en_t4t/47-1CO.usfm

\id 1CO - Translation 4 Translators 1
\ide 65001 - Unicode (UTF-8)
\h 1 CORINTHIANS
\toc1 1 Corinthians
\toc2 1 Corinthians
\toc3 1Co
\mt2 The Apostle Paul wrote several letters to the Christians at Corinth. We call this letter
\mt1 1 Corinthians
\c 1
\s1 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
\s1 As your apostle, I greet you Corinthian believers, and I desire that God bless you.
\p
\v 1 I, Paul, \add am writing this letter\add*. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with  \add me as I write it\add*. \add God\add* appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus because that is what God desired.
\v 2 \add I am sending this letter\add* to you who belong to the congregations of God in Corinth  \add city\add*. You have been set apart  \add by God\add* {\add God\add* has set you apart} for himself because of your close relationship with/you belong to Christ Jesus. God has appointed you to be his people and to live in a morally pure way, just like he has appointed all the people everywhere who belong to him to live in a morally pure way. You and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY]. He is their sovereign Lord as well as the sovereign Lord of all of us  \add (inc)\add* who have trusted in him.
\p
\v 3 We  \add (exc)\add* desire that God, who is our  \add heavenly\add* Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our sovereign Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to experience  \add inner\add* peace.
\s1 I thank God for you and for all the spiritual abilities that he has given you.
\sr  1 Corinthians 1:4-9
\p
\v 4 I very often [HYP] thank God concerning you because he has acted toward you kindly, acting in ways that you do not deserve. He has done this because of your ◄having a close relationship with/being united to► Christ Jesus.
\v 5 That is, \add God\add* has very abundantly [HYP] helped you spiritually because of your ◄having a close relationship with/being united to► Christ. Specifically, God has abundantly [HYP] enabled you to speak messages  \add that his Spirit revealed to you\add*, and he has abundantly enabled you to know many things [HYP] that his Spirit revealed to you.
\v 6 In that way, \add he\add* confirmed to you that what we  \add (exc)\add* proclaimed about Christ is true.
\v 7 As a result, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return, within your group you truly possess [LIT] every ability that  \add God's\add* Spirit gives  \add to believers\add*.
\v 8 God will also cause you to steadfastly  \add trust Christ to the very end of your lives\add* [EUP]. The result will be that God will not consider you guilty  \add of any sin\add* when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth [MTY].
\v 9 You can depend on God to do that. He is the one who chose you to become intimately associated with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.
\s1 Stop dividing into groups in your congregations on the basis of which Christian leader you favor.
\sr  1 Corinthians 1:10-17
\p
\v 10 My fellow believers, by the authority of [MTY] our Lord Jesus Christ, I urgently appeal to all of you to agree with one another. What I mean is, stop dividing into groups. Instead, be united [MET] concerning what you understand  \add about spiritual matters\add* and be united in what you decide.
\v 11 My fellow believers, \add I urge this\add* because some members of Chloe's household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves.
\v 12 That is, some of you say, “Paul is the one to whom we  \add are loyal\add*,” and others say, “Peter is the one to whom we  \add are loyal\add*,” and still others say, “Christ is the one to whom we  \add are loyal\add*.”
\v 13 \add It is ridiculous that\add* [RHQ] \add you are quarreling and\add* dividing up  \add into groups instead of being loyal to\add* Christ alone. ◄Christ certainly has not divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out  \add to groups of people who oppose each other\add*!/Has Christ divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out  \add to groups of people who oppose each other\add*?► [MET, RHQ] ◄I, Paul, certainly did not die on the cross for you!/Did I, Paul die on the cross for you?► [RHQ] When you were baptized {When someone baptized you}, ◄you certainly did not promise that you were submitting to me!/did you promise that you were submitting to me?► [RHQ]
\v 14 I thank  \add God\add* that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized.
\v 15 As a result, no one  \add there in Corinth except those two\add* can say, “Paul baptized me so that I would become ◄his disciple/submissive to him►.”
\v 16 \add Now I remember that\add* I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else  \add there\add*.
\v 17 Christ sent me not  \add primarily\add* to baptize people but to preach the good message about him. When I do that, he does not want me to use words that human philosophers  \add consider\add* wise [IRO]. I do not want the message about  \add what\add* he  \add accomplished when he was nailed to\add* the cross [MTY] to lose its power.
\s1 The message about Christ dying on the cross is the means of saving us who believe it.
\sr  1 Corinthians 1:18-19
\p
\v 18 Those who are perishing spiritually  \add because they do not believe that message consider\add* that the message  \add about what Christ accomplished when he was nailed to the\add* cross [MTY] \add is\add* foolish. But to us who are being saved {whom  \add God\add* is saving} \add spiritually because we believe that message\add*, it  \add demonstrates that\add* God acts powerfully  \add in order to save us\add*.
\v 19 \add It is like what God said that\add* a prophet wrote long ago,
\p  \add By the things that I will do\add*, I will show that the ideas of those who  \add think\add* [IRO] they are wise are completely useless. I will ignore the ideas that they think are [IRO] so smart.
\s1 Some people think that the message about Christ is foolish, but to us whom God has chosen, it shows God's power.
\sr  1 Corinthians 1:20-25
\p
\v 20 So, do you know  \add what God thinks\add* about what [RHQ] people who [IRO] consider themselves to be wise and scholars and philosophers say? \add He does not pay attention to what they say, because\add* [RHQ] he has shown clearly that what unbelievers  \add think is\add* [IRO] wise is  \add not wise at all\add*, but is really foolish.
\v 21 God, acting very wisely, made it impossible for unbelievers to know God by doing what they thought was [IRO] wise. Instead, he was happy to save those who trust  \add in Christ\add* as the result of their hearing  \add the message that\add* was proclaimed to them, a message that others consider to be foolish.
\v 22 The Jews want  \add people to prove, by performing\add* miracles, \add that their message is true\add*. The non-Jews want to hear only messages consisting of talk that they consider to be very wise.
\v 23 As for us, we proclaim  \add the message about what\add* Christ  \add accomplished for us when\add* he was nailed {\add when they\add* nailed him} to the cross. That message offends Jews  \add because they do not think that the Messiah will die, and\add* non-Jews think it is [IRO] a foolish message.
\v 24 But to us whom God has chosen to belong to himself, both Jews and non-Jews, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely  \add by sending\add* Christ  \add to die\add* for us.
\v 25 \add Unbelievers may think\add* [IRO] \add that\add* God was  \add acting\add* foolishly  \add by doing that\add*, but  \add the truth is that\add* he was acting more wisely than unbelievers who  \add think that\add* [IRO] they are wise. And unbelievers may think that God was  \add acting\add* weakly  \add by sending his son to die\add*, but he was acting more powerfully than unbelievers who  \add think\add* [IRO] \add that they\add* act powerfully.
\s1 God chose mostly despised, not important, people to belong to Christ; so you should boast only about him.
\sr  1 Corinthians 1:26-31
\p
\v 26 My fellow believers, remember what  \add kind of people you\add* were when God chose you. \add Not many of you\add* whom he chose are people whom  \add unbelievers considered to be\add* wise. Very few of you were considered to be important. Very few of you came from families with a high social standing.
\v 27 Instead, it was  \add usually\add* those whom  \add unbelievers considered to be\add* foolish whom God chose. He did that in order to shame/discredit those whom  \add unbelievers consider\add* [IRO] wise. It was  \add usually\add* those  \add whom unbelievers\add* considered [IRO] unimportant whom God chose, in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider important.
\v 28 It was usually those who are despised and considered {whom  \add unbelievers\add* despise and consider} worthless whom God chose, in order to make completely ineffective those  \add whom unbelievers consider to be important\add*.
\v 29 \add He did that\add* in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important.
\v 30 It is because of what God  \add has done\add* that you ◄have a close relationship with/belong to► Christ Jesus. God  \add accomplished\add* his wise  \add plan to save us\add* by what Christ did for us. As a result of what Christ did, God erases the record of our sins, sets us apart for himself, and frees us from our being guilty  \add for our sins\add*.
\v 31 So, it is \bd the Lord\bd* whom we should boast about, \add not about one spiritual leader being better than another\add*. We should do as ◄\add a prophet/Jeremiah\add*► wrote  \add in the Scriptures that we should do\add*: 
\q Those who boast should boast  \add only\add* about what the Lord  \add has done\add*.
\c 2
\s1 God showed that my message was true by the powerful things that he did, not because I spoke in a way that would make people think highly of me.
\sr  1 Corinthians 2:1-5
\p
\v 1 My fellow believers, when I came to you, I proclaimed to you the message that God had revealed to me. But I did not proclaim it using eloquent words that would make people think highly of me, nor did I argue in a way that unbelievers would think was very wise.
\v 2 I did that because I decided that I would speak only about Jesus Christ. Specifically, I told you  \add what he accomplished for us when\add* he was killed by being nailed {\add when they\add* killed him by nailing him} to a cross.
\v 3 Furthermore, when I was with you, I felt that I was not adequate  \add to do what Christ wanted me to do\add*. I was afraid  \add that I would not be able to do it\add*, and because of that I was trembling very much.
\v 4 When I taught you and preached to you, I did not speak words that  \add unbelievers would consider\add* [IRO] wise in order to convince them that my message was true. Instead, \add God's\add* Spirit showed that it was true by  \add enabling me to\add* powerfully  \add perform miracles\add*.
\v 5 \add I taught and preached that way\add* in order that you might believe  \add my message\add*, not because you heard words that people  \add considered to be\add* [IRO] wise, but  \add because you realized\add* God's power.
\s1 Unbelievers do not consider that my message is wise, because I speak what God's Spirit reveals to me.
\sr  1 Corinthians 2:6-16
\p
\v 6 I do teach a message that people who are  \add spiritually\add* mature  \add consider to\add* be wise. But I do not teach a message that unbelievers  \add consider to be\add* wise. I also do not teach a message that unbelieving rulers in the world consider to be wise. \add What they think about it does not matter\add*, because  \add some day\add* ◄they will …lose their power/not be ruling anymore►.
\v 7 Instead, I teach about what God planned wisely  \add long ago\add*. It is something that people did not know about previously because  \add God\add* did not reveal it previously. But God determined before he created the world that he would greatly benefit us by his wise plan.
\v 8 None of those who rule this world knew that wise plan. If they had known it, they would not have nailed our wonderful Lord to the cross.
\v 9 But  \add we believers need to remember these words that a prophet\add* wrote  \add in the Scriptures\add*: 
\q Things that no one has ever seen,
\q things that no one ever heard,
\q things that no one ever thought could happen,
\q those are the things that God has prepared for those who love him.
\p
\v 10 God has caused his Spirit to reveal those things to us  \add (inc)\add* believers. His Spirit can do that because he knows thoroughly the meaning of all things. He even knows the things about God that are very difficult to understand.
\v 11 Only a person himself (OR, a person's spirit) knows what he is thinking. Similarly, only God's Spirit knows what God is thinking.
\v 12 It was not the ideas that unbelievers teach that we accepted. Instead, it was the Spirit who came from God that we received, in order that we might know the things that God has freely done for us.
\v 13 Those are the things that I tell you about. As I do that, I do not tell you things that someone  \add whom others thought\add* was [IRO] wise taught me. Instead, I tell you truths that  \add God's\add* Spirit taught  \add me\add*, and I explain those spiritual truths to people whose thinking is guided by God's Spirit (OR, I teach spiritual  \add truths to\add* spiritual  \add people\add*).
\v 14 Those who are unbelievers reject the truths that  \add God's\add* Spirit teaches us  \add (inc)\add*, because they  \add consider those truths to be\add* foolish. They cannot understand them, because it is God's Spirit who enables us to evaluate those truths correctly, \add and those people do not have God's Spirit\add*.
\v 15 We who have God's Spirit can judge correctly the  \add value of\add* all truths  \add that the Spirit reveals\add*, but  \add unbelievers\add* cannot evaluate us correctly.
\v 16 As  \add one of our prophets wrote:\add*
\q No human [RHQ] has known what the Lord is thinking.
\q No human [RHQ] is able to instruct him.
\q But we believers are able to think about things [MTY] in the way that Christ thinks about them,
\c 3
\s1 I was unable to teach you difficult concepts, because you were controlled by your self-directed nature, as evidenced by your quarreling about which leader to whom you are loyal.
\sr  1 Corinthians 3:1-4
\p
\v 1 My fellow believers, \add when I was with you previously\add*, I was not able to teach you as \add I would teach people who are controlled by the Holy\add* Spirit {\add whom the Holy\add* Spirit \add controls\add*}. Instead, \add I had to teach you as I would teach\add* people whom their self-directed nature controls. \add I taught very simple concepts to you who had recently believed\add* in Christ, \add as a parent would speak very simple words\add* to a baby.
\v 2 I did not \add teach\add* you \add things that were difficult for you to understand, just like a woman does not\add* give \add her baby\add* solid food \add that the baby cannot chew and digest\add*. \add And just like a woman\add* ◄\add gives her baby milk/breast-feeds her baby\add*►, \add I taught you simple spiritual concepts\add*, because at that time you were not able to understand difficult things. And you are still not able to understand difficult concepts,
\v 3 because you are still controlled by your self-directed nature. Some of you are jealous and quarreling. ◄That shows that your self-directed nature is controlling you!/Does not that prove your self-directed nature is controlling you?► [RHQ] It shows that \add you are acting like\add* unbelievers act.
