1 Corinthians 1

1Paul, a called apostle of Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Messiah Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in every place, theirs and ours:

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

4I thank my God always for you because of the grace of God given to you in Messiah Jesus,

5because in him you were enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,

6just as the testimony about Messiah was confirmed among you,

7so that you do not lack any gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

8who will also establish you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

9God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus the Messiah our Lord.

10I urge you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.

12What I mean is this: each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Messiah.”

13Has Messiah been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?

14I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

15so that no one may say that you were baptized into my name.

16I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.

17For Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the good news—not in wisdom of speech, so that the cross of Messiah might not be emptied.

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, and I will set aside the understanding of the intelligent.”

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

21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who believe.

22For Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom.

23but we preach the Messiah crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,

24But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than people, and the weakness of God is stronger than people.

26For consider your calling, brothers: 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 so that he might shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world so that he might shame the strong.

28And God chose the lowborn things of the world and the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

29so that no flesh may boast before God.

30And it is from him that you are in Messiah Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

31so that, just as it is written: “The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.”