1 CORINTHIANS 10

10 1 Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. 2 All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea to join Moses 3 and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna 4 and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink. For you know that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. 5 However, most of them did not please God, and the des­ert was strewn with their bodies.

 

6 All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did.

 

7 Do not follow idols, as some of them did, and Scripture says: The people sat down to eat and drink and stood up for orgy. 8 Let us not fall into sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them fell dead. 9 And let us not tempt the Lord as some of them did, and were killed by serpents; 10 nor grumble as some of them did and were cut down by the destroying angel.

 

11 These things happened to them as an example, and they were written as a warning for us, as the last times come upon us. 12 Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall. 13 No trial greater than human endurance has overcome you. God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond your strength. He will give you, together with the temptation, the strength to escape and to resist.

 

14 Therefore, dear friends, shun the cult of idols.

 

• 15 I address you as intelligent persons; judge what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a com­munion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a com­munion with the body of Christ? 17 The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

 

18 Consider the Israelites. For them, to eat of the victim is to come into communion with its altar.

 

19 What does all that mean? That the meat is really consecrated to the idol, or that the idol is a being. 20 However, when the pagans offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice goes to the demons, not to God. I do not want you to come into fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink at the same time from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of the demons. 22 Do we want, perhaps, to provoke the jealousy of the Lord? Could we be stronger than he?

 

Practical solutions

 

• 23 Everything is lawful for me, but not everything is to my profit. Everything is lawful for me, but not everything builds up: 24 let no one pursue his own interests, but the interests of the other.

 

25 Eat, then, whatever is sold at the market, and do not raise questions of conscience about it. 26 Because: the earth and whatever is on it belongs to the Lord. 27 If someone who does not share your faith invites you, go and eat of anything served to you without problems of conscience. 28 How­ever, if somebody tells you that the meat is from the offerings to idols, then do not eat out of consideration for those warning you and for the sake of their conscience.

 

29 I say: “In consideration of their conscience,” not of yours, for is it convenient that my rights be misinterpreted by them and their conscience? 30 Is it good that I bring on me critics for some good thing I am sharing and for which I will give thanks?

 

31 Then, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to the Jews, or to the Greeks, or to the Church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything. I do not seek my own interest, but that of many, this is: that they be saved.

1 CORINTHIANS 9

Renouncing one’s own rights: the example of Paul

 

9 • 1 As for me, am I not free? I am an apostle and I have seen Jesus, the Lord, and you are my work in the Lord. 2 Although I may not be an apostle for others, at least I am one for you. You are, in the Lord, evidence of my apostle­ship.

 

3 Now this is what I answer to those who criticize me: 4 Have we not the right to be fed? 5 Have we not the right to bring along with us a sister as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Am I the only one, with Bar­nabas, bound to work?

 

What soldier goes to war at his own expense? 7 What farmer does not eat from the vineyard he planted? Who tends a flock and does not drink from its milk? 8 Are these rights only accepted human practice? No. The Law says the same. In the Law of Moses it is written: Do not muzzle the ox which threshes grain. 9 Does this mean that God is concerned with oxen, 10 or rather with us? Of course it applies to us. For our sake it was written that no one plows without expecting a reward for plowing, and no one threshes without hoping for a share of the crop. 11 Then, if we have sown spiritual riches among you, would it be too much for us to reap some material reward? 12 If others have had a share among you, we could have it all the more.

 

Yet we made no use of this right and we prefer to endure everything rather than put any obstacle to the Gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those working in the sacred service eat from what is offered for the temple? And those serving at the altar receive their part from the altar. 14 The Lord ordered, likewise, that those announcing the Gospel live from the Gospel. 15 Yet I have not made use of my rights, and now I do not write to claim them: I would rather die! No one will deprive me of this glory of mine.

 

16 Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel: I am bound to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! 17 If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted this office against my will. 18 How can I, then, deserve a reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.

 

19 So, feeling free with every­­body, I have become every­body’s slave in order to gain a greater number. 20 To save the Jews I became a Jew with the Jews, and because they are under the Law, I myself submitted to the Law, although I am free from it. 21 With the pagans, not subject to the Law, I became one of them, although I am not without a law of God, since Christ is my Law. Yet I wanted to gain those strangers to the Law. 22 To the weak I made myself weak, to win the weak. So I made myself all things to all people in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. 23 This I do for the Gospel, so that I too have a share of it.

