollos. Others say, I follow Peter. And others say, I follow Christ.

13Is Christ divided? Was Paul nailed to the cross for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

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

16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not remember baptizing anyone else.)

17Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the good news. I do not preach with clever words. Clever words would rob the cross of Christ of its power.

18The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

19For the Scripture says: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will set aside the cleverness of the clever.

20Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the great debater of this age? Has God not shown that the world's wisdom is foolish?

21For in His wisdom, God made sure that the world could not know Him through its own wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the “foolish” message we preach.

22Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,

23We preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. This message offends Jewish people. And other nations think this message is totally foolish.

24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

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

26Brothers and sisters, think about what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth.

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

28God chose people who are poor and looked down on. He chose people the world thinks are completely worthless. God did this to wipe out what the world calls important.

29so that no one can brag in God's presence.

30God united you with Christ Jesus. Christ became true wisdom from God for us. Through Christ, God makes us right with Himself. He makes us holy, and He sets us free!

31So, as the Scripture says: Whoever wants to brag should brag about the Lord.