1 Corinthians · Free Bible Version
1 Corinthians 4 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 So think of us as Christ's servants given the responsibility for “the mysteries of God.”
1 Οὕτως ἡμᾶς λογιζέσθω ἄνθρωπος, ὡς ὑπηρέτας Χριστοῦ καὶ οἰκονόμους μυστηρίων Θεοῦ.
2 More than this, those who have such responsibilities are required to be trustworthy.
2 ὃ δὲ λοιπὸν ζητεῖται ἐν τοῖς οἰκονόμοις, ἵνα πιστός τις εὑρεθῇ.
3 Personally it hardly matters to me if you or anyone else judges me—in fact I don't even judge myself.
3 ἐμοὶ δὲ εἰς ἐλάχιστόν ἐστιν ἵνα ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἀνακριθῶ ἢ ὑπὸ ἀνθρωπίνης ἡμέρας· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ἐμαυτὸν ἀνακρίνω·
4 I don't know of anything I've done wrong, but that doesn't make me morally right. It's the Lord who judges me.
4 οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα· ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι· ὁ δὲ ἀνακρίνων με Κύριός ἐστιν.
5 So don't judge anything before the right time—when the Lord comes. He will bring to light all the darkest secrets that are hidden, and he will reveal people's motives. God will give everyone whatever praise they deserve.
5 ὥστε μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος, ὃς καὶ φωτίσει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους καὶ φανερώσει τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν, καὶ τότε ὁ ἔπαινος γενήσεται ἑκάστῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ.
6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied this to Apollos and myself as an example for you. That way you will learn not to go beyond what has been written, and not in arrogance prefer one over the other.
6 Ταῦτα δέ, ἀδελφοί, μετεσχημάτισα εἰς ἐμαυτὸν καὶ Ἀπολλὼ δι᾽ ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἐν ἡμῖν μάθητε τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ ὃ γέγραπται φρονεῖν, ἵνα μὴ εἷς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἑνὸς φυσιοῦσθε κατὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου.
7 Who made you so special? What do you have that you weren't given? Since you were given it, why do you proudly claim you weren't?
7 τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει; τί δὲ ἔχεις ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών;
8 You think you have all you need. You think you're so wealthy. You think you're kings already, and don't need us. I wish you were really ruling as kings, so we could rule with you!
8 ἤδη κεκορεσμένοι ἐστέ, ἤδη ἐπλουτήσατε, χωρὶς ἡμῶν ἐβασιλεύσατε· καὶ ὄφελόν γε ἐβασιλεύσατε, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν συμβασιλεύσωμεν.
9 The way I see it, God has put us apostles on display as the last in the line, condemned to die. We have been made a public show before the entire universe, to angels and to human beings.
9 δοκῶ γὰρ ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ἀπέδειξεν, ὡς ἐπιθανατίους, ὅτι θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις.
10 We're Christ's fools, but you are so wise in Christ! We're the weak ones, but you are so strong! You have the glory, but we are despised!
10 ἡμεῖς μωροὶ διὰ Χριστόν, ὑμεῖς δὲ φρόνιμοι ἐν Χριστῷ· ἡμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἰσχυροί· ὑμεῖς ἔνδοξοι, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄτιμοι.
11 Right up till now we're hungry and thirsty. We have no clothes. We're badly beaten up, and we have no place to call home.
11 ἄχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας καὶ πεινῶμεν καὶ διψῶμεν καὶ γυμνητεύομεν καὶ κολαφιζόμεθα καὶ ἀστατοῦμεν
12 We struggle on doing manual work. When people curse us, we bless them. When they persecute us, we put up with it.
12 καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσί· λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα,
13 When they insult us, we respond with kindness. Even now we are treated like dirt, the worst trash in the whole world.
13 βλασφημούμενοι παρακαλοῦμεν· ὡς περικαθάρματα τοῦ κόσμου ἐγενήθημεν, πάντων περίψημα ἕως ἄρτι.
14 I'm not writing like this to make you feel ashamed, but to caution you as my children whom I love so much.
14 Οὐκ ἐντρέπων ὑμᾶς γράφω ταῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τέκνα μου ἀγαπητὰ νουθετῶ.
15 Even though you may have thousands of Christian instructors, you don't have many fathers—it was in Christ Jesus that I became your father when I shared the good news with you.
15 ἐὰν γὰρ μυρίους παιδαγωγοὺς ἔχητε ἐν Χριστῷ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πολλοὺς πατέρας· ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς ἐγέννησα.
16 So I'm pleading with you to imitate me!
16 παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε.
17 That's why I sent Timothy to you, my trustworthy son in the Lord whom I love so much. He will remind you about the way I follow Christ, just as I always teach in every church I visit.