 

Faith demands sacrifice

 

• 24 Have you not learned anything from the stadium? Many run, but only one gets the prize. Run, therefore, intending to win it, 25 as athletes who impose upon themselves a rigorous discipline. Yet for them the wreath is of laurels which wither, while for us, it does not wither.

 

26 So, then, I run knowing where I go. I box but not aim­lessly in the air. 27 I punish my body and control it, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be rejected.

1 CORINTHIANS 8

Can we share in pagan customs?

 

8 • 1 Regarding meat from the offerings to idols, we know that all of us have knowledge but knowledge puffs up, while love builds. 2 If anyone thinks that he has knowledge, he does not yet know as he should know, 3 but if someone loves (God), he has been known (by God).

 

4 Can we, then, eat meat from offerings to the idols? We know that an idol is without existence and that there is no God but one. 5 People speak indeed of other gods in heaven and on earth and, in this sense, there are many gods and lords. 6 Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom ev­erything comes, and to whom we go. And there is one Lord, Christ Jesus, through whom everything exists and through him we exist.

 

7 Not everyone, however, has that know­ledge. For some persons, who until recently took the idols seriously, that food remains linked to the idol and eating of it stains their conscience which is unformed.

 

8 It is not food that brings us closer to God. If we eat, we gain nothing, and if we do not eat, we do not lose anything. 9 We are free, of course, but let not your freedom cause others, who are less prepared, to fall. 10 What if others with an unformed conscience see you, a person of knowledge, sitting at the table in the temple of idols? Will not their weak conscience, because of your example, move them to eat also? 11 Then with your knowledge you would have caused your weak brother or sister to perish, the one for whom Christ died. Posted by Rev. Fr. Jessie Somosierra, Jr. | 1 Corinthians, Biblia, Christian Community Bible, New Testament | | 1 Comment

1 CORINTHIANS 7

Marriage and abstinence

 

7 • 1 Now I will answer the questions in your letter. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Yet to avoid immorality, every man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 Let the husband fulfill his duty of hus­band and likewise the wife. 4 The wife is not the owner of her own body: the husband is. Similarly, the husband is not the owner of his own body: the wife is.

 

5 Do not refuse each other, except by mutual consent and only for a time in order to dedicate yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, lest you fall into Satan’s trap by lack of self-control. 6 I approve of this abstention, but I do not order it. 7 I would like everyone to be like me, but each has from God a particular gift, some in one way, others differently.

 

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it would be good for them to remain as I am, 9 but if they cannot con­trol themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

 

Marriage and divorce

 

• 10 I command married cou­ples—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband. 11 If she separates from him, let her not marry again, or let her make peace with her husband. Similarly the husband should not divorce his wife.

 

12 To the others I say—from me and not from the Lord—if a brother has a wife who is not a believer but she agrees to live with him, let him not separate from her. 13 In the same manner, if a woman has a husband who is not a believer but he agrees to live with her, let her not separate from her husband. 14 Because the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband who believes. Otherwise, your children also would be apart from God; but as it is, they are con­sec­rated to God.

 

15 Now, if the unbelieving husband or wife wants to separate, let them do so. In this case, the Christ­ian partner is not bound, for the Lord has called us to peace. 16 Besides, are you sure, wife, that you could save your husband, and you, husband, that you could save your wife?

 

• 17 Except for this, let each one continue living as he was when God called him, as was his lot set by the Lord. This is what I order in all churches. 18 Let the cir­cumcised Jew not remove the marks of the circumcision when he is called by God, and let the non-Jew not be circumcised when he is called. 19 For the important thing is not to be circumcised or not, but to keep the commandments of God.

 

20 Let each of you, therefore, remain in the state in which you were called by God. 21 If you were a slave when called, do not worry, yet if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.

 

22 The slave called to believe in the Lord is a freed person belonging to the Lord just as whoever has been called while free, becomes a slave of Christ. 23 You have been bought at a very great price; do not become slaves of a human being.

