1 Paul, called as an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God; and Sosthenes, a brother: 2 to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all who are invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and of ours. 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God continuously for you because of the grace of God that has been given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 By that grace, in all things, you have become wealthy in him, in every word and in all knowledge. 6 And so, the testimony of Christ has been strengthened in you. 7 In this way, nothing is lacking to you in any grace, as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 And he, too, will strengthen you, even until the end, without guilt, until the day of the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful. Through him, you have been called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 And so, I beg you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every one of you speak in the same way, and that there be no schisms among you. So may you become perfect, with the same mind and with the same judgment. 11 For it has been indicated to me, about you, my brothers, by those who are with Chloes, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this because each of you is saying: “Certainly, I am of Paul;” “But I am of Apollo;” “Truly, I am of Cephas;” as well as: “I am of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I give thanks to God that I have baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone say that you have been baptized in my name. 16 And I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Other than these, I do not recall if I baptized any others. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize: not through the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ become empty. 18 For the Word of the Cross is certainly foolishness to those who are perishing. But to those who have been saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God. 19 For it has been written: “I will perish the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the discernment of the prudent.” 20 Where are the wise? Where are the scribes? Where are the truth-seekers of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of this world into foolishness? 21 For the world did not know God through wisdom, and so, in the wisdom of God, it pleased God to accomplish the salvation of believers, through the foolishness of our preaching. 22 For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom. 23 But we are preaching Christ crucified. Certainly, to the Jews, this is a scandal, and to the Gentiles, this is foolishness. 24 But to those who have been called, Jews as well as Greeks, the Christ is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For what is foolishness to God is considered wise by men, and that which is weakness to God is considered strong by men. 26 So take care of your vocation, brothers. For not many are wise according to the flesh, not many are powerful, not many are noble. 27 But God has chosen the foolish of the world, so that he may confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak of the world, so that he may confound the strong. 28 And God has chosen the ignoble and contemptible of the world, those who are nothing, so that he may reduce to nothing those who are something. 29 So then, nothing that is of the flesh should glory in his sight. 30 But you are of him in Christ Jesus, who was made by God to be our wisdom and justice and sanctification and redemption. 31 And so, in the same way, it was written: “Whoever glories, should glory in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians · Catholic Public Domain Version
1 Corinthians 1 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Crispus
The leader of the synagogue at Corinth who believed in the Lord with his whole household and was baptized by Paul.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:14
Gaius
Paul's host at Corinth, whose hospitality extended to the whole church; Paul baptized him.
Cited in the guide: Romans 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14
Sosthenes
The synagogue leader seized and beaten before Gallio's tribunal at Corinth; a Sosthenes is named as co-sender of 1 Corinthians, probably the same man.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:17; 1 Corinthians 1:1
Places
Corinth
Corinth straddled the isthmus linking mainland Greece to the Peloponnese — a hub of commerce and immorality. Paul founded the church here; a Roman bema traditionally linked to his hearing before…
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1
Cross references (31)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Romans 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Acts 18:17; Colossians 1:1
- 2 Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 1:15–16
- 3 Romans 1:7; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:2
- 4 Romans 1:8; John 14:26; John 15:26; Romans 6:17; John 14:14
- 5 2 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 8:7; Colossians 2:3; Philippians 1:9; Romans 15:14
- 6 Revelation 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:1–2; Acts 20:24
- 7 Philippians 3:20; 2 Peter 3:12; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 3:2; Jude 21
- 8 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Colossians 1:22; Philippians 1:6; Jude 24–25
- 9 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Hebrews 10:23; Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 10:13
- 10 Philippians 2:1–4; Ephesians 4:1–7; 1 Corinthians 12:25; Romans 12:16; James 3:13–18
- 11 1 Timothy 6:4; 2 Timothy 2:23–25; Galatians 5:26; Proverbs 18:6; Genesis 37:2
- 12 Matthew 23:9–10; John 1:42; 1 Corinthians 3:21–23; 1 Corinthians 3:4–6; Galatians 2:9
- 13 Ephesians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Acts 2:38; Acts 10:48; 1 Corinthians 10:2
- 14 Acts 18:8; Romans 16:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 14:18
- 15 John 7:18; 2 Corinthians 11:2; John 3:28–29
- 16 1 Corinthians 16:15; 1 Corinthians 16:17; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33
- 17 1 Corinthians 2:1; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:4–5; 2 Corinthians 10:10
- 18 1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 1:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 1:23–25; 2 Corinthians 4:3
- 19 Isaiah 29:14; Jeremiah 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Job 5:12–13; Isaiah 19:11
- 20 Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Job 12:17; 1 Corinthians 1:19; Job 12:24
- 21 Luke 10:21; Romans 1:20–22; Matthew 11:25; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 1:24
- 22 Matthew 16:1–4; Matthew 12:38–39; John 2:18; Acts 17:18–21; Mark 8:11
- 23 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:8; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 5:11; Isaiah 8:14–15
- 24 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Romans 1:16
- 25 Romans 11:33–36; 1 Corinthians 1:18; Zechariah 4:6–7; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Zechariah 12:7–8
- 26 James 2:5; 1 Corinthians 3:18–20; 1 Corinthians 2:8; James 1:9–11; Matthew 11:25–26
- 27 James 2:5; Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 1:20; Psalm 8:2; Luke 21:15
- 28 Job 34:24; Romans 4:17; Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 41:12; Job 34:19–20
- 29 Romans 3:27; Ephesians 2:9; Jeremiah 9:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 1:31
- 30 Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:9; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 6:11
- 31 Jeremiah 9:23–24; 2 Corinthians 10:17; Philippians 3:3; Psalm 105:3; Isaiah 41:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
See how immediately, from the very beginning, he casts down their pride, and dashes to the ground all their fond imagination, in that he speaks of himself as "called." For what I have learnt, saith he, I discovered not myself, nor acquired by my own wisdom, but while I was persecuting and laying waste the Church I was called.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 12 (1889)
… "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness" ), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake, teaching …
Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself made mention of this cross in the following words: "The doctrine of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." And again: "God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the cross of Christ, by whom the world …
But the Only-begotten has been "made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification," and has been numbered amongst us, and paid tribute to Cæsar.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… whom;" as when it saith, "I have gotten a man by God," putting not the second cause, but the first; and again, "Is not the interpretation of them by God," and, "God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of His Son."
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)