\v 4 By some of you saying, “I am \add loyal to\add* Paul,” and others saying, “I am \add loyal to\add* Apollos,” ◄you show that \add you are acting like\add* unbelievers./does not it show that \add you are acting like\add* unbelievers?► [RHQ]
\s1 I preached the gospel to you first, and Apollos followed, but we are both serving God equally.
\sr  1 Corinthians 3:5-9a
\p
\v 5 \add So what you really ought to think about\add* Apollos and me [RHQ] is that we(dl) are merely men who serve God. As a result of our \add telling you the message about Christ\add*, you trusted in him. Both of us \add (dl)\add* are merely doing the work that the Lord appointed us to do.
\v 6 I was \add the first one who preached God's message to you. I was like\add* [MET] someone who plants seeds. \add Later\add*, Apollos \add taught you more of God's message. That was like\add* [MET] someone who waters plants \add after they start to grow\add*. But it is God who \add enables people to grow spiritually, just like he is the one who\add* causes \add plants\add* to grow.
\v 7 So \add the person who first preaches God's message to people is not important, and the person who later teaches people more of God's message is not important, just like\add* [MET] it is not the person who plants \add the seeds\add* or the person who waters \add the plants\add* who is important. Instead, it is God, who causes plants to grow \add and who causes people to grow spiritually, who is important\add*.
\v 8 The person \add who first preaches God's message to people and the one who later teaches them more of God's message\add* [MET] both ◄are \add trying to reach the\add* same \add goal\add*/have the same \add purpose\add*►. And \add God\add* will reward each of them according to how they served him.
\v 9 Remember that Apollos and I are both working together for God. \add You do not belong to us\add*. Just like a field \add belongs to its owner, not to those who work in it\add*, you belong to God, \add not to us who work for him\add*.
\s1 Each one who teaches believers must examine what he is teaching them because God will reward him only if his teaching is valuable and long-lasting.
\sr  1 Corinthians 3:9b-15
\p Also, a house belongs to its owner. \add It does not belong to the man who built it. Similarly, God is the one to whom you belong\add*.
\v 10 \add Just like\add* a skilled person puts a foundation in the ground \add before he builds a house\add*, as a result of God kindly helping me [MET], \add I was the first one who declared the message about Christ to you. And, just like\add* others build a house on its foundation, there were \add others who later taught you more about Christ\add*. But \add just like each person who builds a house\add* must be careful about what materials he uses to build it [MET], each person \add who teaches God's truth must be careful about what he teaches\add*.
\v 11 Just like people can put in \add only\add* one foundation \add for a house\add* [MET], \add there is only one message that we can give to people. That message is about\add* Jesus Christ.
\v 12 Furthermore, people can build a house on its foundation \add with materials that are valuable and do not burn easily, such as\add* gold, silver, and expensive jewels. Or they could build a house with \add materials that are not valuable and that burn easily, such as\add* wood, hay, and straw.
\v 13 Later it will become clear/evident what kind of material they used to build the house. \add Similarly, when people teach others God's truth\add*, it will later become clear \add what kind of things they taught\add*. \add God\add* will make that clear/evident at the time \add when he judges us\add* [MTY].
\v 14 When a fire \add starts burning a house\add*, it becomes clear whether the builders used \add materials in their\add* work \add that will burn, or materials that will not burn\add*. Similarly [MET], when God judges us, it will be clear whether we taught others things that were long-lasting and valuable or not. If \add the materials that are used to\add* build a house \add are materials that\add* do not burn, the builder will receive a reward [MET]. \add Similarly, if we have taught others things that are valuable and long-lasting, God will give us a reward\add*.
\v 15 If \add the things that we have taught\add* are not valuable and long-lasting [MET], \add we will not get a reward\add*. We will be saved {\add God\add* will save us} \add from hell\add*, but \add that is all that we will get. We will be like a man who\add* escapes from a fire \add without saving any of his possessions\add*.
\s1 God will destroy anyone who destroys the unity of a congregation.
\sr  1 Corinthians 3:16-17
\p
\v 16 ◄You need to remember that God \add is present among\add* you \add (pl) as he was present in the\add* Temple \add in Jerusalem\add*./Do you not know that God \add is present among\add* you \add (pl) as he was present in the\add* Temple \add in Jerusalem\add*?► [RHQ] God's Spirit lives within you.
\v 17 So, \add just like\add* God will destroy anyone who tries to destroy his Temple, \add he will destroy anyone who destroys the unity of a congregation. He will do that\add* because \add he has set\add* you, \add his people, apart for himself, just like he set\add* his Temple \add apart for himself\add*.
\s1 Stop being proud about one Christian leader or another, because we are all just working for your benefit.
\sr  1 Corinthians 3:18-23
\p
\v 18 Some among you think that you are wise because unbelievers thought you were wise previously. Stop deceiving yourselves. \add If you really want to be wise, by accepting what God considers to be wise\add* you should \add be willing to let unbelievers consider that you are\add* foolish [IRO].
\v 19 You should do that because things that unbelievers \add consider to be\add* [IRO] wise, God considers to be foolish. \add We can learn from\add* the Scriptures \add what God says about\add* that,
\q Those who think that they are [IRO] wise, he messes up their plans by the mistakes they make!
\p
\v 20 And \add we can learn from\add* these words of Scripture,
\q The Lord considers as useless the thoughts of \add humans who think that they are\add* [IRO] wise.
\p
\v 21 So stop boasting about \add how good one Christian leader is or how good another Christian leader is\add* All \add of us(exc) exist as leaders only to help\add* you!
\v 22 Specifically, do not boast about me, or about Apollos, or about Peter! Everything in the world exists to \add benefit\add* you \add believers\add*. Whether you live or whether you die, the things that are happening now or the things that will happen in the future, they are all to benefit you.
\v 23 \add You should boast about\add* Christ, \add not about your leaders, because\add* you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
\c 4
\s1 Stop judging your leaders' value; do not be proud of one and despise another.
\sr  1 Corinthians 4:1-7
\p
\v 1 So, people ought to consider us  \add apostles\add* (OR, Apollos and me) to be  \add merely\add* servants of Christ. God has given to us  \add (exc) the work of\add* telling others the message that God has now revealed to us.
\v 2 With respect to doing that, those who are given work are required {give others some work to do require them} to do that work faithfully.
\v 3 I am not concerned whether you or  \add the judges in\add* some court decide whether I have done my work faithfully or not. I do not even judge myself  \add about that\add*.
\v 4 I do not think that I have done anything wrong, but that does not prove that I have done nothing wrong. The Lord is the one who judges me.
\v 5 So stop judging any of us  \add (exc)\add* before the time  \add when God judges everyone\add* [MTY]! Do not judge us before the Lord comes. He is the one who will reveal the sinful things that people have done secretly. He will even reveal what people have thought in their minds. At that time God will praise each person as  \add each one of them deserves\add*.
\p
\v 6 My fellow believers, I have  \add told you\add* all these things as illustrations of myself and Apollos. I have done this for your sake, in order that you may learn  \add to live according to\add* the saying, “Do not act contrary to what is {what they have} written  \add in the Scriptures\add*.” If you follow that rule, you will not be proud of one  \add spiritual leader\add* and despise another.
\v 7 ◄No one has made any of you superior to others!/Why do any of you think that you are superior to others?► [RHQ] \add All the abilities\add* that you have, ◄you received  \add from God\add*./did you not receive them  \add from God\add*?► [RHQ] So if you received them all  \add from God\add*, ◄you should not boast  \add thinking\add*,  “I got these abilities  \add from myself\add*, \add not from God\add*!”/why do you boast  \add thinking\add*,  “I got these abilities  \add from myself\add*, \add not from God\add*?”► [RHQ]
\s1 It is disgusting that you are so proud of your spiritual gifts and that you despise us apostles.
\sr  1 Corinthians 4:8-13
\p
\v 8 \add It is disgusting that you act as though\add* [IRO] you have already received everything that you need  \add spiritually\add*. You act as though [IRO] you were  \add spiritually\add* rich (OR, you had received all  \add the spiritual gifts you need\add*). You act as though [IRO] you had already begun to rule as kings with Christ. Well, I wish that you really were ruling  \add with him\add*, in order that we  \add apostles\add* might also rule with you!
\v 9 But it seems as though God has put us  \add apostles\add* on display at the end of the line. We  \add (exc)\add* are like men who have been condemned to die, who have been put in the arena where everyone can see  \add the wild animals\add* killing them. And not only people, but even angels all over the world  \add are watching us, as people\add* watch those who are performing a play  \add in a theater\add*.
\v 10 Many people consider us to be [IRO] fools because  \add we preach about\add* Christ, but you proudly  \add think [IRO] that\add* you are wise because ◄of your close relationship with/you belong to► Christ. Many people  \add consider us\add* [IRO] to be unimpressive, but you  \add proudly think that you\add* impress others. People respect you, but they do not respect us.
\v 11 Up to this present time we have often been hungry. We have often been thirsty. We have ragged clothes. Often we have been beaten {others have beaten us}. We  \add have traveled so much that we\add* have no regular homes to live in.
\v 12 We work very hard  \add to earn a living\add*. When we are cursed  \add by people\add* {When  \add people\add* curse us}, we  \add ask God to\add* bless them. When we are persecuted {When  \add people\add* cause us to suffer}, we endure it.
\v 13 When we are slandered  \add by people\add* {When  \add people\add* slander us}, we reply kindly to them. Up to this present time  \add unbelievers consider us to be worthless\add* [MET], \add as though we were\add* garbage and a rubbish heap.
\s1 Imitate the way in which I serve Christ.
\sr  1 Corinthians 4:14-17
\p
\v 14 I am writing this to you, not to make you feel ashamed, but instead to warn you as  \add though you were\add* my dear children.
\v 15 I say that because as  \add an apostle of\add* Christ Jesus I  \add was the first one who\add* proclaimed the good message to you. As a result, I was the one who enabled you to receive eternal life. So even if there were thousands of Christians who instruct you [MET], I am the only one who became  \add like\add* a father to you.
\v 16 So I urge you to  \add live for Christ\add* the way I do.
\v 17 In order to  \add help you do that\add*, I have sent/will be sending Timothy to you. I love him  \add as though he were\add* my son. He serves the Lord faithfully. He will remind you of the way I conduct my life  \add as one who\add* ◄has a close relationship with/belongs to► the Lord. The way I conduct my life is the same as how I teach  \add others to live\add* in all the congregations  \add to whom I have spoken\add*.
\s1 I hope you will change your thinking, so I do not have to punish you when I come there.
\sr  1 Corinthians 4:18-21
\p
\v 18 Some of you have become proud, thinking that I will not come there  \add to rebuke your congregation about what they are doing\add*.
\v 19 But if the Lord wants me to come, I will come to you soon. Then I will not  \add pay any attention to\add* what those proud people say. Instead, I will find out  \add whether they have God's\add* power.
\v 20 Remember that God  \add judges whether or not we are letting him\add* rule  \add our lives\add*, not by  \add listening to how we\add* talk, but  \add by seeing whether his\add* power  \add is present\add* ◄\add among us/in our lives\add*►.
\v 21 So which do you prefer? Do you want me to come to you and punish you  \add because you have not changed your ways\add*, or shall I come to you and act lovingly and gently toward you  \add because you have done what I told you to do?\add*
\c 5
\s1 You should expel the man in your congregation who has acted so immorally.
\sr  1 Corinthians 5:1-5
\p
\v 1 \add Now I want to discuss another matter\add*. It has been {People have} reported to me, and I believe that it is true, that some people among you have been acting in a sexually immoral way, in a way that is so bad that not even ◄pagans/people who do not know about God► act that way. People tell me that a man is living with his stepmother (OR, his father's other wife).
\v 2 You should be sad about what that man is doing! He should have been expelled {\add You\add* should have expelled him} from your congregation! \add But you\add* have not \add done that\add*, so ◄how can you be proud, \add thinking that you are spiritually mature?\add*/it is disgusting that you are proud, \add thinking that you are spiritually mature\add*!► [RHQ]
\v 3 As for me, I have already decided \add how you should\add* punish that man. And even though I am away from you, my spirit is with you, and you should do as I would do if I were there with you.
\v 4 \add What I have decided is that\add* when you have gathered together with the authority [MTY] of our Lord Jesus, and my spirit is with you, and the power of our Lord Jesus \add is with you\add*,
\v 5 you should put that man into Satan's hands. Then Satan can injure/punish his body, in order that \add he will turn away from his sinful behavior\add* and his spirit will be saved on the day when the Lord \add returns\add* [MTY].
\s1 Make sure that no one in your congregation is acting immorally or maliciously or wickedly.
\sr  1 Corinthians 5:6-8
\p
\v 6 It is not good that, \add while you are letting that immoral man continue to be in your congregation\add*, you are boasting \add about being spiritually mature\add*. ◄You know that a small amount of yeast affects all the bread dough [MET] \add into which it is put\add* {\add a woman puts it\add*}./Do you not know that a small amount of yeast affects all the bread dough [MET] \add into which it is put\add*?► [RHQ] \add Similarly, one person who continues to sin will have a bad effect on all the congregation\add*.
\v 7 So, \add just like we Jews\add* expel the old yeast \add from our houses during the Passover celebration\add* in order that we may have a fresh batch of dough without yeast in it [MET], \add you must expel such evil people from your congregation\add*. Do \add that so that you can truly be holy people\add*, as \add I know that\add* you really are. Remember that Christ was sacrificed {sacrificed himself} \add so that God could spare us from being punished for our sins, just like the Jews sacrificed lambs during\add* the \add first\add* Passover celebration \add so that God would spare their firstborn sons from being killed\add*.