 

24 So then, brothers and sisters, continue living in the state you were before God at the time of his call.

 

Marriage and virginity

 

• 25 With regard to those who remain virgins, I have no special commandment from the Lord, but I give some advice, hoping that I am worthy of trust by the mercy of the Lord.

 

26 I think this is good in these hard times in which we live. It is good for someone to remain as he is. 27 If you are married, do not try to divorce your wife; if you are not married, do not marry. 28 He who marries does not sin, nor does the young girl sin who marries. Yet they will face disturbing experiences, and I would like to spare you.

 

29 I say this, brothers and sisters: time is running out, and those who are married must live as if not mar­ried; 30 those who weep as if not weeping; those who are happy as if they were not happy; those buying something as if they had not bought it, and those enjoying the present life as if they were not enjoying it. 31 For the order of this world is vanishing.

 

32 I would like you to be free from anxieties. He who is not married is concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. 33 While he who is married is taken up with the things of the world and how to please his wife, and he is divided in his interests.

 

34 Likewise, the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the service of the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit. The mar­ried woman, instead, worries about the things of the world and how to please her husband.

 

35 I say this for your own good. I do not wish to lay traps for you but to lead you to a beautiful life, entirely united with the Lord.

 

• 36 If anyone realizes he will not be behaving correctly with his fiancee because of the ardor of his passion, and that things should take their due course, let him marry; he commits no sin. 37 But if another, of firmer heart, thinks that he can control his passion and decides not to marry so that his fiancee may remain a virgin, he does better. 38 So then, he who marries does well, and he who does not marry does better.

 

39 The wife is bound as long as her hus­band lives. If he dies, she is free to be ma­r­ried to whom­­soever she wishes, provided that she does so in the Christian way. 40 However, she will be happier if, following my advice, she remains as she is, and I believe that I also have the Spirit of God.

1 CORINTHIANS 6

Do not bring another Christian to court

 

6 • 1 When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring it before pagan judges instead of bringing it before God’s people? 2 Do you not know that you shall one day judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you incapable of judging such simple problems?

 

3 Do you not know that we will even judge the angels? And could you not decide every day affairs? 4 But when you have ordinary cases to be judged, you bring them before those who are of no account in the Church! 5 Shame on you! Is there not even one among you wise enough to be the arbiter among believers?

 

6 But no. One of you brings a suit against another one, and files that suit before unbelievers. 7 It is already a failure that you have suits against each other. Why do you not rather suffer wrong and receive some damage? 8 But no. You wrong and injure others, and those are your brothers and sisters. 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

 

Make no mistake about it: those who lead sexually immoral lives, or worship idols, or who are adulterers, perverts, sodomites, 10 or thieves, exploiters, drunkards, gossips or embezzlers will not inherit the kingdom of heav­en. 11 Some of you were like that, but you have been cleansed and consecrated to God and have been set right with God by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God.

 

Sexual immorality

 

• 12 Everything is lawful for me, but not every­thing is to my profit. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become a slave of anything. 13 Food is for the stomach, as the stomach is for food, and God will destroy them both. Yet the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body. 14 And God who raised the Lord, will also raise us with his power.

 

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? And you would make that part of his body become a part of a prostitute? Never! 16 But you well know that when you join yourselves to a prostitute, you become one with her. For Scripture says: The two will become one flesh. 17 On the contrary, anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

 

18 Avoid unlawful sex entirely. Any other sin a person commits is outside the body but those who commit sexual immorality sin against their own body.

 

19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, given by God? You belong no longer to yourselves. 20 Remember at what price you have been bought and make your body serve the glory of God.

1 CORINTHIANS 5

Expel the immoral brother!

 

5 • 1 You have become news with a case of im­morality, and such a case that is not even found among pagans. Yes, one of you has taken as wife his own stepmother. 2 And you feel proud! Should you not be in mourning instead and expel the one who did such a thing. 3 For my part, although I am physically absent, my spirit is with you and, as if present, I have already passed sen­tence on the man who committed such a sin. 4 Let us meet together, you and my spirit, and in the name of our Lord Jesus and with his power, 5 you shall deliver him to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit be saved in the day of Judgment.

