1 Korintus 1:5-7

1:5 For you were made rich ¹  in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge ²  – 1:6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you – 1:7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation ³  of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Korintus 1:6

1:6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you –

1 Korintus 1:1-31

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴  called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ⁵  by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, 1:2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, ⁶  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. ⁷  1:3 Grace and peace to you ⁸  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving

1:4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 1:5 For you were made rich ⁹  in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge ¹⁰  – 1:6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you – 1:7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation ¹¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:8 He ¹²  will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

1:10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹³  by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, ¹⁴  to end your divisions, ¹⁵  and to be united by the same mind and purpose. ¹⁶  1:11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁷  that there are quarrels ¹⁸  among you. 1:12 Now I mean this, that ¹⁹  each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” 1:13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? ²⁰  Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul? ²¹  1:14 I thank God ²²  that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 1:15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 1:16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 1:17 For 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. ²³ 

The Message of the Cross

1:18 For 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. 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” ²⁴  1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? ²⁵  Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 1:21 For 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. 1:22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 1:23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, ²⁶  a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 1:24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, ²⁷  and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. ²⁸ 

1:26 Think about the circumstances of your call, ²⁹  brothers and sisters. ³⁰  Not many were wise by human standards, ³¹  not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. ³²  1:27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 1:28 God chose ³³  what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 1:29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 1:30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, ³⁴  who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1:31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ³⁵ 

1 Korintus 7:23

7:23 You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.

1 Korintus 7:10

7:10 To the married I give this command – not I, but the Lord ³⁶  – a wife should not divorce a husband

1 Korintus 16:1-24

A Collection to Aid Jewish Christians

16:1 With regard to the collection for the saints, please follow the directions that I gave to the churches of Galatia: ³⁷  16:2 On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside some income ³⁸  and save ³⁹  it to the extent that God has blessed you, ⁴⁰  so that a collection will not have to be made ⁴¹  when I come. 16:3 Then, when I arrive, I will send those whom you approve with letters of explanation to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴²  16:4 And if it seems advisable that I should go also, they will go with me.

Paul’s Plans to Visit

16:5 But I will come to you after I have gone through Macedonia – for I will be going through Macedonia – 16:6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you can send me on my journey, wherever I go. 16:7 For I do not want to see you now in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows. 16:8 But I will stay in Ephesus ⁴³  until Pentecost, 16:9 because a door of great opportunity stands wide open for me, ⁴⁴  but there are many opponents.

16:10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I am too. 16:11 So then, let no one treat him with contempt. But send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me. For I am expecting him with the brothers. ⁴⁵ 

16:12 With regard to our brother Apollos: I strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers, ⁴⁶  but it was simply not his intention to come now. ⁴⁷  He will come when he has the opportunity.

Final Challenge and Blessing

16:13 Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. 16:14 Everything you do should be done in love.

16:15 Now, brothers and sisters, ⁴⁸  you know about the household of Stephanus, that as the first converts ⁴⁹  of Achaia, they devoted themselves to ministry for the saints. I urge you 16:16 also to submit to people like this, and to everyone who cooperates in the work and labors hard. 16:17 I was glad about the arrival of Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus because they have supplied the fellowship with you that I lacked. ⁵⁰  16:18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours. So then, recognize people like this.

16:19 The churches in the province of Asia ⁵¹  send greetings to you. Aquila and Prisca ⁵²  greet ⁵³  you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house. 16:20 All the brothers and sisters ⁵⁴  send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

16:21 I, Paul, send this greeting with my own hand.

16:22 Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come! ⁵⁵ 

16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

16:24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. ⁵⁶ 

1 Korintus 15:3

15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance ⁵⁷  what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

[1:5]  ¹ sn Made rich refers to how God richly blessed the Corinthians with an abundance of spiritual gifts (cf. v. 7).

[1:5]  ² sn Speech and knowledge refer to the spiritual gifts God had blessed them with (as v. 7 confirms). Paul will discuss certain abuses of their gifts in chapters 12-14, but he thanks God for their giftedness.

[1:7]  ³ sn The revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the Lord’s return, when he will be revealed (cf. the reference to the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in v. 8).

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

[1:2]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “theirs and ours.”

[1:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:5]  ⁹ sn Made rich refers to how God richly blessed the Corinthians with an abundance of spiritual gifts (cf. v. 7).

[1:5]  ¹⁰ sn Speech and knowledge refer to the spiritual gifts God had blessed them with (as v. 7 confirms). Paul will discuss certain abuses of their gifts in chapters 12-14, but he thanks God for their giftedness.

[1:7]  ¹¹ sn The revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the Lord’s return, when he will be revealed (cf. the reference to the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in v. 8).

[1:8]  ¹² tn Grk “who,” referring to Christ. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “that you all say the same thing.”

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that there be no divisions among you.”

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “that you be united in/by the same mind and in/by the same purpose.”

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”

[1:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “And I say this because.”

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “was he?”).

[1:13]  ²¹ tn This third question marks a peak in which Paul’s incredulity at the Corinthians’ attitude is in focus. The words “in fact” have been supplied in the translation to make this rhetorical juncture clear.

