| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. | 1From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, |
| 2I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. | 2to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call 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. Paul Gives Thanks to God | 3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! |
| 4I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. | 4I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. |
| 5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. | 5For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge-- |
| 6This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. | 6just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you-- |
| 7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 7so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 8He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. | 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 9God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Divisions in the Church | 9God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| 10I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. | 10I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose. |
| 11For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. | 11For members of Chloe's household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. |
| 12Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter, ” or “I follow only Christ.” | 12Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," or "I am with Apollos," or "I am with Cephas," or "I am with Christ." |
| 13Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! | 13Is Christ divided? Paul wasn't crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul? |
| 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, | 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, |
| 15for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. | 15so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! |
| 16(Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) | 16(I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) |
| 17For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. The Wisdom of God | 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. |
| 18The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. | 18For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. |
| 19As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” | 19For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent." |
| 20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. | 20Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? |
| 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. | 21For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. |
| 22It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. | 22For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, |
| 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. | 23but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. |
| 24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. | 24But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. |
| 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. | 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. |
| 26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. | 26Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. |
| 27Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. | 27But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. |
| 28God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. | 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, |
| 29As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. | 29so that no one can boast in his presence. |
| 30God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. | 30He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, |
| 31Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” | 31so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." |
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