17 Διὰ τοῦτο ἔπεμψα ὑμῖν Τιμόθεον, ὅς ἐστι τέκνον μου ἀγαπητὸν καὶ πιστὸν ἐν Κυρίῳ, ὃς ὑμᾶς ἀναμνήσει τὰς ὁδούς μου τὰς ἐν Χριστῷ, καθὼς πανταχοῦ ἐν πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ διδάσκω.
18 Some among you have become arrogant, thinking I wouldn't bother coming to see you.
18 Ὡς μὴ ἐρχομένου δέ μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐφυσιώθησάν τινες·
19 But I am coming to visit you soon, if that's what the Lord wants. Then I'll find out what these arrogant people are saying, and what kind of power they have.
19 ἐλεύσομαι δὲ ταχέως πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ γνώσομαι οὐ τὸν λόγον τῶν πεφυσιωμένων, ἀλλὰ τὴν δύναμιν·
20 For the kingdom of God is not about mere words, but about power.
20 οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν δυνάμει.
21 So what do you want? Shall I come with a stick to beat you, or in love and a gentle spirit?
21 τί θέλετε; ἐν ῥάβδῳ ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἢ ἐν ἀγάπῃ πνεύματί τε πρᾳότητος;
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Timothy
A disciple from Lystra with a Greek father and a believing Jewish mother, whom Paul circumcised and took with him as a coworker; he received two letters from Paul.
Cited in the guide: Acts 16:1; 1 Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 2:19
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Peter 4:10; Titus 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:9; Ephesians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 4:5
- 2 Matthew 25:21; Luke 12:42; Luke 16:10–12; Colossians 4:17; Numbers 12:7
- 3 John 7:24; 1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Corinthians 3:13
- 4 Psalm 143:2; 1 John 3:20–21; Psalm 130:3; Proverbs 21:2; Psalm 19:12
- 5 James 5:7; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Hebrews 4:13; 2 Corinthians 10:18
- 6 2 Corinthians 11:4; 2 Corinthians 12:19; 2 Corinthians 12:6; Colossians 2:18; Romans 12:3
- 7 John 3:27; 1 Peter 4:10; James 1:17; 1 Chronicles 29:11–16; John 1:16
- 8 Proverbs 13:7; Romans 12:3; Luke 6:25; 1 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 13:9
- 9 Hebrews 10:33; 2 Corinthians 4:8–12; Romans 8:36; 2 Corinthians 1:8–10; 1 Corinthians 15:30–32
- 10 1 Corinthians 2:3; Acts 26:24; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 13:9; Acts 17:18
- 11 Romans 8:35; Philippians 4:12; 2 Corinthians 11:23–27; Matthew 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:11
- 12 1 Peter 3:9; Romans 12:14; Matthew 5:11; 1 Peter 4:12–14; Luke 6:28
- 13 Lamentations 3:45; Acts 22:22
- 14 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 3 John 4; 1 Corinthians 9:15; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Colossians 1:28
- 15 1 Corinthians 3:10; Galatians 4:19; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 Corinthians 9:14; 1 Corinthians 9:23
- 16 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; Hebrews 13:7
- 17 1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Corinthians 16:10; 1 Corinthians 7:17; 2 Timothy 1:2; 1 Corinthians 16:1
- 18 1 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 4:6–8; 1 Corinthians 4:21
- 19 2 Corinthians 13:1–4; Acts 18:21; Acts 19:21; 1 Corinthians 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:6
- 20 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 10:4–5; Romans 14:17; Romans 1:16
- 21 2 Corinthians 13:2; 2 Corinthians 13:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 12:20–21; James 3:17
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).
Together with all other ills, I know not how, there hath come upon man's nature the disease of restless prying and of unseasonable curiosity, which Christ Himself chastised, saying, (St. Matt. vii. 1.) "Judge not, that ye be not judged." A kind of thing, which hath no pleasure as all other sins have, but only punishment and vengeance.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 12 (1889)
… not one thing in one place, and another in another; according to which Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and all those commended by the mouth of God were righteous, but were judged unrighteous by foolish men, judging out of man's judgment, and gauging by the petty standard of their own manners the manners of the whole …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… is against our will; but nevertheless it doth not escape punishment, but of it too we have to give account:--both of what we know, and of what we do not know; "For I know nothing by myself," saith one, "yet am I not hereby justified:" --both for what we have done in ignorance, and what in knowledge; "For I bear …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
And the Martyrs confess, by being made a spectacle unto the world, and to Angels, and to men; and thou wilt soon confess:--but it is not yet the time for thee to hear of this.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
7. For it is Thou, Lord, that judgest me; for although no "man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him," yet is there something of man which "the spirit of man which is in him" itself knoweth not.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)