1 Corinthians 3

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Paul addresses the believers in Corinth as worldly infants who are not yet ready for solid food due to ongoing jealousy and division among them. He explains that both he and Apollos are merely servants through whom the Corinthians came to believe, with Paul planting, Apollos watering, and God providing the growth. Describing the community as God's field and building, Paul notes that he laid a foundation of Jesus Christ upon which others build using various materials that will be tested by fire. He reminds the people that they are God's temple where His Spirit dwells, warns against earthly wisdom, and concludes that all things belong to them as they belong to Christ, who belongs to God.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, ³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? ⁴For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? ⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. ⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. ¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. ¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ²¹Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.