Greetings from Paul and Sosthenes (Acts 18:1–11; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2)
1 UDB I, Paul, am writing this letter. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with me as I write this letter to you. God appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and God chose me to serve him. BSB BSB: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 UDB This letter is to the church of God in Corinth, to those whom Christ Jesus has set apart for God, with everyone else—everywhere—who calls on God to save them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. BSB BSB: To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 UDB May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ love you and give you peace. BSB BSB: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving (Philippians 1:3–11; Colossians 1:3–14)
4 UDB I thank my God every day for you because of the many costly gifts that Christ Jesus has given to you because he loves you. BSB BSB: I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus.
5 UDB Christ has given you so many things. He helped you in all your speaking and in all your knowledge. BSB BSB: For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,
6 UDB You yourselves are the proof that these statements about Christ are true. BSB BSB: because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
7 UDB That is the reason you do not lack any gift from the Spirit of God while you wait for the day when God will make the Lord Jesus Christ known and will show him to everyone. BSB BSB: Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 UDB God will also make you strong so you can serve him to the very end, so you will bring no shame upon yourselves on the day that our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth. BSB BSB: He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 UDB God is keeping his promise to do that. God called you, so you can know and love his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord. BSB BSB: God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Unity in the Church (Psalm 133:1–3; Ephesians 4:1–16)
11 UDB Those in Chloe's house have reported to me that there are divisions and disagreements among some of you. BSB BSB: My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
12 UDB This is the problem. Each of you claims to have loyalty to one leader or another. One says, "I am loyal to Paul." Another says, "I am loyal to Apollos." Someone else says, "I am loyal to Peter." And the last one says, "But I am loyal to Christ." BSB BSB: What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
13 UDB But Christ does not divide his loyalty. Paul was not crucified for you. The person who baptized you did not baptize you in the name of Paul. BSB BSB: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 UDB I thank God that I baptized only a few people there; among them I baptized Crispus and Gaius. BSB BSB: I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 UDB Therefore it would not be true that I baptized people in my name. BSB BSB: so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.
16 UDB (Now I remember that I also baptized the household of Stephanas; other than those people, I do not remember baptizing anyone else in Corinth.) BSB BSB: Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else.
17 UDB The most important work Christ sent me to do was to tell everyone the good news about him, not to baptize people. I did not proclaim the good news using human wisdom or clever words, so instead I could use the power of the work of Christ dying on the cross. BSB BSB: For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The Message of the Cross 19 UDB A prophet wrote in the scriptures: "The wisdom of those who think they are wise I will destroy, and I will make the brilliant plans of the intelligent to be utter failures." BSB BSB: For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
21 UDB In the wisdom of God, unbelievers did not come to know God by their own wisdom. So God was pleased to use a message that they thought was foolish. That is the message we proclaimed, and it had power to save all who believe it. BSB BSB: For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22 UDB The Jews wanted public displays of miraculous power before they would follow anyone. The Greeks looked for wisdom through new and fresh ways of thinking about spiritual ideas. BSB BSB: Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,
24 UDB But for us, we whom God called so we can know him, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely by sending Christ to die for us. The good news is not tied to any race or philosophy; in Christ there is no distinction between Jews and all the other nations and races on earth. BSB BSB: but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 UDB For the things of God that appear foolish are really wiser that the most brilliant ideas human beings can imagine. And the things of God that appear weakest are stronger than the strongest and greatest human being who ever lived. BSB BSB: For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Wisdom from God 26 UDB Brothers and sisters, look at the kind of person you were when God called you. See how unimportant you were. You were not the wisest of people. You were not important enough for people to obey you. You had no important ancestors. BSB BSB: Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
27 UDB Instead, God chose the things that made no sense to unbelievers so that they would stop praising themselves. God chose to use things that were weak to put to shame the things they believed were so strong. BSB BSB: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
28 UDB God chose what the unbelievers think is of no importance to show that the things they considered to be important have no value. BSB BSB: He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
29 UDB God did this so that no human being could stand before God and say that he is better than anyone else. BSB BSB: so that no one may boast in His presence.
30 UDB Because of what God has done, you are now joined to Christ Jesus, who has made clear to us how wise God is. He has put us right with God, he has set us apart for God, and he has rescued us and brought us to safety. BSB BSB: It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
31 UDB So, as the scriptures say: "The one who praises himself should praise himself only in what the Lord has done for him." BSB BSB: Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.