 

6 This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? 7 Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Pass­over, you should be un­leavened bread. 8 Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and per­ver­sity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

 

9 In my last letter I instructed you not to asso­ciate with immoral people. 10 I did not mean, of course, those who do not belong to the church and who are immoral, exploiters, embezzlers or worship­ers of idols. Otherwise you would have to leave this world. 11 What I really meant was to avoid and not to mingle with anyone who, bearing the name of bro­ther or sister, becomes immoral, exploiter, gossip, drunkard, embezzler. In which case you should not even eat with them.

 

12 Why should I judge outsiders? But you, are you not to judge those who are inside? 13 Let God judge those outside, but as for you, drive out the wicked person from among you.

1 CORINTHIANS 4

4 1 Let everyone then see us as the servants of Christ and stewards of the secret works of God. 2 Be­ing stewards, faithful­ness shall be demanded of us; 3 but I do not mind if you or any human court judges me. I do not even judge myself; 4 my conscience indeed does not accuse me of anything, but that is not enough for me to be set right with God: the Lord is the one who judges me.

 

5 Therefore, do not judge before the time, until the coming of the Lord. He will bring to light whatever was hidden in dark­ness and will disclose the secret intentions of the hearts. Then each one will receive praise from God.

 

6 Brothers and sisters, you forced me to apply these comparisons to Apollos and to myself. Learn by this example not to believe yourselves superior by siding with one against the other. 7 How then are you more than the others? What have you that you have not received? And if you received it, why are you proud, as if you did not receive it?

 

Comforted Christians and harassed apostles

 

• 8 So, then, you are already rich and satisfied, and feel like kings without us! I wish you really were kings, so that we might enjoy the kingship with you!

 

9 It seems to me that God has placed us, the apostles, in the last place, as if condemned to death, and as spectacles for the whole world, for the angels as well as for mortals.

 

10 We are fools for Christ, while you show forth the wisdom of Christ. We are weak, you are strong. You are honored, while we are despised. 11 Until now we hunger and thirst, we are poorly clothed and badly treated, while moving from place to place. 12 We labor, working with our hands. People insult us and we bless them, they persecute us and we endure everything; 13 they speak evil against us, and ours are works of peace. We have become like the scum of the earth, like the garbage of humankind until now.

 

14 I do not write this to shame you, but to warn you as very dear children. 15 Because even though you may have ten thousand guardians in the Christian life, you have only one father; and it was I who gave you life in Christ through the Gospel. 16 Therefore I pray you to follow my example. 17 With this purpose I send to you Timothy, my dear and trust­worthy son in the service of the Lord. He will remind you of my way of Christian life, as I teach it in all churches everywhere.

 

18 Some of you thought that I could not visit you and became very ar­rogant. 19 But I will visit you soon, the Lord willing, and I will see, not what those arrogant people say, but what they can do. 20 Because the kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but of power. 21What do you prefer, for me to come with a stick or with love and gentleness?

1 CORINTHIANS 3

There are many workers, the building is one

 

3 • 1 I could not, friends, speak to you as spiri­tual persons but as fleshly people, for you are still infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk and not solid food, for you were not ready for it and up to now you cannot receive it 3 for you are still of the flesh. As long as there is jealousy and strife, what can I say but that you are at the level of the flesh and behave like ordinary people.

 

4 While one says: “I follow Paul,” and the other: “I follow Apol­los,” what are you but peo­ple still at a human level?

 

5 For what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are ministers and through them you believed, as it was given by the Lord to each of them. 6 I planted, Apollos watered the plant, but God made it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who makes the plant grow.

 

8 The one who plants and the one who waters work to the same end, and the Lord will pay each according to their work. 9 We are fellow-workers with God, but you are God’s field and building.

 

10 I, as a good architect, according to the capacity given to me, I laid the foundation, and another is to build upon it. Each one must be careful how to build upon it. 11 No one can lay a foundation other than the one which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Then if someone builds with gold upon this foundation, another with silver and precious stones, or with wood, bamboo or straw, 13 the work of each one will be shown for what it is. The day of Judgment will re­veal it, because the fire will make everything known. The fire will test the work of everyone. 14 If your work withstands the fire, you will be re­warded; 15 but if your work becomes ashes, you will pay for it. You will be saved, but it will be as if passing through fire.

 

• 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit abides within you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. God’s tem­ple is holy, and you are this tem­ple.

