1Paulo, woyitanidwa mwachifuniro cha Mulungu kuti akhale mtumwi wa Khristu Yesu ndi mʼbale wathu Sositene.
2Kupita ku mpingo wa Mulungu ku Korinto, kwa oyeretsedwa mwa Khristu Yesu ndi oyitanidwa kukhala opatulika ndiponso kwa onse amene amapemphera mʼdzina la Ambuye athu Yesu Khristu mʼdziko lonse lapansi, amene ndi Ambuye wawo ndi wathunso.
3Landirani chisomo ndi mtendere zochokera kwa Mulungu Atate athu ndi Ambuye athu Yesu Khristu.
Kuthokoza
4Nthawi zonse ndimayamika Mulungu chifukwa cha inu chifukwa cha chisomo chake chopatsidwa kwa inu mwa Khristu Yesu. 5Pakuti mwa Iye mwalemekezedwa mʼnjira iliyonse, mʼkuyankhula kwanu konse ndi mʼkudziwa kwanu konse, 6chifukwa umboni wathu pa za Khristu unatsimikizidwa mwa inu. 7Choncho inu simusowa mphatso yauzimu iliyonse pamene mukudikira mofunitsitsa kuti Ambuye athu Yesu Khristu avumbulutsidwe. 8Adzakulimbikitsani mpaka kumapeto kuti mudzakhale wopanda mlandu pa tsiku lobwera Ambuye athu Yesu Khristu. 9Mulungu amene wakuyitanani inu mu chiyanjano ndi Mwana wake Yesu Khristu Ambuye athu ngokhulupirika.
Kugawikana mu Mpingo
10Ndidandaulira inu, abale, mʼdzina la Ambuye athu Yesu Khristu kuti nonsenu muvomerezane wina ndi mnzake kuti pasakhale kugawikana pakati panu ndi kuti mukhale amodzi kwenikweni mu nzeru ndi mʼmaganizo. 11Abale anga, ena a ku nyumba ya Kloe andidziwitsa kuti pali mkangano pakati panu. 12Chimene ndikutanthauza ndi ichi: wina amati, “Ndimatsatira Paulo,” wina, “Ndimatsatira Apolo,” wina, “Ndimatsatira Kefa,” winanso, “Ndimatsatira Khristu.”
13Kodi Khristu wagawikana? Kodi Paulo anapachikidwa pa mtanda chifukwa cha inu? Kodi munabatizidwa mʼdzina la Paulo? 14Ine ndikuyamika kuti sindinabatizepo mmodzi mwa inu kupatula Krispo ndi Gayo, 15mwakuti palibe amene anganene kuti anabatizidwa mʼdzina langa. 16(Inde, ine ndinabatizanso a mʼbanja la Stefano, koma sindikumbukira ngati ndinabatizanso wina aliyense). 17Pakuti Khristu sananditume ine kudzabatiza, koma kudzalalikira Uthenga Wabwino, osati ndi mawu anzeru za umunthu, kuopa kuti mtanda wa Khristu ungakhale wopanda mphamvu.
Khristu ndiye Nzeru ndi Mphamvu za Mulungu
18Pakuti uthenga wa mtanda ndi chopusa kwa iwo amene akuwonongeka, koma kwa ife amene tikupulumutsidwa uthengawu ndi mphamvu ya Mulungu. 19Pakuti kwalembedwa kuti,
“Ine ndidzawononga nzeru za anthu anzeru;
luntha la anthu aluntha Ine ndidzalinyoza.”
20Munthu wanzeru ali kuti? Munthu wozama ndi maphunziro ali kuti? Munthu wodziwa zakuya zamakono ali kuti? Kodi Mulungu sanazipusitse nzeru za dziko lapansi? 21Tsono poti mwa nzeru za Mulungu dziko lapansi mu nzeru zake silinamudziwe Iye, Mulungu amakondweretsedwa kuti kudzera mu chopusa cha zomwe zinalalikidwa apulumutse iwo amene akhulupirira. 22Ayuda amafuna zizindikiro zodabwitsa ndipo Agriki amafunafuna nzeru, 23koma ife timalalikira Khristu wopachikidwa. Chitsa chokhumudwitsa kwa Ayuda ndi chopusa kwa a mitundu ina. 24Koma kwa iwo amene Mulungu anawayitana, Ayuda ndi Agriki omwe, Khristu ndi mphamvu ya Mulungu ndi nzeru za Mulungu. 25Pakuti za Mulungu zooneka ngati zopusa, ndi za nzeru kuposa nzeru za munthu, ndipo za Mulungu zooneka ngati zofowoka, zili ndi mphamvu kuposa mphamvu za munthu.
26Abale taganizirani mmene munalili musanayitanidwe. Si ambiri a inu munali a nzeru, si ambiri a inu munali a mphamvu zamakopedwe. Si ambiri a inu munali obadwa pa ulemerero. 27Koma Mulungu anasankha zinthu zopusa za dziko lapansi kuti achititse manyazi anzeru. Mulungu anasankha zinthu zofowoka za dziko lapansi kuti achititse manyazi amphamvu. 28Anasankha zinthu zapansipansi ndi zopeputsidwa za dziko la pansi lino, zinthu zimene kulibe, kuti asukulutse zimene zilipo, 29kuti munthu asanyade pamaso pa Mulungu. 30Nʼchifukwa cha Iye kuti inu muli mwa Khristu Yesu, amene wakhala nzeru ya kwa Mulungu, kwa ife, kunena kuti kulungama kwathu, chiyero ndi chipulumutso. 31Choncho poti zinalembedwa kuti, “Ngati munthu akufuna kunyadira, anyadire mwa Ambuye.”
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)