\v 8 So let us celebrate \add the fact that God has freed us from punishing us for our sins\add* [MET], \add just like the Jews\add* in \add later years\add* celebrated Passover \add to celebrate God freeing them from being slaves in Egypt. They made sure that there was\add* no old yeast in the dough. \add They ate bread that\add* had no yeast in it. \add Similarly\add*, \add we should make sure that there are no people in our congregations\add* [MET] \add who act\add* maliciously \add toward others\add* or \add act\add* wickedly. Instead, \add make sure\add* [MET] \add that those in our congregations are ones who act\add* sincerely and \add speak\add* truthfully.
\s1 Expel wicked people from your congregation.
\sr  1 Corinthians 5:9-13
\p
\v 9 In the previous letter that I wrote to you, I said that you should not associate with sexually immoral people.
\v 10 I did not mean that you should not associate with unbelievers who are immoral, or who desire things that belong to others, or who ◄forcefully seize things that belong to others/are swindlers►, or who worship idols. You would have to leave this world \add to avoid all people\add* like that.
\v 11 But now \add I am stating clearly that\add* when I wrote, I \add meant that\add* you should not associate with those who say that they are fellow believers, if they are sexually immoral or if they desire and forcefully seize things that belong to others, or worship idols, or slander others, or become drunk. You should not associate with people like that, and you should not even eat with them!
\v 12 It is certainly not [RHQ] my business to judge people who are not believers and who do not belong to \add Christian congregations\add*. But it certainly is [RHQ] your business to judge those who are in \add your congregation\add*.
\v 13 God is the one who will judge those who are not believers. \add Do as the Scriptures command:\add* “Expel the wicked person from your midst!”
\c 6
\s1 It is disgusting that you prosecute fellow believers and let judges who are not believers decide your cases.
\sr  1 Corinthians 6:1-6
\p
\v 1 \add Now another matter:\add* When any of you  \add believers\add* accuses another believer about some matter, he takes that matter to judges who are not believers, \add for them to decide the case\add*, instead of asking God's people  \add to decide it\add*. ◄That is disgusting!/Why do you do that?► [RHQ]
\v 2 ◄\add I want\add* you to know that  \add we who are\add* God's people will  \add some day\add* judge those who are unbelievers./Do you not know that  \add we who are\add* God's people will  \add some day\add* judge those who are unbelievers?► [RHQ] So, since you will be judging unbelievers, ◄you certainly are capable of judging between  \add believers who disagree on\add* small matters!/are you not you capable of judging between  \add believers who disagree on\add* small matters?► [RHQ]
\v 3 ◄You should keep in mind that we will even judge angels!/Do you not know that we will even judge angels?► [RHQ] So we certainly should be able to judge about  \add matters that relate to how we\add* conduct our lives here on earth!
\v 4 Therefore, when you  \add believers\add* have a dispute, ◄you should certainly not choose as judges  \add to decide your case\add* people whom the congregation cannot respect  \add because those judges are not believers!/\add*why do you choose as judges  \add to decide your case\add* people whom the congregation cannot respect  \add because those judges are not believers\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 5 I am saying this to make you ashamed. ◄Surely there is someone among you who is wise enough to judge disputes between believers!/Is there no one among you who is wise enough to judge disputes between believers?► [RHQ]
\v 6 But instead, some believers  \add among you\add* accuse other believers in a legal court. And what is worse, you let the cases be judged by unbelievers {unbelievers judge the cases}!
\s1 God has freed you from your former sinful behavior, so remember that he will exclude from his kingdom those who engage in all kinds of sinful behavior.
\sr  1 Corinthians 6:7-11
\p
\v 7 The fact that you have any lawsuits among you  \add shows that\add* you have completely failed  \add as Christians\add* (OR, \add allowed Satan to\add* defeat you). ◄You should  \add allow other believers\add* to wrong you  \add without taking them to court!\add*/Why do you not  \add allow other believers\add* to wrong you  \add without taking them to court\add*?► [RHQ] ◄You should not accuse them when  \add they\add* cheat you!/Why do you accuse them when  \add they\add* cheat you?► [RHQ]
\v 8 But  \add what is happening is that\add* some of you are cheating others and doing wrong to them. \add That is bad\add*. But you are doing that to fellow believers, \add and that is worse!\add*
\p
\v 9 ◄You should keep in mind that wicked people will not become  \add members of\add* the group over whom God will rule./Do you not know that wicked people will not become  \add members of\add* the group over whom God will rule?► [RHQ] Do not be deceived {Do not deceive yourselves} \add by thinking wrongly about these matters\add*. People who are sexually immoral, or who worship idols, or who ◄commit adultery/have sex with someone to whom they are not married►, or who happily allow others to commit homosexual acts with them, or who take the initiative in committing homosexual acts,
\v 10 or who are thieves, or who desire and forcefully seize things that belong to others, or who are drunkards, or who slander others, or who are swindlers, will not enter the place where God rules.
\v 11 Some of you previously did things like that. But  \add God\add* has freed/cleansed you [MET] \add from your sinful behavior\add*. \add He\add* has set you apart for himself. \add He\add* has erased the record of your sins  \add because you trusted\add* [MTY] in the Lord Jesus Christ and because of what the Spirit of our God  \add has done for you\add*.
\s1 Because the Lord wants us to use our bodies in ways that please him, we must avoid all sexually immoral acts.
\sr  1 Corinthians 6:12-20
\p
\v 12 \add Some of you may say\add*, “God allows us to do anything  \add that he does not forbid\add*.” But  \add I would reply\add*, “\add That is true\add*, but not everything that God permits us to do helps us.” \add Yes, as some of you say\add*, God permits us to do anything  \add that he does not forbid\add*. But as for me, I will not let anything make me  \add its slave; that is, I will not do anything that will gain control over me in such a way that I will not be able to stop doing it\add*.
\v 13 \add Some of you may also say\add*, “Food is just for  \add us to put in\add* the stomach, and the stomach is just for  \add us to put\add* food  \add in\add*. And since God will do away with food and stomachs  \add when he gives us our new bodies, what we do with our bodies sexually does not affect us anymore than eating food does.” But what you have concluded is wrong, because\add* the Lord does not  \add want us to use\add* our bodies to do sexually immoral things. Instead, the Lord  \add wants us to use our bodies in ways that please him\add*. Also, the Lord  \add wants us to do what is good\add* for our bodies.
\v 14 God, by his power, caused the Lord  \add Jesus\add* to live again after he died, and he will cause us to live again after we die, \add which shows that he is very concerned about our bodies\add*.
\p
\v 15 ◄You should keep in mind that your bodies belong to Christ./Do you not know that your bodies belong to Christ?► [RHQ] So, should I  \add or any other believer\add* [RHQ] take our body, which belongs to Christ, and join it  \add sexually\add* to a prostitute? No, certainly not!
\v 16 When a man has sexual relations [EUP] with a prostitute, \add it is as though\add* their two bodies become one body. ◄You should never forget that!/Do you not know that?► [RHQ] What  \add Moses\add* wrote  \add about people who join together sexually is\add*, “The two of them will become  \add as though they are\add* one body.”
\v 17 But anyone who is united {who joins himself} to the Lord becomes one with him spiritually.
\p
\v 18 Always ◄run away from/avoid► committing sexually immoral acts. Other sins that people commit do not affect their bodies, but those who commit sexually immoral acts sin against their own bodies.
\v 19 ◄Keep in mind that your bodies are  \add like\add* [MET] temples of the Holy Spirit./Do you not know that your bodies are  \add like\add* [MET] temples of the Holy Spirit?► [RHQ] The Spirit, whom God gave you, lives within you. You do not belong to yourselves. You belong to God,
\v 20 \add because when his Son died for you it was as though\add* [MET] \add God\add* paid a price for you. So honor God by  \add how you use\add* your bodies!
\c 7
\s1 Married people should not deprive their spouses of sexual relations, except under special conditions.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:1-7
\p
\v 1 Now \add I will reply to\add* the things that you wrote to me about.
\p It is good for people not to get married.
\v 2 But because many people are committing sexual immorality, \add which God detests\add*, every man should have his own wife \add with whom he can have sexual relations\add*, and every woman should have her own husband \add with whom she can have sexual relations\add*.
\v 3 Every man must continue having sexual relations [EUP] with his wife, and every woman must continue having sexual relations with her husband.
\v 4 A man's wife does not have the right over her own body \add to be the only one to decide about having sexual relations with her husband\add*. Instead, her husband also has a right \add to decide about that\add*. Similarly, a woman's husband does not have the right over his own body \add to be the only one to decide about having sexual relations with his wife\add*. Instead, his wife also has a right \add to decide about that\add*.
\v 5 You may refuse \add to have sexual relations with\add* each other [EUP] only if you both first agree to do that for a short time, in order that you may both have more time to pray. Then after that, begin having sexual relations again [EUP] in order that Satan will not be able to persuade you \add to have sex with someone else\add* because you are unable to control your sexual desires.
\p
\v 6 I am telling you these things to say that \add God\add* allows \add you to get married, but he\add* does not say that you must \add get married\add*.
\v 7 I myself wish that all people would stay \add unmarried/single\add*, as I am. But God has enabled each person to live in different ways. He has enabled some people to \add live without getting married\add*, and he has enabled other people to \add get married\add*.
\s1 It is all right to get married, but it is wrong to get divorced. However, you should not force an unbelieving spouse to keep living with you.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:8-16
\p
\v 8 Now I want to say this to you unmarried people and to you whose spouses have died: It would be good for you to remain \add unmarried\add* as I am.
\v 9 But if you cannot control your \add sexual desires\add* [EUP], you should get married. It is better to be married \add so that you can satisfy your sexual desires with your spouse\add* than to constantly have a strong desire [EUP] \add for sexual relations\add*.
\p
\v 10 And now I will give a command for \add believers who are\add* married. This is not a command from me alone; it also comes from the Lord Jesus. You married women must not ◄separate from/divorce► your husbands!
\v 11 But if any of you do that, you must remain unmarried, or else you should be reconciled with your husband \add and live with him again\add*. Similarly, men must not ◄separate from/divorce► their wives.
\p
\v 12 Now I say this to the rest of you, \add to those who became believers after they were married. This is what\add* I \add am saying\add*, not what the Lord \add has commanded\add*. If someone has a wife who is not a believer, if she is willing to keep living with him, he must not divorce her.
\v 13 Similarly, if a woman has a husband who is not a believer, if he is willing to keep living with her, she must not divorce him.
\v 14 \add I say that\add* because God has set apart every woman's unbelieving husband \add for himself\add* because of his wife \add being a believer\add*, and God has set apart every man's unbelieving wife \add for himself\add* because of her husband \add being a believer\add*. If that were not true, \add God would consider\add* their children unacceptable. But, the fact is that \add God does consider\add* them acceptable to him.
\p
\v 15 However, if a woman's husband who is not a believer or a man's wife who is not a believer wants to leave, let \add him or her\add* do so. If that happens, the husband or wife who is a believer should not force the other one to stay. God has chosen us in order that we may live peacefully.
\v 16 \add You women believers should allow your unbelieving spouses to leave you if they want to\add*, because ◄there is no way that you can be sure that God will save your husband if you stay together./how can you be sure that God will save your husband if you stay together?► [RHQ] (OR, perhaps God will save your husband if you stay together.) Similarly, you men \add who are believers\add*, ◄there is no way that you can be sure that God will save your wives if you stay together/how can you be sure that God will save your wives if you stay together?► [RHQ] (OR, perhaps God will save your wives if you stay together.)
\s1 In general, each person should remain in the status that he had before he became a believer.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:17-24
\p
\v 17 However, each person should continue in the status that the Lord gave him, the status that he had when the Lord called him \add to belong to him\add*. That is the rule that I tell people in all the congregations \add where I speak\add*.
\v 18 If a man had already been circumcised [RHQ] when he became a Christian, he should not \add try to pretend that he is not\add* circumcised. If a man had not been circumcised [RHQ] before he became a Christian, he should not become circumcised.
\v 19 \add You should not try to change your status that way\add*, because it means nothing \add to God\add* whether someone is circumcised or not. What is important is that we obey what God has commanded.
\v 20 \add Generally\add*, each person should remain in the status that he had when he became a Christian.
\v 21 If one of you was a slave when you \add (sg)\add* became a Christian [RHQ], do not be concerned about it. However, if you get an opportunity to be free, do \add what you need to do to become free\add*
\v 22 \add Do not worry about your previously being a slave\add*, because those who were slaves before they became Christians, the Lord has freed them \add from Satan's control\add*. Similarly, those who were not slaves before they became Christians, \add it is as though\add* [MET] they are Christ's slaves \add because they must do what he tells them to do\add* [MET].
\v 23 \add Christ\add* paid a price to buy you \add when he died for you\add*. So do not \add act as if you are evil people's\add* slaves \add by doing the evil things that they tell you to do\add*.
\v 24 My fellow believers, \add I repeat that in general\add* each believer, being in fellowship with God, should continue in the status that he had before he became a Christian.
\s1 It is not sinful to get married, but married people will have a lot of problems.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:25-28
\p
\v 25 Now \add I will answer your question\add* about women who have never married. There is nothing that the Lord has commanded me \add to write about them\add*, but I am writing this to tell you what I think \add is best\add*, because the Lord \add Jesus\add* has mercifully enabled what I \add say\add* to be reliable.