 

Do not divide the Church

 

• 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says: God catches the wise in their own wisdom. 20 It also says: The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.

 

21 Because of this, let no one become an admirer of humans, for everything belongs to you, 22 Paul, Apollos, Cephas—life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, 23 and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

1 CORINTHIANS 2

2 • 1 When I came to reveal to you he mystery of God’s plan I did not count on eloquence or on a show of learning. 2 I was determined not to know anything among you but Jesus, the Messiah, and a crucified Messiah. 3 I myself came weak, fearful and trem­bling; 4 my words and preach­ing were not brilliant or clever to win listeners. 5 It was, rather, a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might be a matter, not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.

 

The Spirit teaches us wisdom

 

• 6 In fact, we do speak of wisdom to the mature in faith, although it is not a wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who are doomed to perish. 7 We teach the mystery and secret plan of divine wisdom, which God destined from the beginning to bring us to Glory.

 

8 No ruler of this world ever knew this; otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. 9 But as Scripture says: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it dawned on the mind what God has prepared for those who love him. 10 God has revealed it to us, through his Spirit, because the Spirit probes everything, even the depth of God.

 

11 Who but his own spirit knows the secrets of a person? Similarly, no one but the Spirit of God knows the secrets of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God and, through him, we un­der­stand what God in his goodness has given us.

 

13 So we speak of this, not in terms inspired by human wisdom, but in a language taught by the Spirit, explaining a spiritual wisdom to spiritual persons. 14 The one who remains on the psychological level does not understand the things of the Spirit. They are foolishness for him and he does not understand because they require a spiritual experience. 15 On the other hand, the spiritual person judges everything but no one judges him. 16 Who has known the mind of God so as to teach him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 CORINTHIANS 1

1 • 1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother, 2 to God’s Church which is in Corinth; to you whom God has sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with those who everywhere call upon the name of our Lord Christ Jesus, their Lord and ours.

 

3 Receive grace and peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

4 I give thanks constantly to my God for you and for the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 For you have been fully enriched in him with words as well as with knowledge, 6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you. 7 You do not lack any spiritual gift and only await the glorious coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord. 8 He will keep you stead­fast to the end, and you will be with­out reproach on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus. 9 The faithful God will not fail you after calling you to this fellowship with his Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.

 

Divisions among the faithful

 

• 10 I beg of you, brothers, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, to agree among yourselves and do away with divisions; please be per­fectly united, with one mind and one judgment.

 

11 For I heard from people of Cloe’s house about your rivalries. 12 What I mean is this: some say, “I am for Paul,” and others: “I am for Apollo,” or “I am for Peter,” or “I am for Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided or have I, Paul, been crucified for you? Have you been baptized in the name of Paul?

 

14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that he was baptized in my name. 16 Well, I have also baptized the Ste­pha­nas family. Apart from these, I do not recall having baptized anyone else.

 

The folly of the cross

 

• 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim his Gospel. And not with beautiful words! That would be like getting rid of the cross of Christ. 18 The language of the cross remains nonsense for those who are lost. Yet for us who are saved, it is the power of God, 19 as Scripture says: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and make fail the foresight of the foresighted. 20 Masters of human wisdom, educated people, philosophers, you have no reply! And the wisdom of this world? God let it fail.

 

21 At first God spoke the language of wisdom, and the world did not know God through wisdom. Then God thought of saving the believers through the foolishness that we preach.

 

22 The Jews ask for miracles and the Greeks for a higher knowledge, 23 while we proclaim a crucified Messiah. For the Jews, what a great scandal! And for the Greeks, what nonsense! 24 But he is Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God for those called by God among both Jews and Greeks.

 

25 In reality, the “foolishness” of God is wiser than humans, and the “weakness” of God is stronger than humans.

 

26 Brothers and sisters, look and see whom God has called. Few among you can be said to be cultured or wealthy, and few belong to noble families. 27 Yet God has chosen what the world considers foolish, to shame the wise; he has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen common and un­important people, making use of what is nothing to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no mortal may boast before God. 30 But, by God’s grace you are in Christ Jesus, who has become our wisdom from God, and who makes us just and holy and free. 31 Scripture says: Let the one who boasts boast of the Lord.

« Previous Entries