1 Corinthians 1

1From Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes our brother, 2to the church of God in Corinth: to you who have been made holy in Christ Jesus, a holy people by God’s call, together with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, the Lord who is theirs as well as ours. 3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

4I give thanks to my God for you at all times, because of the grace God gave you in Christ Jesus. 5In him you have been made rich in everything: in every kind of speaking and every kind of knowledge. 6In this way the witness to Christ was made firm among you, 7and so you fall short in no gift of grace while you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be free from any charge on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful. It was he who called you to share in the life of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10Now, brothers and sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: agree with one another, all of you, and let there be no splits among you. Let what is torn be mended, so that you are joined together, one in mind and one in purpose. 11I say this, my brothers and sisters, because Chloe’s people have made it clear to me that rivalries have broken out among you. 12What I mean is that every one of you takes a side: “I am for Paul,” “I am for Apollos,” “I am for Cephas,” “I am for Christ.” 13Has Christ been parceled out? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized into Paul’s name? 14As things are, I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one can claim you were baptized into my name. 16Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond them, I am not aware that I baptized anyone else. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize; he sent me to preach the gospel, and not with polished, wise-sounding words, so that the cross of Christ would not be robbed of its force.

18To those on the way to destruction, the message of the cross is foolishness; but to us who are being saved, it is God’s power. 19For Scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will bring to nothing.” 20Where is the wise person? Where is the expert in the Law? Where is the skilled debater of this present age? Has God not shown the world’s wisdom to be foolishness? 21For in God’s wisdom the world, with all its wisdom, did not come to know him. So it was God’s good pleasure to save those who believe through the message we preach, foolishness though it seems. 22Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom. 23But we proclaim Christ crucified. To Jews this is an offense they stumble over, and to Gentiles it is foolishness, 24but to those whom God has called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25For the foolish thing God has done is wiser than any human wisdom, and the weak thing God has done is stronger than any human strength.

26Just look at your own calling, brothers and sisters. When God called you, not many of you were wise as people measure wisdom, not many held power, not many came from leading families. 27Instead, God chose what the world counts foolish, to put the wise to shame. God chose what the world counts weak, to put the strong to shame. 28God chose what the world counts low and despises, things that are nothing, to cancel out the things that are something, 29so that no human being could ever boast in God’s presence. 30It is God who has placed you in Christ Jesus, and he has become God’s wisdom for us, which means our righteousness, our holiness and our redemption. 31So, as Scripture says, “Whoever boasts should boast in the Lord.”