Nkyia
1Saa krataa yi fi me, Paulo a ɛnam Onyankopɔn pɛ so nti, wɔafrɛ me sɛ menyɛ Kristo Yesu somafo no ne onua Sostene nkyɛn,
2Yɛde rekɔma Onyankopɔn asafo a ɛwɔ Korinto no ne wɔn a wɔafrɛ wɔn se wɔmmɛyɛ Onyankopɔn akyidifo kronkron no, ne wɔn a wɔwɔ baabiara a wɔbɔ yɛn Awurade Yesu Kristo din sɛ ɔyɛ wɔn ne yɛn Awurade no:
3Ɔdom ne asomdwoe a efi yɛn Agya Onyankopɔn ne yɛn Awurade Yesu Kristo nka mo.
Aseda
4Esiane adom a Onyankopɔn nam Kristo Yesu so dom mo no nti, daa meda Onyankopɔn ase ma mo. 5Ɛnam ne so ama moayɛ ma biribiara mu, ɔkasa ne adwene mu. 6Kristo ho asɛm atim wɔ mo mu. 7Esiane sɛ moretwɛn ama wɔada yɛn Awurade Yesu Kristo adi no nti munya nhyira biara bi. 8Ɔbɛhyɛ mo den akosi awiei sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a, da a Awurade Yesu Kristo bɛba no, wɔrennya mo ho mfomso biara. 9Onyankopɔn a wafrɛ mo aba ne Ba Yesu Kristo ayɔnkofa mu no yɛ ɔnokwafo.
Asafo No Mpaapaemu
10Anuanom, menam Awurade Yesu Kristo tumi so tu mo fo se asɛm biara a mobɛka no, monyɛ adwene na mo mu ampaapae. Munso adwene ne botae baako mu na ama moayɛ baako. 11Anuanom, nnipa bi a wofi Kloe fi apae mu aka akyerɛ me se, akasakasa wɔ mo asafo yi mu. 12Asɛm a mepɛ sɛ meka ne sɛ, wɔn mu biara ka asɛm a ɔpɛ. Oyi ka se, “Mewɔ Paulo afa” a, ɔfoforo se, “Mewɔ Apolo afa.” Obi sɔre na ose, “Mewɔ Petro afa” a, ɔbaako nso se, “Mewɔ Kristo afa.”
13Wɔakyekyɛ Kristo mu akuwakuw? Paulo na owui wɔ asennua no so maa mo ana? Wɔbɔɔ mo asu wɔ Paulo din mu ana? 14Meda Onyankopɔn ase sɛ mammɔ mo mu biara asu ka Krispo ne Gaio ho. 15Obiara rentumi nka se wɔbɔɔ mo asu sɛ mʼasuafo. 16Mekae sɛ mebɔɔ Stefana ne ne fifo asu. Na menkae sɛ mebɔɔ obi foforo asu bio. 17Kristo ansoma me se memmɛbɔ asu, na mmom ɔsomaa me se memmɛka asɛmpa a emfi nnipa nyansa mu, na obi annyina so amma Kristo wu a owui wɔ asennua no so no mu tumi anyɛ ɔkwa.
Kristo A Ɔyɛ Onyankopɔn Tumi
18Asɛnka a ɛkyerɛ Kristo asennuambɔ no yɛ nsɛm a aba nni mu ma wɔn a wɔreyera. Nanso yɛn a wɔregye yɛn nkwa no de, ɛyɛ Onyankopɔn tumi. 19Kyerɛwsɛm no ka se,
“Mɛsɛe anyansafo nyansa,
na mɛma nimdefo adenim ayɛ ɔkwa.”
