1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours:
3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – 6God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A church divided over leaders
10I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 11 and 26; and in 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 10:1; 11:33; 12:1; 14:6, 20, 26, 39; 15:1, 6, 50, 58; 16:15, 20. in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: one of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas1:12 That is, Peter’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no-one can say that you were baptised in my name. 16(Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel – not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ crucified is God’s power and wisdom
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’1:19 Isaiah 29:14
20Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 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 lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, 29so that no-one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’1:31 Jer. 9:24
1በእግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ የክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ሐዋርያ እንዲሆን ከተጠራው ከጳውሎስ፣ ከወንድማችንም ከሶስቴንስ፤
2በቆሮንቶስ ላለችው የእግዚአብሔር ቤተ ክርስቲያን፤ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ተቀድሰው፣ የእነርሱና የእኛ ጌታ የሆነውን የጌታችንን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ስም በየስፍራው ሆነው ከሚጠሩት ሁሉ ጋር ቅዱሳን ለመሆን ለተጠሩት፤
3ከእግዚአብሔር ከአባታችን፣ ከጌታም ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ጸጋና ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን።
ምስጋና
4በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ስለ ተሰጣችሁ ጸጋ ዘወትር ስለ እናንተ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰግናለሁ። 5ምክንያቱም በማናቸውም ነገር ይኸውም በንግግር ሁሉ፣ በዕውቀትም ሁሉ በእርሱ በልጽጋችኋል፤ 6ስለ ክርስቶስ የመሰከርንላችሁም በእናንተ ዘንድ ጸንቷል። 7ስለዚህ የጌታችንን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን መገለጥ በጕጕት በመጠባበቅ ላይ ሳላችሁ፣ ማንኛውም መንፈሳዊ ስጦታ አይጐድልባችሁም። 8በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ቀን ያለ ነቀፋ እንድትገኙ እርሱ እስከ መጨረሻው ድረስ አጽንቶ ይጠብቃችኋል። 9ወደ ልጁ፣ ወደ ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ኅብረት የጠራችሁ እግዚአብሔር የታመነ ነው።
በቆሮንቶስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ውስጥ የተከሠተ መለያየት
10ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ በመካከላችሁ መለያየት እንዳይኖር፣ አንድ ልብ፣ አንድ ሐሳብ እንዲኖራችሁ፣ እርስ በርሳችሁም እንድትስማሙ በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እለምናችኋለሁ። 11ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ በመካከላችሁ ክርክር እንዳለ ከቀሎዔ ቤተ ሰብ ሰምቻለሁ፤ 12ነገሩም እንዲህ ነው፤ ከእናንተ አንዱ፣ “እኔ የጳውሎስ ነኝ” ሲል፣ ሌላው፣ “እኔ የአጵሎስ ነኝ” ይላል፤ ደግሞም አንዱ፣ “እኔ የኬፋ1፥12 ጴጥሮስ ማለት ነው ነኝ” ሲል፣ ሌላው ደግሞ፣ “እኔስ የክርስቶስ ነኝ” ይላል።
13ለመሆኑ ክርስቶስ ተከፍሏልን? ጳውሎስስ ለእናንተ ተሰቅሏልን? ወይስ በጳውሎስ1፥13 ወይም ወደ ጳውሎስ፤ እንዲሁም 15 ይመ ስም ተጠምቃችኋልን? 14ከቀርስጶስና ከጋይዮስ በስተቀር ከእናንተ ማንንም ስላላጠመቅሁ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰግናለሁ፤ 15ስለዚህ በስሜ መጠመቁን የሚናገር ማንም የለም። 16በርግጥ የእስጢፋኖስንም ቤተ ሰው አጥምቄአለሁ፤ ከእነዚህ ሌላ ግን ማጥመቄ ትዝ አይለኝም። 17ክርስቶስ የላከኝ ወንጌልን እንድሰብክ እንጂ እንዳጠምቅ አይደለም፤ የክርስቶስም መስቀል ከንቱ እንዳይሆን፣ በሰዎች የንግግር ጥበብ አልሰብክም።
ክርስቶስ የእግዚአብሔር ኀይልና ጥበብ
18የመስቀሉ ቃል ለሚጠፉ ሞኝነት ነው፤ ለእኛ ለምንድን ግን የእግዚአብሔር ኀይል ነው፤ 19እንዲህ ተብሎ ተጽፏልና፤
“የጥበበኞችን ጥበብ አጠፋለሁ፤
የዐዋቂዎችንም ዕውቀት ከንቱ አደርጋለሁ።”
20ጠቢብ የት አለ? ሊቅስ የት አለ? የዘመኑስ ፈላስፋ የት አለ? እግዚአብሔር የዓለምን ጥበብ ሞኝነት አላደረገምን? 21ከእግዚአብሔር ጥበብ የተነሣ ዓለም በገዛ ጥበቧ እግዚአብሔርን ማወቅ ስለ ተሳናት፣ በስብከት ሞኝነት የሚያምኑትን ያድን ዘንድ የእግዚአብሔር በጎ ፈቃድ ሆኗል። 22መቼም አይሁድ ታምራዊ ምልክትን ይፈልጋሉ፤ የግሪክ ሰዎችም ጥበብን ይሻሉ፤ 23እኛ ግን የተሰቀለውን ክርስቶስን እንሰብካለን፤ ይህም ለአይሁድ መሰናክል፣ ለአሕዛብ ደግሞ ሞኝነት ነው። 24እግዚአብሔር ለጠራቸው ግን፣ አይሁድም ሆኑ ግሪኮች፣ ክርስቶስ የእግዚአብሔር ኀይል፣ የእግዚአብሔርም ጥበብ ነው። 25ምክንያቱም ከሰው ጥበብ ይልቅ የእግዚአብሔር ሞኝነት ይጠበባል፤ ከሰውም ብርታት ይልቅ የእግዚአብሔር ድካም ይበረታል።
26ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ በተጠራችሁ ጊዜ ምን እንደ ነበራችሁ እስቲ አስቡ። በሰው መስፈርት ከእናንተ ብዙዎቻችሁ ዐዋቂዎች አልነበራችሁም፤ ብዙዎቻችሁም ኀያላን አልነበራችሁም፤ ብዙዎቻችሁም ከትልቅ ቤተ ሰብ አልተወለዳችሁም። 27ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር ጥበበኞችን ያሳፍር ዘንድ የዓለምን ሞኝ ነገር መረጠ፤ እግዚአብሔር ብርቱዎችን ያሳፍር ዘንድ የዓለምን ደካማ ነገር መረጠ። 28እግዚአብሔር የተከበረውን እንደሌለ ለማድረግ፣ በዚህ ዓለም ዝቅ ያለውንና የተናቀውን ነገር፣ ቦታም ያልተሰጠውን ነገር መረጠ፤ 29ይኸውም ማንም ሰው በእርሱ ፊት እንዳይመካ ነው። 30በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ለመሆን የበቃችሁት ከእርሱ የተነሣ ነው፤ እርሱ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ጥበባችን፣ ጽድቃችንና ቅድስናችን፣ ቤዛችንም ሆኗል። 31እንግዲህ፣ እንዲህ ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈ ነው፤ “የሚመካ በጌታ ይመካ።”
