1 Corinthians 4

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

⁷As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

⁹They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,

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

²⁵I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

²⁶the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.

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!’

⁴²And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?

¹⁰Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

¹⁷Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

⁷But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house.

¹⁷For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

²⁴Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”

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

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”

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.

²Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

²⁰Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.

²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,

³If You, O Lord, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

²All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.

¹²Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

¹²For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

⁷Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

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.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹⁸For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

¹⁶on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

⁴For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.

⁶Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me,

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.

³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

⁵because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction—just as you know we lived among you for your sake.

²⁷John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

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

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹¹Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

¹²Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.

¹⁶From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

⁶We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;

⁷One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?

⁹In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.

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

³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to ridicule and persecution; at other times you were partners with those who were so treated.

⁸We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

³⁶As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

⁸We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

⁹Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.

³⁰And why do we endanger ourselves every hour?

³¹I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁴Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

²⁴At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”

¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.

⁹In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.

¹⁸Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

¹²I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.

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.

²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

²⁰Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

¹¹my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

⁶For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.

¹³But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

³and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

⁴⁵You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.

²²The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”

¹¹For you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children—

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

¹⁵Even if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

²⁸We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

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.

¹⁹My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

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.

¹You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

¹⁷Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.

⁹Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.

⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

⁷Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

²To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.

¹⁷Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.

²To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia:

³³For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.

²And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?

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.

⁷For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

²¹Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

²I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,

²¹But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus.

²¹After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”

³⁴If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you come together it will not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters.

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.

¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

⁴My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

⁵because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction—just as you know we lived among you for your sake.

⁴The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

⁵We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

²I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,

¹⁰This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

⁷On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.

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.

²¹I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

²³I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.