[1:14]  ²² tc The oldest and most important witnesses to this text, as well as a few others (א* B 6 1739 sa^ms bo^pt), lack the words τῷ θεῷ (tw qew, “God”), while the rest have them. An accidental omission could well account for the shorter reading, especially since θεῷ would have been written as a nomen sacrum (eucaristwtwqMw). However, one might expect to see, in some mss at least, a dropping of the article but not the divine name. Internally, the Pauline introductory thanksgivings elsewhere always include τῷ θεῷ after εὐχαριστῶ (eucaristw, “I thank”; cf. Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Phlm 4; in the plural, note Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2). However, both the fact that this is already used in 1 Cor 1:4 (thus perhaps motivating scribes to add it ten verses later), and that in later portions of his letters Paul does not consistently use the collocation of εὐχαριστῶ with τῷ θεῷ (Rom 16:4; 1 Cor 10:30), might give one pause. Still, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see a sentence begin with εὐχαριστῶ without an accompanying τῷ θεῷ. A decision is difficult, but on balance it is probably best to retain the words.

[1:17]  ²³ tn Grk “would not be emptied.”

[1:19]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 29:14.

[1:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the scribe.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the Mosaic law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[1:23]  ²⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; Grk “preach Christ [Messiah] crucified,” giving the content of the message.

[1:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “than men.”

[1:25]  ²⁸ tn Grk “than men.”

[1:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”

[1:26]  ³⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[1:26]  ³² tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenh") refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.

[1:28]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:30]  ³⁴ tn Grk “of him you are in Christ Jesus.”

[1:31]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Jer 9:24. The themes of Jer 9 have influenced Paul’s presentation in vv. 26-31. Jeremiah calls upon the wise, the strong, and the wealthy not to trust in their resources but in their knowledge of the true God – and so to boast in the Lord. Paul addresses the same three areas of human pride.

[7:10]  ³⁶ sn Not I, but the Lord. Here and in v. 12 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 10-11, Paul reports the Lord’s own teaching about divorce (cf. Mark 10:5-12).

[16:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “as I directed the churches of Galatia, so also you yourselves do.”

[16:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “set aside, storing whatever he has been blessed with.”

[16:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “set aside, storing.” The participle θησαυρίζων (qhsaurizwn) indicates the purpose or result of setting aside the extra income.

[16:2]  ⁴⁰ tn “To the extent that God has blessed you” translates an awkward expression, “whatever has been prospered [to you].” This verb has been translated as an active with “God” as subject, taking it as a divine passive.

[16:2]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “so that collections will not be taking place.”

[16:3]  ⁴² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:8]  ⁴³ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[16:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “for a door has opened wide to me, great and effective.”

[16:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Since Paul appears to expect specific delegates here and they were most likely men, the Greek word ἀδελφοί (adelfoi) here has not been not translated as “brothers and sisters.”

[16:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “with the brothers.”

[16:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “it was simply not the will that he come now.”

[16:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[16:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “firstfruits.”

[16:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “they have made up for your absence” (BDAG 70 s.v. ἀναπληρόω 3).

[16:19]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “the churches of Asia”; in the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[16:19]  ⁵² sn On Aquila and Prisca see also Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. The author of Acts uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

[16:19]  ⁵³ tc The plural form of this verb, ἀσπάζονται (aspazontai, “[they] greet”), is found in several good mss (B F G 075 0121 0243 33 1739 1881) as well as the Byzantine cursives. But the singular is read by an equally impressive group (א C D K P Ψ 104 2464 pc). This part of the verse is lacking in codex A. Deciding on the basis of external evidence is quite difficult. Internally, however, the singular appears to have given rise to the plural: (1) The rest of the greetings in this verse are in the plural; this one was probably made plural by some scribes for purposes of assimilation; and, more significantly, (2) since both Aquila and Prisca are mentioned as the ones who send the greeting, the plural is more natural. The singular is, of course, not impossible Greek; indeed, a singular verb with a compound subject is used with some frequency in the NT (cf. Matt 13:55; Mark 8:27; 14:1; John 2:2; 3:22; 4:36, 53; Acts 5:29; 16:31; 1 Tim 6:4). This is especially common when “Jesus and his disciples” is the subject. What is significant is that when such a construction is found the emphasis is placed on the first-named person (in this case, Aquila). Normally when these two are mentioned in the NT, Priscilla is mentioned first (Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3; 2 Tim 4:19). Only here and in Acts 18:2 (the first mention of them) is Aquila mentioned before Priscilla. Many suggest that Priscilla is listed first due to prominence. Though that is possible, both the mention of Aquila first here and the singular verb give him special prominence (cf. ExSyn 401-2). What such prominence means in each instance is difficult to assess. Nevertheless, here is a Pauline instance in which Aquila is given prominence. Too much can be made of the word order argument in either direction.

[16:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[16:22]  ⁵⁵ tn The Greek text has μαράνα θά (marana qa). These Aramaic words can also be read as maran aqa, translated “Our Lord has come!”

[16:24]  ⁵⁶ tc Although the majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 075 Ï lat bo) conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”), such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Although far fewer witnesses lack the valedictory particle (B F 0121 0243 33 81 630 1739* 1881 sa), their collective testimony is difficult to explain if the omission is not authentic.

[15:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “among (the) first things.”