\v 26 There are a lot of distressing events \add happening\add* now (OR, that will soon happen), so I think that it is better for people to remain in the status that they now have.
\v 27 If any of you \add men\add* are married [RHQ], do not try to divorce your wife. If any of you are unmarried [RHQ], do not seek a wife.
\v 28 But if \add any of\add* you \add men\add* get married, you have not committed a sin \add by doing that\add*. Likewise, if an unmarried woman gets married, she has not committed a sin \add by doing that\add*. However, those who get married will have many troubles, \add so I am urging you to remain unmarried in order that\add* you may not experience \add such troubles\add*.
\s1 We believers should not devote our time to the affairs of this life.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:29-31
\p
\v 29 My fellow believers, this is what I mean: There is not much time left \add before Christ returns\add*. So, from now on those men who are married should \add devote themselves to serving the Lord as much\add* as they would if they were not married.
\v 30 Those who are sad should \add devote themselves to serving the Lord as much\add* as they would if they were not sad. Those who are rejoicing \add should devote themselves to serving the Lord as much\add* as they would if they were not joyful.
\v 31 Those who are buying things should \add devote themselves to serving the Lord as much\add* as they would if they did not possess those things. Because this world as it exists now will soon be gone, those who are actively involved in the affairs of this life \add should not devote all their time\add* to be involved in those things.
\s1 It is better to remain unmarried because married people are more concerned about pleasing their spouses than about how to please the Lord.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:32-35
\p
\v 32 \add Another reason why\add* I \add encourage you to remain unmarried is that\add* I desire that none of you be anxious \add about the everyday affairs of this life\add*. Unmarried men are \add able to be primarily\add* concerned about serving the Lord Jesus and trying to please him.
\v 33 But married men are \add often\add* greatly concerned about the affairs of this life. Specifically, they are concerned about pleasing their wives.
\v 34 So their thinking is divided. Unmarried women are \add able to be\add* concerned about serving the Lord. They want to set apart their minds and their bodies for the Lord. But married women are \add often\add* concerned about the affairs of this life. Specifically, they are concerned about how to please their husbands.
\v 35 I am telling you this for your own good. I am not saying it in order to restrict you. Instead, I am saying it in order that you may do what is proper and be able to serve the Lord without being distracted {things distracting you}.
\s1 It is better for a man to decide that his daughter should remain unmarried than that she should get married, but either decision is all right.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:36-38
\p
\v 36 \add Some of you men have asked about your unmarried daughters\add*. \add I suggest that\add* if any man thinks that he may be treating his daughter unfairly \add by keeping her from marrying\add*, and if it is already past \add the right\add* time for her to get married, and if he thinks that she ought to be married, he should do what he wants to do. He should let her get married. He will not be sinning \add by doing that\add*.
\v 37 But if a man feels absolutely sure \add that it is better that his daughter not get married\add*, and if nothing is forcing \add her to get married\add*, and if he is free to do what he decides to do on the matter, if he decides that his daughter should not get married, he is doing what is right in \add keeping her from marrying\add*.
\v 38 So any man who decides that his daughter should get married is doing what is good, but if he decides that she should not get married, he is doing something even better. (OR, \vp 36\vp* \add Some of you men have asked about the women to whom you are engaged to marry\add*. If any man thinks that he may be treating that woman unfairly \add by not marrying her\add*, and if it is already past \add the right\add* time for her to get married, and if he wants to marry her very much, he should do what he wants to do. He should marry her. He will not be sinning \add by doing that\add*. \vp 37\vp* But if a man feels absolutely sure \add that it is better\add* for him not to get married, and if nothing is forcing \add them to get married\add*, if he is free to make his own decision on the matter, if he decides not to get married, he is doing what is right. \vp 38\vp* So any man who decides that he should get married to the woman he is engaged to is doing what is good, but if he decides that he should not get married, he is doing something even better.)
\s1 Women whose husbands have died are free to get remarried, but only to believers. However, they will probably remain happier if they do not marry again.
\sr  1 Corinthians 7:39-40
\p
\v 39 Women must remain married to their husbands while their husbands are still alive. But if a woman's husband dies, she is free to marry any \add unmarried\add* man whom she wants to marry, but he must belong to the Lord.
\v 40 However, I think that she will be happier if she does not marry again. And I believe that the Spirit of God is \add directing\add* me \add as I say that\add*.
\c 8
\s1 We should not be proud about knowing the truth about idols.
\sr  1 Corinthians 8:1-3
\p
\v 1 Now  \add I will answer what you asked\add* about  \add us believers\add* eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols. \add We know what some of you say, that God has enabled\add* all of us  \add to\add* know  \add the truth about things such as idols. But often we become\add* proud because we say that we know  \add all those things\add*. But instead of being proud about what we know, we should show that we love  \add our fellow believers by helping them to\add* become spiritually mature.
\v 2 Those who think that they thoroughly know something do not yet know it as they should.
\v 3 But as for those who love God, they know that they belong to him.
\s1 There are many idols that people think are gods, but there is only one true God.
\sr  1 Corinthians 8:4-6
\p
\v 4 So  \add I will tell you\add* about eating meat that people have sacrificed to idols. We know that it is true, \add as you say\add*, that idols are not really alive. We also know that there is only one real God.
\v 5 It is true that there are gods whom people think live in the heavens or whom they think live on earth. Truly, there are many beings that  \add people\add* call gods, and whom  \add they\add* call lords.
\v 6 But for us  \add believers\add* there is only one real God. He is  \add our heavenly\add* Father who created everything. He is the one whom we  \add worship and serve\add*. Also, for us believers Jesus Christ is the one and only Lord. He is the one whom  \add God caused\add* to create everything. It is because of what he  \add has done\add* that we have  \add spiritual\add* life.
\s1 Do not eat meat offered to idols if that would encourage other believers to eat that food contrary to their conscience.
\sr  1 Corinthians 8:7-13
\p
\v 7 Nevertheless, some people do not understand  \add that idols are not really alive\add*. In the past, some among you who are believers now were accustomed to believing that idols  \add were really alive\add*. As a result, when they eat such meat  \add now\add*, they still think that it was sacrificed to an idol  \add that is alive\add*. They are not sure  \add that God allows believers to eat meat that has been offered to idols\add*. So, \add when they eat such meat\add*, they think that they have sinned.
\v 8 But God will not think more highly about us  \add if we eat certain\add* foods, or if we do not eat  \add certain foods\add*. That is, we are not more acceptable to God if we do not eat certain foods, nor are we more acceptable to him if we eat those foods.
\v 9 However, be sure that you do not do anything that God allows you to do, if by doing that you would encourage any of  \add your fellow believers to do something that\add* they are not sure  \add God allows them to do\add*. As a result, you would be causing them to sin.
\v 10 For example, you know  \add that idols are not really alive\add*. Suppose that in a temple  \add where they worship\add* idols you eat  \add food that has been sacrificed to idols\add*. Suppose that someone who is not sure whether God allows us to eat that food sees you eating it. ◄\add You\add* would be encouraging him to eat it, too./Wouldn't  \add you\add* be encouraging him to eat it, too?► [RHQ]
\v 11 As a result, you who know that  \add idols are not really alive\add*, might cause that fellow believer, one for whom Christ died, ◄to be ruined  \add spiritually\add*/to stop believing  \add in Christ\add*►.
\v 12 By sinning against your fellow believer by causing him to do something that he thinks God does not allow us to do, \add it is as though\add* you are sinning against Christ himself!
\v 13 So if  \add I, Paul, think that by\add* eating a certain food I might cause a fellow believer to be ruined spiritually, I will never eat such food again. I do not want to cause any fellow believer ◄to be ruined spiritually/to stop believing in Christ►. \add And you should\add* ◄\add do as I do/imitate my example\add*►.
\c 9
\s1 As your apostle I am free to do anything that God allows me to do.
\sr  1 Corinthians 9:1-2
\p
\v 1 ◄I am certainly free  \add to do all the things that God allows me to do./Do you not think that\add* I am free  \add to do all the things God allows me to do\add*?► [RHQ] ◄I am an apostle./\add Do you not know\add* I am an apostle?► [RHQ] \add ◄You\add* certainly  \add know that\add* I have seen Jesus our Lord./Have not  \add I told you that\add* I have seen Jesus our Lord?► [RHQ] ◄It is a result of my work that you  \add have believed in\add* the Lord  \add Jesus\add*./Isn't it a result of my work that you  \add have believed in\add* the Lord  \add Jesus\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 2 And even though other people may think that I am not an apostle, you certainly should know that I am an apostle. \add Remember that\add* your having become Christians [MET] \add as a result of my telling you about\add* the Lord ◄confirms/shows that it is true► that I am an apostle.
\s1 Barnabas and I have the same right to receive financial support that the other apostles have.
\sr  1 Corinthians 9:3-7
\p
\v 3 In order to defend myself, this  \add is what I say\add* to those who criticize me  \add by claiming that I do not act like an apostle\add*.
\v 4 As for Barnabas and me, ◄we certainly have the right  \add as apostles\add* to receive  \add from you and other congregations\add* food and drink  \add for our work\add*./do we not have the right to receive  \add from you and other congregations\add* food and drink  \add for our work\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 5 \add We have the\add* same right  \add that\add* the other apostles and the Lord Jesus'  \add younger\add* brothers and  \add especially\add* Peter have. They all take along a wife who is a believer  \add when they travel various places in order to tell people about Christ. And they have a right that the people whom they work among will support their wives, too\add*. So ◄Barnabas and I certainly have those same rights./do not Barnabas and I have those same rights?► [RHQ]
\v 6 ◄It would be ridiculous to think that Barnabas and I are the only apostles who must work to earn money to pay our expenses  \add while we are doing God's work!/Do you think that\add* Barnabas and I are the only apostles who must work to earn money to pay our expenses  \add while we are doing God's work\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 7 ◄Soldiers certainly do not pay their own wages./Do soldiers pay their own wages?► [RHQ] ◄Those who plant a vineyard would certainly eat some of the grapes  \add when they become ripe\add*./Do not those who plant a vineyard eat some of the grapes  \add when they become ripe\add*?► [RHQ] ◄Those who care for sheep would certainly drink the milk from those sheep./Do not those who care for sheep drink the milk from those sheep?► [RHQ] \add Similarly, those who tell others about Christ certainly have a right to receive\add* ◄\add financial help/food\add*► \add from the people to whom they preach\add*.
\s1 God's servants have always had the right to receive financial help from others, but we have not insisted on that right because we want to preach the gospel without charge.
\sr  1 Corinthians 9:8-18
\p
\v 8 ◄I am saying that, not only because people think that it is right./Am I saying that only because people think that it is right?► [RHQ] \add No\add*, I am [RHQ] saying it because it is what  \add God said\add* in the laws  \add that he gave to Moses\add*.
\v 9 Moses wrote in one of those laws, “While an ox is threshing  \add grain\add*, you must not tie its mouth shut  \add so that it cannot eat the grain\add*.” ◄God was not only concerned about oxen  \add when he gave that law\add*./Was God  \add only\add* concerned about oxen  \add when he gave that law\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 10 \add No\add*, he was [RHQ] concerned about us, also! Yes, \add God caused Moses to\add* write those words  \add because he is concerned\add* about us! Those who plow the ground confidently expect  \add to eat some of\add* the crop  \add that grows\add*. Those who thresh grain confidently expect  \add to eat some of the grain that they thresh. Similarly, we who proclaim the message about Christ have the right to confidently expect to receive financial help for our work\add*.
\v 11 And because we have proclaimed God's message to you, ◄we certainly have the right to receive from you the things that we need for our bodies [MET]!/do we not have the right to receive from you the things that we need for our bodies?► [MET, RHQ]
\v 12 Since other people  \add who preached to you\add* had that right, ◄certainly Barnabas and I have the same right./do Barnabas and I not have the same right?► [RHQ]
\p However, neither of us insisted  \add that you give us the things that\add* we have a right  \add to receive from you\add*. Instead, we were willing to endure anything in order that we not hinder  \add anyone from believing\add* the message about Christ.
\v 13 ◄You should keep in mind that  \add the priests and servants\add* in the Temple eat  \add some of the food that people bring to\add* the Temple./Do you not know that  \add the priests and servants\add* in the Temple eat  \add some of the food that people bring to\add* the Temple?► [RHQ] Specifically, the priests who work at the altar eat some of  \add the food that the people bring to sacrifice on\add* the altar.
\v 14 So the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the good message  \add about him\add* should receive from  \add those who hear that\add* message what they need to live on.
\p
\v 15 However, I have not requested that you  \add give me\add* those things that I have a right  \add to receive from you\add*. Furthermore, I am writing this to you, not in order to request you to begin  \add giving me financial help now\add*. I would rather die than to  \add receive help from you\add*. I do not want anyone to prevent me from boasting  \add about my proclaiming God's message to you without receiving financial help from you\add*.
\v 16 When I proclaim the message about Christ, I cannot boast  \add about doing it\add*, because  \add Christ\add* has commanded me  \add to do it\add*. I would be very miserable (OR, \add I am afraid that\add* God would punish me) if I did not proclaim that message.
\v 17 If I had decided by myself to proclaim it, \add God\add* would reward me. But I did not decide by myself to do that. I am simply doing the work that  \add God\add* entrusted to me.
\v 18 So ◄perhaps you wonder what my reward is./are you wondering what my reward is?► [RHQ] \add I will tell you\add*. When I proclaim the good message  \add about Christ\add*, I do not ask people for financial help. It  \add makes me very happy not to ask for help, and being happy is the\add* reward I get. I do not want to use the rights that I have  \add when I proclaim\add* the good message.
