1 Corinthians 12

1Now about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters: I want you to be well informed. 2You know how it was when you were pagans: you were swept off to idols that cannot speak, carried away whichever way you were led. 3That is why I am making this clear to you: nobody who speaks through God’s Spirit ever says, “Jesus is cursed,” and nobody can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except through the Holy Spirit.

4Gifts are given out in different ways, but it is the same Spirit who gives them. 5Ministries are given out in different ways, and it is the same Lord who is served. 6Workings of power are given out in different ways, but it is the same God who works all of them in everyone. 7Each person is given a way in which the Spirit is openly at work, and it is given for the good of all. 8Through the Spirit one person is given a message of wisdom; another, by the same Spirit, a message of knowledge; 9another, by the same Spirit, faith; another, by the one Spirit, gifts of healing; 10another, the power to work miracles; another, prophecy; another, the ability to tell spirits apart; another, different kinds of tongues; and another, the interpretation of tongues. 11One and the same Spirit is at work in all of these, giving to each person separately as he chooses.

12A body is a single whole, and yet it has many parts; all its parts, many as they are, make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13Indeed, all of us were baptized in one Spirit into one body, whether we were Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all of us were given one Spirit to drink.

14After all, a body does not consist of one part. It has many. 15Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand, so I do not belong to the body.” Would it belong to the body any less for that? 16And if the ear says, “I am not an eye, so I do not belong to the body,” it does not belong to the body any less for that. 17If the body were nothing but an eye, how would it hear? If it were all ear, what would it smell with? 18But as things are, God has arranged each and every part in the body as he saw fit. 19If the whole were one single part, what kind of body would that be? 20As it is, the parts are many, but the body is one. 21So the eye cannot tell the hand, “I can do without you,” and the head cannot tell the feet, “I can do without you.” 22Quite the reverse. The parts of the body that seem weaker are all the more necessary. 23The parts we think deserve less honor are the very ones we clothe with greater honor, and the parts we do not show are covered with greater care for decency, 24while the parts we can show need no such care. But God has blended the body together and given more honor to the part that falls short, 25so that the body would not be split apart, but its parts would all care for one another alike. 26If one part is in pain, all the parts share its pain; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

27You are Christ’s body, and each of you individually is one of its parts. 28In the church God has placed some people: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. After them come miracles, then gifts of healing, the ability to help, the ability to guide, and different kinds of tongues. 29Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Does everyone work miracles? 30Does everyone have gifts of healing? Does everyone speak in tongues? Does everyone interpret? 31But set your hearts on the greater gifts. And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison.