1 Corinthians 3

¹³For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

²⁰Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

⁶Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹²I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

²²to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;

¹What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

²⁰For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

¹²What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”

³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

⁶Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another.

⁴Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;

¹As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

¹⁰As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.

⁶And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

²³Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.

²⁵A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

¹⁴We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

⁴Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.

⁵And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?

³⁰It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

⁵I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

¹Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.

²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

⁶God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

¹²and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

⁸Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.

³⁶Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.

³⁷For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

⁷Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

¹As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

²⁰And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.

¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

²⁰In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

⁶For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

⁷To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

⁷who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

²⁰A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.

¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.

¹⁹He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

¹⁸The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁹This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

²¹His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

²²The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.’

⁸He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

⁸To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

⁸Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.

¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

¹³his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.

²³save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

¹⁸And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

²And the Lord said to Satan: “The Lord rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”

¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

¹⁶What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

²¹In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

¹²This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

²⁰But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

²²I will turn My face away from them, and they will defile My treasured place. Violent men will enter it, and they will defile it.

¹¹Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord God, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

³⁸They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.

³⁹On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

²The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

¹⁷Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

²⁵who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

⁶Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

¹¹Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?

¹²But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

³²He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

²⁸And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

²³This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

²⁴But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

⁶Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another.

⁷The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

⁴For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.

¹¹And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

⁵For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

¹⁹Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

²³But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.

¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world.

⁹I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.

¹⁰All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified.

³But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

⁷You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.