\s1 I have adopted the code of conduct of whatever group I have been among, in order to bring more people to Christ.
\sr  1 Corinthians 9:19-27
\p
\v 19 I am not obligated to do what anyone else thinks that I should do. Nevertheless, when I have been with any group of people, I have made myself  \add do what they believed that I should do, just like a slave does what his master wants him to do\add*. I have done that in order that I might convince more people  \add to trust in Christ\add*.
\v 20 Specifically, when I was with fellow Jews, I did the things that Jews  \add think that people should do\add*. I did that in order that I might convince some of them  \add to trust in Christ\add*. Although I am now not obligated to obey the Jewish laws and rituals, when I was with those who believe that they are obligated to obey those laws, I did the things that they  \add think that people should do\add*. I did that in order to convince some of them  \add to trust in Christ\add*.
\v 21 When I was with ◄non-Jews/those who do not know those laws►, I did the things that non-Jews  \add think that people should do\add*, in order that I might convince some of them  \add to trust in Christ\add*. I do not mean that I disobey God's laws. No, I obey the things that Christ commanded us to do.
\v 22 When I was with those who doubt  \add whether God will permit them to do certain things that others\add* ◄\add disapprove of/think it is not right to do\add*►, I  \add avoided doing those things\add*, in order that I might convince some of them  \add to trust in Christ\add*. In summary, I have done all the things  \add that the people I have been with think that others should do\add*, in order that by every possible means I might convince some of them  \add to trust in Christ\add*.
\v 23 I do all these things in order that  \add more people will believe\add* the message about Christ, and in order that I, along with other believers, may receive the good things  \add that God promises to give us\add*.
\p
\v 24 When people run in a race, they all run, but only one of them wins the race and as a result gets a prize. ◄You certainly know that./Do you not know that?► [RHQ] So, \add just like\add* runners  \add exert themselves fully to win a race\add* [MET], \add you should exert yourselves fully to do the things that God wants you to do\add*, in order that you may receive the reward  \add that God wants to give you\add*.
\v 25 All athletes exercise their bodies strenuously in many ways. They do that in order to receive a wreath  \add as a reward to wear on their heads\add*. Those wreaths fade, but we will receive a reward that will last forever [LIT].
\v 26 For that reason, I  \add try hard to please God\add* [MET], \add like a\add* runner who runs toward the goal [LIT]. I  \add try hard to accomplish what God wants me to accomplish, like\add* a boxer tries hard to hit his opponent, not to miss hitting him.
\v 27 I beat my body  \add to make it do what I want it to do\add* [MET], \add as\add* slaves  \add obey their masters\add*, in order that, after I have proclaimed  \add God's message\add* to others, he will not  \add say that I do\add* not deserve to receive a reward.
\c 10
\s1 Our Jewish ancestors all experienced God's power, but almost all of them died in the desert because they sinned against him.
\sr  1 Corinthians 10:1-5
\p
\v 1 My fellow believers, I want to remind you that all our \add Jewish\add* ancestors were under the cloud \add by which God miraculously led them and protected them when they left Egypt with Moses\add*. All those ancestors crossed the Red Sea \add after God miraculously made the water separate so that they could walk through it\add*.
\v 2 God caused all of them to begin to live under the authority of [MTY] Moses \add when they walked\add* under that cloud and \add walked through the Red\add* Sea.
\v 3 All \add those ancestors of ours ate the same food that God\add* miraculously \add provided\add*.
\v 4 They all drank water that \add God\add* miraculously \add provided\add*. That is, they all drank water that God miraculously made come out of the rock. That rock was \add a symbol of\add* [MET] Christ, who went with them. \add So we conclude that God helped all of those people in many ways\add*.
\v 5 However, \add we also conclude that\add* God was angry [LIT] with most of those people \add because they sinned against him. He caused almost all of them to die, and as\add* a result their bodies were scattered in the desert.
\s1 What happened to our Jewish ancestors was a warning of what will happen to us if we give in to temptation.
\sr  1 Corinthians 10:6-13
\p
\v 6 Those things \add that happened long ago\add* became examples to teach us \add the following things\add*: We should not desire to \add do\add* evil things as those people desired to do.
\v 7 We should not worship idols as many of those people did. \add Remember that Moses\add* wrote, “The people sat down. They ate and drank \add to honor the golden calf that they had just made\add*. Then they got up to dance \add immorally\add*.”
\v 8 We should not have sexual relations with someone to whom we are not married, as many of them did. As a result, God \add punished them by\add* causing twenty-three thousand people to die in \add only\add* one day.
\v 9 We should not try to see how much we can sin without the Lord punishing us. Some of them did that, and as a result they died because \add poisonous\add* snakes \add bit them\add*.
\v 10 We should not complain \add about what God does\add*. Some of them did that, and as a result an angel destroyed them. \add So God will certainly punish us if we sin like they did\add*.
\p
\v 11 All those things \add that happened to our ancestors long ago\add* are examples for us. \add Moses\add* wrote those things to warn us \add who are living now\add*. We are the people for whom God has fulfilled \add the things that he purposed in\add* the previous periods of time.
\v 12 So \add I say this to\add* all those who confidently \add think that they will always\add* steadfastly continue to \add believe what God said and will never disobey what he commanded\add*: Be careful that you \add (sg)\add* do not sin \add when you are tempted\add*.
\v 13 \add Remember that\add* your desires to sin are the same desires that other people have. But when you are tempted to sin, you can trust God \add to help you\add*. He will not permit you to be tempted {anything to tempt you} more than you are able to resist. Instead, when you are tempted {things tempt you}, he will also provide a way \add for you\add* to endure it \add without sinning\add*.
\s1 God will punish us if we participate in demon worship by eating food sacrificed to demons when we eat the Lord's Supper.
\sr  1 Corinthians 10:14-22
\p
\v 14 So, \add I say to\add* you people whom I love, \add avoid\add* worshipping idols \add just like you would\add* run away from \add anything that is dangerous\add*.
\v 15 It is to people who \add think that they\add* are wise that I write. So, you, as wise people, judge whether what I am writing \add is true\add*.
\v 16 \add During the Lord's Supper, after we ask God to\add* bless ◄the \add wine\add*/the \add grape juice\add*► \add in the\add* cup, we give thanks for it \add and drink it\add*. By doing that, we certainly are [RHQ] sharing in what Christ \add did for us when\add* his blood \add flowed from his body when he died. During the Lord's Supper, when we break\add* the bread \add and eat it\add*, ◄we are certainly sharing in [MTY] what Christ \add did for us when\add* his body \add suffered for us on the cross\add*./are we not sharing in [MTY] what Christ \add did for us when\add* his body \add suffered for us on the cross?\add*► [RHQ]
\v 17 Because it is one loaf of bread that we \add break and eat during the Lord's Supper, it symbolizes that\add* we who are many are one group, because we all eat from the one loaf.
\p
\v 18 Consider \add what happens when\add* the Israelite people \add eat the food that the priests\add* sacrifice on the altar \add outside the Temple\add*. ◄They participate in \add what the priests do at\add* [MTY] the altar./Are they not participating in \add what the priests do at\add* [MTY] the altar?► [RHQ] \add Similarly, if you eat food that non-believers have offered to an idol in a temple, you are participating in their worship of the idol there\add*.
\v 19 By saying that, ◄\add I\add* do not mean that offering food to an idol makes it anything \add more than just ordinary food./do I mean\add* that offering food to an idol makes it anything \add more than just ordinary food\add*?► [RHQ] I do not mean that an idol is anything \add more than just an idol\add*.
\v 20 No! Instead, I mean that what people sacrifice \add to idols\add*, they are sacrificing to demons, not to God. So, \add if you eat food that has been sacrificed to idols, you are participating in worshipping the demons that the idols represent\add*. And I do not want you to participate in worshipping demons!
\v 21 When you drink the \add grape juice/wine in\add* [MTY] the cup \add at the Lord's Supper\add*, you cannot participate in the \add blessings that\add* the Lord \add Jesus\add* brought to us and at the same time drink the \add wine in the\add* [MTY] cup that people offer to demons! When you eat at the Lord's table, you cannot participate in the blessings the Lord provided [MTY] when he died for us and at the same time participate in the things that represent demons \add by eating food that has been sacrificed to idols\add*
\v 22 \add If you participate in honoring demons in that way\add*, ◄you will certainly make the Lord very angry./will not you make the Lord very angry?► [RHQ] ◄Remember that you are certainly not stronger than he is./Do you think that you are stronger than he is?► [RHQ] \add Certainly not, so you will not escape his punishing you if you honor demons in that way!\add*
\s1 It is all right to eat food offered to idols, but we should not do so if it would offend those who think that it is wrong.
\sr  1 Corinthians 10:23—11:1
\p
\v 23 \add Some people say\add*, “\add God\add* permits \add believers to do\add* anything.” But \add I say that\add* not everything that people do benefits \add those who do it! Yes, some people say\add*, “God permits \add believers to do\add* all things.” But not everything that people do helps them to become \add spiritually\add* mature.
\v 24 No one should try to benefit \add only\add* himself. Instead, each person should try to benefit other people \add spiritually\add*.
\v 25 \add This is what you should do\add*: Eat any \add food\add* that is sold {that people sell} in the market. Do not ask questions \add to find out if that food has been offered\add* {\add someone offered that food\add*} \add to idols, just\add* because you think it would be wrong \add to eat such food\add*.
\v 26 \add Remember that the Psalmist wrote\add*, “Everything on the earth belongs to \add the\add* Lord \add God because he created it!\add*” \add So, food that has been offered to idols belongs to the Lord, not to the idols, and you may eat it\add*.
\v 27 If a non-believer invites you to a meal, go if you want to, and eat any food that is set {that \add he\add* sets} before you. Do not ask \add whether it was offered to idols, just\add* because you think that it would be wrong \add to eat such food\add*.
\v 28 But if someone says to you, “This is food that was sacrificed \add to an idol\add*,” do not eat it, for the sake of the person who told that to you, and also because someone may think that it is wrong \add to eat such food\add*.
\v 29 I do not mean that you \add should be concerned about whether it is all right to eat such food\add*. What I mean is that you should be concerned about others who may think that it is wrong to eat such food. Since I know that I ◄am free/have the right► \add to eat such food without God punishing me\add*, no one should [RHQ] say that what I am doing is wrong just because he himself thinks that it is wrong.
\v 30 If I thank \add God\add* for the food when I eat \add food that has been offered to an idol\add*, no one should criticize me for eating food for which I have thanked God [RHQ]!
\p
\v 31 So \add I say to you in conclusion\add*, when you eat \add food\add*, or drink \add something\add*, or do anything else, do everything in order that \add people will\add* praise God.
\v 32 Do not do anything that would hinder Jews or Greeks \add from becoming believers\add*, and do not do things that would encourage members of God's congregations to sin.
\v 33 \add Do as I do\add*. I try to please everyone in every way. I do this by not seeking to benefit myself. Instead, I try to benefit many others, in order that they may be saved {that \add God\add* may save them} \add from the guilt of their sins\add*.
\c 11
\p
\v 1 \add Follow my example\add*, just like I  \add try to\add* follow Christ's example.
\s1 Women should wear a hair covering while praying or prophesying in a service, but men should not do so.
\sr  1 Corinthians 11:2-16
\p
\v 2 I praise you because you remember all the things  \add that I taught you\add* and because you follow the instructions that I gave you. You have done just like I told you to do.
\v 3 \add Now\add*, I want you to know that the one who has authority over [MTY] every man is Christ, and the ones who have authority over women are men (OR, their husbands), and the one who has authority over Christ is God.
\v 4 \add So\add* if any man  \add wears a covering over\add* his head when he prays or speaks a message God gave him, he disgraces himself [SYN].
\v 5 Also, if any woman does not wear a covering over her head when she prays or speaks a message that God gave her, she disgraces herself (OR, she dishonors her husband). That would be acting like [SIM] \add women who are ashamed because\add* their heads have been shaved.
\v 6 So, if women do not wear coverings over their heads  \add when they pray or speak messages that God gave them\add*, they should let someone shave their heads  \add so that they will be ashamed\add*. But since women are ashamed if someone cuts their hair  \add short\add* or shaves off their hair, they should wear coverings over their heads  \add when they pray or speak messages that God gave them\add*.
\v 7 Men should not wear coverings over their heads  \add when they pray or speak messages that God gave them\add*, because they represent what God is like [MET] and they show how great God is. But women show how great men (OR, their husbands) are.
\v 8 \add Remember that God intends that men have authority over women. We know that\add* because  \add God\add* did not make  \add the first\add* man, \add Adam\add*, from the  \add first\add* woman, \add Eve\add*. Instead, he made that woman  \add from a bone that he took\add* from the man.
\v 9 Also, \add God\add* did not create  \add the first\add* man  \add to help\add* the woman. Instead, \add he\add* created the woman  \add to help\add* the man.
\v 10 For that reason, women should wear something  \add to cover\add* their heads  \add as a symbol of their being under their husbands'\add* [MTY] authority. They should also  \add cover their heads\add* so that the angels  \add will see that and rejoice\add*.
\p
\v 11-12 However, remember that  \add even though God created the first\add* woman from  \add the first\add* man, \add now\add* it is women who  \add give birth\add* to men. So men cannot be independent of women, nor can women be independent of men. But all things, \add including men and women\add*, come from God.
\v 13 Consider this for yourselves: Is it proper for [RHQ] women to pray to God while they do not have coverings over their heads?
\v 14 ◄Everyone senses that it is disgraceful for men to have long hair./Do you not know naturally that it is disgraceful for men to have long hair?► [RHQ]
\v 15 But it is very delightful if women have long hair, because  \add God\add* gave them long hair to be like a  \add beautiful\add* covering  \add for their heads\add*.
\v 16 But whoever wants to argue  \add with me about my saying that women should have a covering over their heads when they pray or speak a message from God should consider the fact that\add* we  \add apostles\add* do not  \add permit\add* any other custom, and the  \add other\add* congregations of God do not have any other custom.
\s1 THEME When you gather to eat the Lord's Supper, you act selfishly. I cannot praise you for that.
\sr  1 Corinthians 11:17-22
\p
\v 17 Concerning the matters  \add about which I will instruct you now\add*, I do not praise you, because whenever you believers meet together, good  \add things do not happen\add*. Instead, bad things  \add happen\add*.
\v 18 First of all, people have told me that when you gather together as a group  \add to worship God\add*, you divide into groups  \add that are hostile to each other\add*. To some extent I believe that is true.
\v 19 It seems that you must divide into  \add groups that despise each other\add* in order that it might be clear/evident which people among you  \add God\add* approves of!
\v 20 When you gather together, you [IRO] eat the meal  \add that you say is to remember the death of\add* the Lord  \add Jesus for us\add*.
\v 21 But  \add what happens when\add* you eat is that each person eats his own meal before  \add he thinks about sharing his food with anyone else\add*. As a result, \add when the meal is over\add*, some people are  \add still\add* hungry and others are drunk! \add So it is not a meal that honors the Lord\add*.
\v 22 ◄\add You act as though\add* you do not have your own houses in which you can eat and drink  \add whatever you want to\add*!/Do you not have your own houses in which you can eat and drink  \add whatever you want to\add*?► [RHQ] Do you not realize [RHQ] \add that by acting selfishly in this way\add*, it is God's people whom you are despising, and it is the poor people  \add in your group\add* whom you are treating as though they were not important? What shall I say to you about that [RHQ]? Do  \add you expect\add* me to praise you  \add about what you do\add* [RHQ]? I certainly will not praise you!
\s1 The Lord gave us instructions about the significance of the Lord's Supper.
\sr  1 Corinthians 11:23-26
\p
\v 23 The Lord taught me these things that I also taught you: During the night that Jesus was betrayed {\add Judas\add* enabled  \add the enemies of\add* the Lord Jesus to seize him}, he took some bread.
\v 24 After he thanked God for it, he broke it into pieces. \add Then he gave it to his disciples\add* and said, “This bread  \add represents\add* [MET] (OR, is) my body, that  \add I am about to sacrifice\add* for you. Eat bread in this  \add way again and again\add* to remember my  \add offering myself as a sacrifice for you\add*.”
\v 25 Similarly, after they ate their meal, he took a cup [MTY] \add of wine\add*. He  \add thanked God for it. Then he gave it to his disciples\add*, saying, “\add The wine in\add* [MTY] this cup  \add represents\add* [MET] (OR, is) my blood  \add that will flow from my body\add* ◄\add to put into effect/to establish\add*► the new agreement  \add that God is making with people\add*. Whenever you drink wine in this way, do it to remember that  \add my blood flowed for you\add*.”
\v 26 \add Remember that\add* until the Lord  \add Jesus\add* returns  \add to the earth\add*, whenever you eat the  \add bread that represents his body\add* and drink the wine [MTY] \add that represents his blood\add*, you are telling other people that he died  \add for you\add*.
\s1 God punishes those who eat the Lord's Supper in a way that does not express the unity of his people.
\sr  1 Corinthians 11:27-34
\p
\v 27 So, those who eat that bread and drink that wine [MTY] in a way that is not proper  \add for those who belong to the Lord\add* are guilty of  \add acting in a way that is contrary to what\add* our  \add Lord intended when he offered\add* his body  \add as a sacrifice\add* and his blood  \add flowed when he died\add*.
\v 28 Before any believer eats that bread and drinks that wine [MTY], he should think carefully about  \add what he is doing\add*, 
\v 29 because if anyone eats  \add the bread that represents Christ's body\add* and drinks  \add the wine that represents his blood\add* without recognizing that all God's  \add people should be united, God will\add* punish him  \add for doing that\add*.
\v 30 Many people in your group are weak and sick, and several have died [EUP] because of  \add the way they acted when they ate that bread and drank that wine\add*.
\v 31 If we would think carefully about what we  \add are doing\add*, \add God\add* would not judge  \add and punish\add* us  \add like that\add*.
\v 32 But when the Lord judges  \add and punishes\add* us  \add for acting wrongly\add*, he disciplines us  \add to correct us\add*, in order that he will not  \add need to\add* punish us when he punishes  \add the people who do not trust in Christ\add* [MTY].
\p
\v 33 So, my fellow believers, when you gather together to eat  \add food to remember the Lord's dying for you\add*, wait until everyone  \add has arrived so that you can find out who does not have enough food\add*.
\v 34 Those who are so hungry  \add that they cannot wait to eat until everyone else has arrived\add* should eat in their own homes  \add first\add*, in order that when you gather together God will not judge  \add and punish them for\add* ◄\add being inconsiderate of/not being concerned about\add*► \add others\add*.
\p And when I come  \add to Corinth\add* I will give you instructions about other matters  \add concerning the Lord's Supper\add*.
\c 12
\s1 It is only God's Spirit who enables people to say that Jesus is Lord.
\sr  1 Corinthians 12:1-3
\p
\v 1 Now, my fellow believers, \add I will answer what you asked\add* about the things God's Spirit  \add enables believers to do\add*. I want you to know clearly [LIT] \add about these things\add*.
\v 2 You know that before you became Christians, various things led you to  \add worship\add* idols, which are unable to tell you  \add any of God's message\add*.
\v 3 So  \add the first thing\add* that I will tell you now is that it is not the Spirit of God who would cause anyone to say, “Jesus deserved to die,” and that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can enable anyone to say, “Jesus is  \add truly\add* the Lord.”
\s1 God's Spirit gives believers special abilities as he desires.
\sr  1 Corinthians 12:4-11
\p
\v 4 There are various things  \add that God's\add* Spirit enables  \add us believers to do\add*, but it is that same Spirit  \add who enables all of us to do them\add*.
\v 5 There are many different ways to serve  \add the Lord\add*, but it is the same Lord  \add whom we all are serving\add*.
\v 6 \add We believers\add* have the power to do various  \add tasks\add*, but it is the same God who gives all of us the power  \add to do\add* these things.
\p
\v 7 \add God's\add* Spirit gives his power to each believer in order to benefit all the other  \add believers\add*.
\v 8 To some, the Spirit gives the ability to speak very wise messages. To others, the same Spirit gives the ability to know  \add things that he reveals to them\add*.
\v 9 To others, the same Spirit gives the ability to believe  \add that God will work miracles\add*. To others, the Spirit gives the ability to heal  \add sick people\add*.
\v 10 To others, he gives the power  \add to perform\add* miracles. To others, he gives the ability to speak messages that come directly from God. To others, he gives the ability to tell  \add if a message is really from God or not\add*. To others he gives the ability to speak messages in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*. To others, he gives the ability to tell the meaning of those messages [MTY].
\v 11 It is the same one Spirit who gives all these abilities. He gives whatever abilities he wants to give, to whatever person he wants to give them.
\s1 A congregation needs all the abilities that God's Spirit gives to its members, but you should especially desire the ones that help others the most.
\sr  1 Corinthians 12:12-31
\p
\v 12 Although a person's body has many parts, all the parts form just one body [DOU]. It is like that  \add with those who belong to\add* Christ.
\v 13 When we were baptized {When people baptized us}, the one  \add Holy\add* Spirit caused us to become one group  \add of believers\add*. It does not matter whether we are Jews or non-Jews. It does not matter whether we are slaves or not slaves. \add When we believed in Christ\add*, the one Spirit came to live [MET] within all of us.
\p
\v 14 \add Our\add* bodies do not have only one part. They have many parts  \add with various functions\add*.
\v 15 If our foot could  \add talk and\add* say  \add to us\add*, “Because I am not  \add your\add* hand, I am not a part of  \add your\add* body,” it would still be a part of  \add our\add* body.
\v 16 If our ear could  \add talk and\add* say, “Because I am not  \add your\add* eye, I am not a part of your body,” it would still be a part of our body.
\v 17 If our body were only an eye, ◄we would not be able to hear./how could we hear?► [RHQ] If our body were only an ear, ◄we would not be able to smell  \add anything\add*!/how could we smell  \add anything\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 18 But the truth is that God has put all the parts of our bodies together exactly as he wanted to put them.
\v 19 If  \add our body\add* had only one part, ◄it would not be a body./how would it be a body?► [RHQ]
\v 20 But the truth is that there are many parts  \add in our body\add*, but it is still only one body.
\v 21 That is why if our eye  \add could talk\add*, it should never say to our hand, “I do not need you!” And if our head  \add could talk\add*, it should not say to our feet, “I do not need you!”
\v 22 Instead, the parts of our body that seem to be weaker are the ones that are absolutely necessary.
\v 23 And the parts that we do not think highly of are the parts that we clothe carefully. And we protect carefully those parts that we do not show to people.
\v 24 The parts that are  \add all right to\add* show people, we do not need to protect. Instead, God, who has put all the parts of our bodies together, causes us to care for in a special way the parts that we think are less important.
\v 25 He does that in order that all the parts of our body will work together harmoniously [LIT], and so that all the parts will care for all the other parts equally.
\v 26 If one part of our body hurts, \add it is as though\add* all the parts of our body are hurting. If we pay special attention to one part of our body, \add it is as though\add* all the parts of our body feel pleasure [MET].
\p
\v 27 \add Everything I have just said about how the parts of our bodies relate to each other applies to how\add* all of you who belong to Christ  \add should relate to each other\add*. Each of you belongs to him, \add but you have not all been given the same abilities and work\add*.
\v 28 God has placed apostles in our congregations. Apostles are first  \add in rank\add*. Next  \add in rank\add* are those who speak messages which come directly from God. Next  \add in rank\add* are those who teach  \add spiritual truth\add*. Then there are those who have the power to work miracles, those who have the ability to heal  \add sick people\add*, those who have the ability to help  \add others\add*, those who have the ability to govern  \add the affairs of the congregation\add*, and those who have the ability to speak  \add messages\add* in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*.
\v 29 ◄Certainly not all  \add believers\add* are apostles./Are all  \add believers\add* apostles?► [RHQ] ◄They all do not have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God./Do they all have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to teach  \add spiritual truth\add*./Do they all have the ability to teach  \add spiritual truth\add*?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the power to work miracles./Do they all have the power to work miracles?► [RHQ]
\v 30 ◄They do not all have the ability to heal people./Do they all have the ability to heal people?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to speak  \add messages\add* in languages [MTY] \add they have not learned\add*./Do they all have the ability to speak  \add messages\add* in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to tell others the meaning of those messages./Do they all have the ability to tell others the meaning of those messages?► [RHQ] \add Certainly not!\add*
\v 31 But you should eagerly desire to have  \add the abilities that will help other believers\add* the most (OR, \add  the abilities that God considers\add* to be the most important). But now I will tell you the best way  \add to use the abilities that God's Spirit has given you\add*.
\c 13
\s1 We should use the abilities that God's Spirit has given us in ways that show that we love others.
\sr  1 Corinthians 13:1-13
\p
\v 1 If we could speak  \add all\add* the various languages [MTY] that people  \add in the world speak\add* and even speak  \add the language\add* that angels  \add speak\add*, if we did not love  \add others, speaking those languages\add* would be  \add as useless as beating\add* a brass gong or clanging cymbals  \add together\add*.
\v 2 If we had the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, and if we could understand the plans that he has not yet revealed  \add to others\add*, and if we could know everything  \add about everything\add*, and if we believed in God so strongly that we could  \add do impossible things like\add* causing mountains to move, if we did not love  \add others, God would consider all that\add* to be worthless.
\v 3 If we would give everything that we own to poor people, and if we would let others kill us in order that we could boast about  \add sacrificing our\add* own bodies, if we did not love  \add others\add*, we would not get any reward  \add from God\add*.
\p
\v 4 Those who [PRS] truly love  \add others\add* act patiently and kindly toward them. Those who [PRS] truly love  \add others\add* are not jealous of them, they do not boast  \add about what they themselves have done\add*, and are not proud.
\v 5 Those who [PRS] truly love  \add others\add* do not act in disgraceful/disrespectful ways towards them. They do not ◄act selfishly/think only of themselves and what they want►. They do not quickly become angry. They do not keep remembering the bad things  \add that others have done to them\add*.
\v 6 Those who [PRS] truly love  \add others\add* do not rejoice when  \add people do\add* evil things, but they do rejoice when  \add people act\add* righteously.
\v 7 Those who truly love  \add others\add* patiently endure  \add the faults of others\add*. They do not quickly assume  \add that others have done something bad\add*. They confidently expect  \add that others will act righteously\add*. They patiently endure  \add all their own troubles\add*.
\p
\v 8 We should never [PRS] let anything stop us from continuing to love  \add others\add*. As for the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, some day that will come to an end. As for the ability to speak languages [MTY] \add that we have not learned\add*, that will  \add also\add* come to an end some day. And as for the ability to know things that God reveals to us, that will come to an end some day  \add because it will not be necessary anymore\add*.
