1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given to you by Jesus Christ;
5 That in everything you are enriched by him, in all speech, and in all knowledge;
6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 So that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8 Who shall also confirm you until the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those who are of the household of Chloe, that there are disputes among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius;
15 So that none would say that I had baptized in my own name.
16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides these, I do not know whether I baptized any others.
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
The Gospel Is not Man's Wisdom
18 For the preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness; but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom did not know God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness;
24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, how not many wise men according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yes, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are:
29 That no flesh should glorify itself in his presence.
30 But you are of him in Christ Jesus, who from God is made to be for us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He who finds glory, let him find glory in the Lord.