20Enti onyansafo wɔ he? Onimdefo nso wɔ he? Wiase yi mu akyinnyegyefo wɔ he? Onyankopɔn akyerɛ sɛ wiase yi mu nyansa yɛ ohunu 21Enti Onyankopɔn nam ɔno ara ne nyansa so yɛɛ sɛ nnipa a wɔpɛ sɛ wɔfa wɔn ara wɔn nyansa so hu no no renhu no da. Na mmom Onyankopɔn yɛɛ nʼadwene sɛ wɔn a wogye asɛm a “aba nni mu” a yɛka no di no, obegye wɔn nkwa. 22Yudafo hwehwɛ sɛ wohu nsɛnkyerɛnne, na Helafo nso hwehwɛ nyansa. 23Nanso yɛn de, yɛka Kristo wu a owui wɔ asennua no so no ho asɛm. Saa asɛm no yɛ Yudafo abufuw na ɛyɛ asɛm a aba nni mu ma amanamanmufo; 24nanso Yudafo ne amanamanmufo a Onyankopɔn afrɛ wɔn no, Kristo yɛ Onyankopɔn tumi ne Onyankopɔn nyansa. 25Onyankopɔn asɛm a ɛyɛ sɛ aba nni mu no, aba wɔ mu sen nnipa nyansa, na saa ara nso na nea ɛyɛ sɛ ɛyɛ mmerɛw wɔ Onyankopɔn fam no yɛ den sen nnipa ahoɔden.
26Afei anuanom, monkae bere a Onyankopɔn frɛɛ mo no tebea a na mowɔ mu. Nnipa fam de, na mo mu bebree nyɛ anyansafo, na mo mu bebree nni tumi, na mo mu bebree nyɛ adehye nso. 27Nanso Onyankopɔn faa wiase yi mu nsɛm a aba nni mu no, nam so guu anyansafo anim ase. Onyankopɔn faa nneɛma a ɛyɛ mmerɛw wɔ wiase, nam so de guu ahoɔden anim ase. 28Ɔfaa nea wiase mmu na wɔmfa nyɛ hwee no de sɛee nea wiase susuw sɛ ɛho hia no. 29Eyi kyerɛ sɛ obi ntumi nhoahoa ne ho wɔ Onyankopɔn anim. 30Nanso Onyankopɔn aka mo abata Kristo Yesu ho na Onyankopɔn nam Kristo so ama yɛn nyansa; ɛnam ne so ma yɛateɛ wɔ Onyankopɔn anim. Yɛyɛ Onyankopɔn ahotefo a wama yɛade yɛn ho. 31Enti sɛnea Kyerɛwsɛm no ka no, “Obiara a ɔpɛ sɛ ɔhoahoa ne ho no, ɔnhoahoa ne ho wɔ nea Awurade ayɛ mu.”
1I, Paul, am writing this letter. I have been chosen to be an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Our brother Sosthenes joins me in writing.
2We are sending this letter to you, the members of God’s church in Corinth. You have been made holy because you belong to Christ Jesus. God has chosen you to be his holy people. He has done the same for all people everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is their Lord and ours.
3May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Gives Thanks
4I always thank my God for you. I thank him because of the grace he has given to you who belong to Christ Jesus. 5You have been blessed in every way because of him. You have been blessed in all your speech and knowledge. 6God has shown that what we have spoken to you about Christ is true. 7There is no gift of the Holy Spirit that you don’t have. You are full of hope as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come again. 8God will also keep you strong in faith to the very end. Then you will be without blame on the day our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9God is faithful. He has chosen you to share life with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Taking Sides in the Church
10Brothers and sisters, I make my appeal to you. I do this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask that all of you agree with one another in what you say. I ask that you don’t take sides. I ask that you are in complete agreement in all that you think. 11My brothers and sisters, I have been told you are arguing with one another. Some people from Chloe’s house have told me this. 12Here is what I mean. One of you says, “I follow Paul.” Another says, “I follow Apollos.” Another says, “I follow Peter.” And still another says, “I follow Christ.”
13Does Christ take sides? Did Paul die on the cross for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15No one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16It’s true that I also baptized those who live in the house of Stephanas. Besides that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else. 17Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the good news. He commanded me not to preach with wisdom and fancy words. That would take all the power away from the cross of Christ.
Christ Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19It is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise.
I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart.” (Isaiah 29:14)
20Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where are the great thinkers of our time? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe. 22Jews require signs. Greeks look for wisdom. 23But we preach about Christ and his death on the cross. That is very hard for Jews to accept. And everyone else thinks it’s foolish. 24But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks. To them Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25The foolish things of God are wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important. 29So no one can boast to God. 30Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God’s wisdom for us. He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free. 31It is written, “The one who boasts should boast about what the Lord has done.” (Jeremiah 9:24)