\v 9 God does not reveal everything to us, and we cannot know everything that he knows.
\v 10 But when everything is perfect  \add after Christ returns\add*, things which are not perfect  \add now\add*, \add such as the abilities which God's Spirit gives us\add*, will ◄be abolished/come to an end►.
\v 11 When we were children, we talked like children talk, we thought like children think, we reasoned like children reason. But when we grew up, we got rid of our childish ways [MET]. \add Similarly\add*, \add you need to get rid of your childish thinking about the abilities that the Spirit has given you\add*.
\v 12 In this life we do not understand everything fully. It is like [MET] looking at something indirectly by seeing it in a mirror. But  \add when we get to heaven\add* [MTY], we will  \add understand everything clearly. It will be like\add* talking to someone face-to-face. Now we know only part  \add of everything that God wants us to know\add*. Then we will know everything completely, just like  \add God\add* knows us completely.
\v 13 So now there are three things  \add that we must\add* continue  \add to do\add*:  To trust  \add in God\add*, to confidently expect  \add to receive what he will give us\add*, and to love  \add others\add*. But the greatest of those three things is loving  \add others\add*.
\c 14
\s1 Speaking messages that come directly from God will help believers much more than speaking messages in unknown languages.
\sr  1 Corinthians 14:1-25
\p
\v 1 You must want to love others more  \add than you want anything else\add*. But you should  \add also\add* eagerly desire the abilities that  \add God's\add* Spirit  \add gives to believers\add*. And you should desire most of all to have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God [MTY].
\v 2-3 \add I say that\add* because those who speak messages that come directly from God  \add are speaking in languages that they and the other believers in the congregation know, and thus\add* they are able to strengthen them  \add spiritually\add* and to encourage and comfort them. But those who speak in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add* are not speaking to people. Instead, they are  \add only\add* speaking to God. No one understands them. By  \add the power/guidance of God's\add* Spirit (OR, From within  \add their own\add* spirit) they speak things that others do not know.
\v 4 Those who speak in languages  \add that they have not learned\add* are receiving a blessing for themselves, but those who speak messages that come directly from God are giving a blessing to  \add all the believers in\add* the congregation  \add because they are speaking in a language that the congregation knows\add*.
\p
\v 5 I would like you all to have the ability to speak in languages [MTY] \add you have not learned\add*. But I would like even more for you to have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God. If people speak messages in a language that they have not learned, if there is no one there who can explain the meaning, that situation is not as helpful to the congregation as speaking messages that come directly from God  \add in the language that the congregation knows\add*.
\p
\v 6 My fellow believers, suppose that I came to you and spoke to you in a language that none of you knows  \add and I did not explain the meaning of what I told you\add*. Even if I told you something that God had revealed to me, or told you some message that had come directly from him, or taught you something that you needed to know, ◄that certainly would not help you!/how would that help you?► [RHQ]
\v 7 \add It is like\add* lifeless  \add musical instruments\add*, like flutes and harps for example. When they are played, if the notes are not played {if  \add those playing those instruments\add* do not play the notes} clearly, ◄no one will know what tune is being played {what tune they are playing}./how will anyone know what tune is being played {what tune they are playing}?► [RHQ]
\v 8 If someone playing the trumpet  \add wants to signal that the soldiers should prepare to fight a battle\add*, ◄\add the soldiers\add* certainly will not get ready if  \add the call to battle\add* is not played {he does not play  \add the call to battle\add*} clearly./how will  \add the soldiers\add* get ready if  \add the call to battle\add* is not played {he does not play  \add the call to battle\add*} clearly?► [RHQ]
\v 9 It is the same with you! If you do not speak words that other people can understand, ◄no one will know what you are saying./how will anyone know what you are saying?► [RHQ] \add It will be as though\add* you are just speaking to the air!
\v 10 There are many different languages in the world, and all of them convey meaning [LIT] \add to the people who know those languages\add*.
\v 11 But if we do not understand the language that others are speaking, \add it will be as though\add* they are foreigners to us, and we will be foreigners to them.
\v 12 So  \add I say this to\add* you: Because you are eager to have the abilities that God's Spirit gives, earnestly desire those abilities that will do the most to help  \add all the believers in\add* the congregation.
\p
\v 13 So, those who have the ability to speak in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add* should pray that  \add God will give them the ability to\add* explain the meaning of what they say.
\v 14 If they pray in a language [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*, their spirits are praying, but they are not using their minds.
\v 15 So I will tell you [RHQ] what we should do. \add At times\add* we may pray, \add using\add* only our spirits, \add in languages we have not learned. And at other times\add* we should pray using our minds, \add thinking about the words that we are praying. Similarly\add*, at times we may sing using only our spirits, using languages that we have not learned, and at other times we should sing using our minds, \add thinking about the words that we are singing\add*.
\v 16 Suppose that any one of you praises God (OR, thanks God for what he has done), using only your  \add (sg)\add* spirit  \add and not using your mind\add*. Maybe some people  \add will be present who\add* do not know about  \add the abilities that God's Spirit gives to believers\add*. Because they do not know what you are saying, after you thank God, they will not [RHQ] know when to say “Amen!/I agree!”
\v 17 You may be thanking God very well, but you are not helping them.
\v 18 I thank God that I speak in languages [MTY] \add that I have not learned\add* more than any of you do.
\v 19 But during a worship service, \add in order that others will understand what I am saying\add*, I would prefer to speak five words using my mind, in order that I may teach others, rather than to speak ten thousand words in a language [MTY] \add that is not understood by the congregation\add*.
\p
\v 20 My fellow believers, stop being like little children in the way that you think  \add about these abilities that God's Spirit gives\add*. Instead, think about them in a mature way. If you really want to be like little children, do as few wicked things as babies do!
\v 21 \add When the Jews long ago refused to obey God, he warned them about what would happen when he allowed their enemies to punish them\add*. In the Scriptures it is written {\add the prophet Isaiah\add* wrote} what the Lord  \add God\add* said  \add about that\add*, 
\q  \add They didn't listen to prophets speaking their own language, so I will send\add* people from foreign  \add lands to attack\add* my people.
\q Those foreigners will speak languages that my people do not know [DOU].
\q  \add In that way\add*, I will warn my people,
\q but they will still not pay attention to what I say.
\p
\v 22 If we speak in languages [MTY] \add that we have not learned\add*, unbelievers  \add who are there will realize that the Spirit of God is truly among us\add*. That will warn them  \add that they need to fear God\add*. But believers do not  \add need such a warning\add*.
\v 23 Suppose during the worship service everyone started to speak in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*. If unbelievers or people who do not know  \add about the abilities that God's Spirit gives to believers\add* come in  \add and hear that\add*, ◄they will surely think that you are crazy./will they not think that you are crazy?► [RHQ]
\v 24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not know  \add about those abilities\add* comes in while all of you believers are  \add one by one\add* speaking messages that come directly from God, everything that you  \add say\add* will show that person that he is a sinner and that  \add God\add* will punish him  \add if he does not turn from his sinful behavior\add*.
\v 25 He will realize that  \add God knows the evil things that he has done that\add* other people do not know. Then he will kneel down and worship God and say, “God is truly among you!”
\s1 Believers should all be prepared to participate in an orderly way during worship services.
\sr  1 Corinthians 14:26-40
\p
\v 26 So, my fellow believers, I will tell you [RHQ] what I think that you should be doing. When you come together  \add to worship God\add*, some of you may have a hymn to sing. Others may have something to teach  \add the congregation\add*. Others may have  \add something to say that God has\add* revealed to them. Others may give messages in languages  \add that they have not learned\add*. Others will explain the meaning of those messages. Make sure that all of these things that you do will make the congregation become more mature spiritually.
\v 27 \add It is all right\add* if two people, or at the most three people, speak in languages [MTY] \add that they have not learned\add*. But they must speak one at a time, and someone must explain the meaning of what the others have said.
\v 28 If  \add those who want to speak in a language that they have not learned realize that\add* there is no one  \add there\add* who will be able to explain the meaning  \add of what they will say\add*, they should not speak in that language during the meeting. Instead, they should speak to God by themselves, \add somewhere else\add*.
\p
\v 29 \add During a meeting\add*, two or three people should speak messages that come directly from God, and others who are there should think carefully about what those people have said.
\v 30 If someone receives a new message directly from God while someone else is speaking, the one who is speaking should stop speaking  \add and let the other person tell what God has revealed to him\add*.
\v 31 You can all, one by one, speak messages that have come directly from God, in order that you can teach others and all be encouraged {encourage everyone}.
\v 32 Those who speak messages that come directly from God are in control of their own spirits, \add so they can wait for their turn to speak\add*.
\v 33 Remember that God does not desire that things be done in a disorderly way  \add during your worship services\add*. Instead, he desires that everything be done in an orderly way.
\p Just like it happens in all the other congregations of believers,
\v 34 the women should not be permitted {do not permit the women} \add to interrupt the meeting by\add* asking  \add questions\add*. They must keep quiet. They must be subject  \add to their husbands\add*. What Moses wrote [PRS] \add about how God created the first two people\add* suggests  \add that the women should do that\add*.
\v 35 If they want to know  \add more\add* about something  \add that a speaker said\add*, they should ask their husbands when they get home, for it is disgraceful for women to  \add interrupt a service by\add* asking  \add such questions\add*.
\v 36 \add If you do not agree with these things that I have been telling you\add*, remember that [RHQ] the message from God did not first come from you  \add people in Corinth\add*. Also, you are not [RHQ] the only ones who have heard it! \add Many others have heard it and accepted it, so you should act as the believers in other places act\add*.
\v 37 Those of you who think that you have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, or think that you have some other ability  \add that God's\add* Spirit gives, should realize that the things that I have written about in this letter are things that the Lord has commanded.
\v 38 But if they are not willing to accept  \add my authority\add*, \add God\add* will not accept them (OR, they will not be accepted  \add by the congregation\add*).
\p
\v 39 So, my fellow believers, be eager to speak messages that come directly from God, and do not prevent anyone from speaking in a language  \add that he has not learned\add*.
\v 40 But make sure  \add that\add* \bd everything\bd* that you do  \add during the worship services\add* is done in a proper and orderly way.
\c 15
\s1 I was not worthy to become an apostle, but the Lord Jesus committed to me the message about his death and resurrection. \sr  1 Corinthians 15:1-11
\p
\v 1 Now, my fellow believers, I want to remind you about the message about Christ that I preached to you. It is the message that you received and that you have continued to trust firmly.
\v 2 If you keep on firmly \add believing\add* this message that I preached to you, you will be saved {\add God\add* will save you}. If you do not continue to believe it, your believing \add in Christ\add* was ◄all for nothing/useless►!
\p
\v 3 The most important part of the message that I received \add from the Lord Jesus\add*, and that I told you, was this: Christ died to \add take away the guilt\add* of our sins, as the Scriptures \add said that he would do\add*.
\v 4 His \add dead body\add* was buried {They buried his \add body\add*}. On the third day \add after that\add*, he was raised {\add God\add* caused him to become alive} again, as the Scriptures \add said would happen\add*.
\v 5 After that, \add Christ\add* was seen by {appeared to} Peter. Then he appeared to \add ten of\add* the twelve \add apostles\add*.
\v 6 Later he was seen by {appeared to} more than five hundred of our fellow believers. Most of those are still living, but some of them have died [EUP].
\v 7 Then he was seen by {appeared \add to\add*} \add his younger brother\add* James, \add who became the leader of the congregation in Jerusalem\add*. Then he appeared to all of the apostles.
\v 8 Finally, he was seen by {appeared to} me, but I became an apostle in a way that was very unusual [MET].
\v 9 The fact is, I \add consider that I\add* am the least important of the apostles. I do not deserve to be an apostle, because I ◄persecuted God's groups of believers/caused God's groups of believers to suffer► \add everywhere I went\add*.
\v 10 But it is because God acted kindly toward me in ways that I did not deserve that I became what I am now. And his acting kindly toward me produced a great result [LIT], which is that I worked harder \add for Christ\add* than all the other apostles. But it was not that I \add was working with my own ability\add*. Instead, God was helping me in a way I did not deserve.
\v 11 So it does not matter whether it was I \add who was preaching or whether it was the other apostles who were preaching\add*. We all preached \add the same message\add*, and that message is what you believed.
\s1 Christ has truly risen from the dead, and he will some day raise all believers. \sr  1 Corinthians 15:12-34
\p
\v 12 So now \add let me ask you this\add*: Since \add we\add* have all preached to you that Christ was raised again {that \add God\add* caused Christ to become alive} after he died, ◄no one among you should be saying that \add God\add* will not cause \add believers\add* to become alive again after they die!/why do some of you say that \add God\add* will not cause \add believers\add* to become alive again after they die?► [RHQ]
\v 13 If \add it is true that God\add* will not cause anyone to become alive again, that situation would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead {\add he\add* did not cause Christ to become alive again}!
\v 14 And if Christ was not raised from the dead {if \add God\add* did not cause Christ to become alive again}, then what we preached to you was useless, and your believing \add in Christ\add* is useless.
\v 15 \add If it is true that\add* no one will be raised from the dead {\add that God\add* will not cause anyone to become alive again after he dies}, we \add (exc)\add* have been guilty of lying to you about God, because we told you that God caused Christ to become alive again.
\v 16 But if it were really true that no one who has died will raised {that \add God will\add* not cause anyone who has died to become alive} again, then Christ was not raised {\add he\add* did not cause Christ to become alive} again either!
\v 17 If it were true that Christ was not raised {that \add God\add* did not cause Christ to become alive} again after he died, you have believed in Christ for nothing, \add because\add* God will still \add punish\add* you for [MTY] your sins.
\v 18 And those people who died [EUP] \add while they were trusting\add* in Christ will go to hell.
\v 19 In this life \add many of us have suffered much for Christ\add* because we confidently expect \add that he will reward us in heaven\add*. If we have confidently expected this in vain, people should pity us more than they pity anyone else!
\p
\v 20 But \add the truth is that\add* Christ has been raised from the dead {that \add God\add* has caused Christ to live again after he had died}, and ◄that guarantees/because of that, it is certain► [MET] that he will also cause those \add believers\add* who have died [EUP] to become alive again.
\v 21 What one man, \add Adam, did affects us all\add*. We all die. Similarly, what one man— \add Christ \add*—did \add affects us(inc) all\add*: God will cause \add all believers\add* to become alive again.
\v 22 Because of what Adam did, all \add of us who are descended\add* from him die. Similarly, because of what \add Christ did\add*, all of us who have a close relationship with him will be made {\add God\add* will make all of us who have a close relationship with Christ} alive \add after we die\add*.
\v 23 But we must all take our turn. \add God raised\add* Christ first [MET]. And when Christ returns, \add God will cause\add* those who belong to Christ to become alive again.
\v 24 Then, after Christ has destroyed all [DOU] the evil powers that oppose God, \add the world\add* will end. Then Christ will give to God, his Father, his kingdom to completely rule over it.
\v 25 You must realize that Christ must rule over that kingdom until he has completely defeated [MTY] all his enemies.
\v 26 The last thing that \add he\add* will get rid of is death. \add But he certainly will get rid of death, which is like\add* an enemy \add to us\add*.
\v 27 \add In the Scriptures the Psalmist wrote that\add* God will cause everything to be under Christ's \add authority\add* [MTY]. But it is clear that the word ❛everything❜ here does not include God, because God is the one who will cause everything to be under Christ's \add authority\add* [MTY].
\v 28 After everything is put under \add the authority of\add* God's Son, then he will put himself completely under \add the authority of\add* God, the one who gave him that authority. Then God will be completely in control of everything [IDM], everywhere.
\p
\v 29 \add Now think about this: Some among you\add* are being baptized (OR, are baptizing people) on behalf of those who died \add before someone baptized them\add* (OR, who died \add before they became believers\add*). If, \add as some people say, believers\add* will not be raised \add from the dead\add* {\add God\add* will not cause \add believers\add* to become alive again}, ◄what is the value in those people doing that?/there is no value in those people doing that!► [RHQ] If \add God\add* will not cause any \add believers\add* to become alive again, ◄it is senseless to be baptized {baptize anyone} on behalf of someone who has died./why would someone be baptized {baptize anyone} on behalf of someone who has died?► [RHQ]
\v 30 Furthermore, \add if God will not cause us believers to become alive again\add*, it is [RHQ] very foolish for me and the other apostles to be constantly \add putting ourselves\add* in danger \add because we tell people God's good message\add*
\v 31 My fellow believers, every day I \add am in danger of\add* being killed {people killing me}! That is as true as it is that I am pleased with you because of your close relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord.
\v 32 \add If God will not cause us believers to become alive again after we die\add*, ◄I will receive no benefit at all \add from having opposed those who attacked me so strongly\add* in Ephesus \add city\add*./what will I gain \add from having opposed those who attacked me so strongly\add* in Ephesus \add city\add*?► [RHQ] They were \add fighting me like\add* wild beasts! If we \add believers\add* will not be raised \add from the dead\add* {If \add God\add* will not cause us \add believers\add* to live again}, we might as well say \add as people often say\add*: “Tomorrow we are going to die, so we might as well enjoy now everything that we can. We might as well feast and get drunk!”
\v 33 Do not let \add yourselves be deceived by those who say that God will not cause believers to live again\add* {Do not let \add people who say that God will not cause believers to live again\add* deceive you}. If you associate with evil people \add who say such things\add*, they will ◄influence you to do evil things/destroy your good moral way of living►.
\v 34 Start thinking correctly again \add about these matters\add*, as you should, and \add stop your sinful behavior which has resulted from\add* your wrong thinking. \add I say that\add* because \add it seems that\add* some among you do not know God, and as a result they \add have this wrong thinking\add*. I say that to make you ashamed.
\s1 In heaven we will have glorious indestructible bodies. \sr  1 Corinthians 15:35-58
\p
\v 35 But some of you are asking, “How will dead people be raised {How will \add God\add* cause dead people to become alive} again? What kind of bodies will they have?”
\v 36 \add Anyone who asks such questions is\add* foolish. You \add know that\add* a seed that is planted in the ground must completely change its form [MET] before it sprouts.
\v 37 A seed, such as a wheat seed, is very different from the plant that sprouts from it.
\v 38 God gives everything that lives the form that he desires. He gives each seed its own form.
\v 39 \add Similarly\add*, people, animals, birds, and fish all have flesh, but each one has a different kind of flesh.
\v 40 Also, there are angelic beings in heaven (OR, stars and planets in the sky), and there are people with bodies on the earth. The angelic beings (OR, stars and planets) are beautiful in one way, and people on earth are beautiful in a different way.
\v 41 The sun is bright in one way, and the moon is bright in a different way, and the stars are bright in a different way. And even the various stars are different from each other in how bright they are.
\p
\v 42 And it is the same way \add with our bodies. The bodies that we will have when God causes us\add* to live again after we die \add will not be the same as the bodies that we have now\add* [MET]. \add The bodies that we have now\add* will die and decay. \add The new bodies that we will have\add* will never die.
\v 43 We despise \add the bodies that we have now\add*, before we die. But our \add new bodies\add* will be glorious. The \add bodies that we have before we die\add* are weak. But our new bodies will be strong.
\v 44 The bodies that we have before we die are natural bodies. But \add our new bodies\add* will be ones that \add God's\add* Spirit ◄\add controls/gives us\add*►. Just like there are natural bodies, there are bodies that \add God's\add* Spirit \add completely\add* controls (OR, makes alive).
\p
\v 45 \add In the Scriptures\add* it is written {we read} that \add when\add* the first man, Adam, \add was created\add*, he became a living human being. \add Christ later also became a human being\add*. But \add he is different from Adam, because he\add* became a person who gives us \add spiritual\add* life.
\v 46 But our bodies that God's Spirit ◄will completely control/will give us► are not the first bodies that we have. We have our natural bodies first.
\v 47 The first man, \add Adam\add*, was created {\add God\add* created the first man, Adam} from the dust of the earth. But \add Christ\add*, the one who came later, came from heaven.
\v 48 Everyone on earth \add has a body\add* like the first man on the earth had. And in heaven, \add everyone will have a body like Christ\add*, the man who came from heaven, has.
\v 49 And just like \add God\add* gave us bodies like the first man on earth had, so we \add believers will have bodies\add* like \add Christ\add* has, who is now in heaven.
\p
\v 50 My fellow believers, I want you to know that we \add (inc)\add* [SYN] cannot go \add to heaven, where\add* God rules \add over everything\add*, with our physical bodies, because our bodies \add cannot last forever\add*. They will die and decay.
\v 51 But I will tell you something that \add God\add* has not revealed \add before\add*: \add Some of\add* us \add believers\add* will not die [EUP]. However, all of us will be changed {\add God\add* will change all of us}.
\v 52 \add It will happen\add* suddenly, as \add fast as someone can\add* blink his eye [MET], when \add we hear the sound of God's\add* trumpet for the last time. When we hear that trumpet, all \add the believers\add* who have died will become alive and will have bodies that are changed {that \add God\add* has changed}, bodies that will never decay.
\v 53 And the \add bodies of us who are alive at that time\add* will \add also\add* be changed {And \add God\add* will \add also\add* change the \add bodies of us who are alive at that time\add*}. These bodies of ours that die and decay must be transformed into \add new bodies that\add* will never die; \add it will be like someone\add* [MET] getting rid of \add his old clothes\add* and putting on \add new ones\add*.
\v 54 When that happens, what is written {what ◄\add a prophet/Isaiah\add*► wrote} \add in the Scriptures\add* will come true/happen,
\p \add God\add* will completely get rid of [MET] death. Our dying will no longer have any power to defeat us;
\v 55 Death [APO] will not win a victory over us. Death will not be able to hurt us.
\p
\v 56 It is because we sin [MET] \add that we die, and it is because we\add* have God's laws that we \add know that we\add* have sinned.
\v 57 But because of what our Lord Jesus Christ \add has done\add*, he enables us to be free \add from having to obey God's laws to be saved and to be free of being afraid to die\add*. We should thank God for that!
\p
\v 58 So, my fellow believers whom I love, continue to hold strongly to \add the things that you believe\add*. Do not let anything cause you to doubt them. Always be doing enthusiastically the work that the Lord \add gives you\add*. And remember that the work that you do for the Lord is never ◄in vain/useless►, \add as it would be if God will not cause us to live again after we die\add*.
\c 16
\s1 You should set aside funds each week for the offering to be sent to believers in Jerusalem.
\sr  1 Corinthians 16:1-4
\p
\v 1 Now  \add I will reply to another question that you asked. You asked\add* about the  \add money you are\add* collecting  \add to send\add* to God's people  \add in Jerusalem\add*. Do what I told the congregations in Galatia to do.
\v 2 Every Sunday each of you should set aside  \add at home\add* some funds [EUP] \add for this purpose\add*, in proportion to how much  \add God\add* has prospered you. Then you should save it up, so that when I arrive there, you will not need to collect  \add any more money. Choose some men whom you approve of, to take\add* this money to Jerusalem.
\v 3 Then, when I arrive, I will write letters stating that you have authorized these men to take the funds there.
\v 4 And if  \add you\add* (OR, \add I\add*) think that it is appropriate, I will go with them.
\s1 I plan to spend some time with you. Treat Timothy respectfully when he arrives. Apollos plans to visit you later.
\sr  1 Corinthians 16:5-12
\p
\v 5 Now I plan to travel through Macedonia  \add province\add*. I  \add plan to\add* come to see you, but I want to go through Macedonia first.
\v 6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a short while, or I may stay with you for the whole winter, in order that you yourselves can provide some of the things  \add that I will need\add* [EUP] for my next trip.
\v 7 I do not want to see you just for a short time and then continue my trip. I am hoping to stay with you for a while, if the Lord  \add Jesus\add* allows me to do that.
\v 8 But I will stay  \add here\add* in Ephesus  \add city\add* until  \add after\add* the Pentecost  \add festival\add*.
\v 9 \add I want to do that\add* because  \add God\add* has given me a great opportunity [MET] \add to proclaim his good message here\add*. \add As a result of my work here, he is producing\add* great results. I also want to stay here because there are many people here who oppose  \add my work, and I need to oppose them\add*.
\p
\v 10 When Timothy arrives  \add there in Corinth\add*, treat him respectfully [LIT], because he is working for the Lord just as I am.
\v 11 Do not let anyone despise him. And when he leaves there, give him some of the things that he needs  \add for his trip\add* [EUP] \add here\add*, and also  \add ask God to\add* bless him. I am waiting for him to come, along with the other fellow believers  \add who have been traveling with him\add*.
\p
\v 12 \add You also asked\add* about our fellow believer, Apollos. I urged him strongly that he should go back to you with the three fellow believers  \add who came here from Corinth\add*. He was not at all willing to go  \add now\add*, but he will go later, when he has an opportunity.
\s1 I give you my final instructions, greetings from others, and my final blessings.
\sr  1 Corinthians 16:13-24
\p
\v 13 Be on guard  \add against anything that would hinder you spiritually\add*. You have believed  \add the true message\add*; continue believing it firmly. Be courageous. Keep strong  \add in your relationship with God\add*.
\v 14 Act in a loving  \add way\add* in everything that  \add you do\add*.
\p
\v 15 You know that Stephanas and his family were the first ones  \add there\add* in Achaia  \add province to believe in Christ\add* [IDM]. They have devoted themselves to helping God's people.
\v 16 My fellow believers, I urge you to submit yourselves to them and to people like them who do  \add God's\add* work and who work hard.
\v 17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived here  \add from Corinth\add*, because  \add they did things for\add* me that you were not able to do  \add because you were not with me\add*.
\v 18 They comforted and encouraged me [SYN], and  \add I expect that this news from me\add* will do the same for you. You should honor  \add them, and you should also honor\add* others like them.
\p
\v 19 The congregations  \add here\add* in Asia  \add province\add* ◄send their greetings to/say that they are thinking fondly of► you. Aquila and  \add his wife\add* Priscilla and the congregation that meets in their house ◄send their warm greetings to/say that they are thinking fondly of► you because both they and you belong to the Lord.
\v 20 All your fellow believers  \add here\add* ◄send their greetings to/say that they are thinking of► you. Greet each other affectionately, as fellow believers  \add should\add*.
\p
\v 21 Now I, Paul, having taken the pen from the hand of my secretary, write with my own hand to say that I am thinking fondly of you/to give you my greetings. I do this to show you that this letter really comes from me.
\p
\v 22 ◄I pray that God will/May God► curse/cause bad things to happen to ◄anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus. I pray that our Lord will come soon/May our Lord come soon►!
\p
\v 23 I pray that our Lord Jesus will/May our Lord Jesus ◄continue to act toward you all kindly/in ways that you do not deserve.►
\p
\v 24 I love all of you who have a close relationship with Christ Jesus.