The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapters 12 - 16
12 ABOUT GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, there are some things of which I do
not wish you to remain ignorant.
You know how, in the days when you were still pagan, you were swept
off to those dumb heathen gods, however you happened to be led. For
this reason I must impress upon you that no one who says 'A curse on
Jesus!' can be speaking under the influence of the Spirit of God. And no
one can say 'Jesus is Lord!' except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of
service, but the same Lord. There are many forms of work, but all of them,
in all men, are the work of the same God. In each of us the Spirit is mani-
fested in one particular way, for some useful purpose. One man, through
the Spirit, has the gift of wise speech, while another, by the power of the
same Spirit, can put the deepest knowledge into words. Another, by the
same Spirit, is granted faith; another, by the one Spirit, gifts of healing,
and another miraculous powers; another has the gift of prophecy, and
another ability to distinguish true spirits from false; yet another has the
gift of ecstatic utterance of different kinds, and another the ability to
interpret it. But all these gifts are the work of one and the same Spirit,
distributing them separately to each individual at will.
For Christ is like a single body with its many limbs and organs, which,
many as they are, together make up one body. For indeed we were all
brought into one body by baptism, in the one Spirit, whether we are Jews
or Greeks, whether slave or free men, and that one Holy Spirit was poured
out for all of us to drink.
A body is not one single organ, but many. Suppose the foot should say,
'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body', it does belong to the
body none the less. Suppose the ear were to say, 'Because I am not an eye,
I do not belong to the body', it does still belong to the body. If the body were
all eye, how could it hear? If the body were all ear, how could it smell?
But, in fact, God appointed each limb and organ to its own place in the
body, as he chose. If the whole were one single organ, there would not be
a body at all; in fact, however, there are many different organs, but one
body. The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you'; nor the head to
the feet, 'I do not need you.' Quite the contrary: those organs of the body
which seem to be more frail than others are indispensable, and those parts
of the body which we regard as less honourable are treated with special
honour. To our unseemly parts is given more than ordinary seemliness,
whereas our seemly parts need no adorning. Bot God has combined the
various parts of the body, giving special honour to the humbler parts, so
that there might be no sense of division in the body, but that all its organs
might feel the same concern for one another. If one organ suffers, they all
suffer together. If one flourishes, they all rejoice together.
Now you are Christ's body, and each of you a limb or organ of it. Within
our community God has appointed, in the first place apostles, in the second
place prophets, thirdly teachers; then miracle-workers, then those who
have gifts of healing, or ability to help others or power to guide them, or
the gift of ecstatic utterance of various kinds. Are all apostles? all prophets?
all teachers? Do all work miracles? Have all gifts of healing? Do all speak
in tongues of ecstasy? Can all interpret them? The higher gifts are those
you should aim at.
And now I will show you the best way of all.
13 I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love, I
am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy,
and know every hidden truth; I may have faith strong enough to move
mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may dole out all I possess,
or even give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I am none the
better.
Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful,
nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offence. Love keeps
no score of wrongs; does not gloat over other men's sins, but delights in the
truth. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its
hope, and its endurance.
Love will never come to an end. Are there prophets? their work will be
over. Are there tongues of ecstasy? they will cease. Is there knowledge?
it will vanish away; for our knowledge and our prophecy alike are partial,
and the partial vanishes when wholeness comes. When I was a child, my
speech, my outlook, and my thoughts were all childish. When I grew up,
I had finished with childish things. Now we see only puzzling reflections
in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial;
then it will be whole, like God's knowledge of me. In a word, there are three
things that last for ever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all
is love.
14 Put love first; but there are other gifts of the Spirit at which you should
aim also, and above all prophecy. When a man is using the language of
ecstasy he is talking with God, not with men, for no man understands him;
he is no doubt inspired, but he speaks mysteries. On the other hand, when
a man prophesies, he is talking to men, and his words have power to build;
they stimulate and they encourage. The language of ecstasy is good for the
speaker himself, but it is prophecy that builds up a Christian community.
I should be pleased for you all to use the tongues of ecstasy, but better
pleased for you to prophesy. The prophet is worth more than the man of
ecstatic speech — unless indeed he can explain its meaning, and so help to
build up the community. Suppose, my friends, that when I come to you I
use ecstatic language: what good shall I do you, unless what I say contains
something by way of revelation, or enlightenment, or prophecy, or
instruction?
Even with inanimate things that produce sounds — a flute, say, or a lyre
— unless their notes mark definite intervals, how can you tell what tune is
being played? Or again, if the trumpet-call is not clear, who will prepare
for battle? In the same way if your ecstatic utterance yields no precise
meaning, how can anyone tell what you are saying? You will be talking into
the air. How many different kinds of sound there are, or may be, in the
world! Nothing is altogether soundless. Well then, if I do not know the
meaning of the sound the speaker makes, his words will be gibberish to me,
and mine to him. You are, I know, eager for gifts of the Spirit; then aspire
above all to excel in those which build up the church.
I say, then, that the man who falls into ecstatic utterance should pray
for the ability to interpret. If I use such language in my prayer, the Spirit
in me prays, but my intellect lies fallow. What then? I will pray as I am
inspired to pray, but I will also pray intelligently. I will sing hymns as
I am inspired to sing, but I will sing intelligently too. Suppose you are
praising God in the language of inspiration: how will the plain man who is
present be able to say 'Amen' to your thanksgiving, when he does not know
what you are saying? Your prayer of thanksgiving may be all that could be
desired, but it is no help to the other man. Thank God, I am more gifted in
ecstatic utterance than any of you, but in the congregation I would rather
speak five intelligible words, for the benefit of others as well as myself,
than thousands of words in the language of ecstasy.
Do not be childish, my friends. Be as innocent of evil as babes, but at
least be grown-up in your thinking. We read in the Law: 'I will speak to
this nation through men of strange tongues, and by the lips of foreigners;
and even so they will not heed me, says the Lord.' Clearly then these
'strange tongues' are not intended as a sign for believers, but for un-
believers, whereas prophecy is designed not for unbelievers, but for those
who hold the faith. So if the congregation is assembled and all are
using the 'strange tongues' of ecstasy, and some uninstructed persons or
unbelievers should enter, will they not think you are mad? But if all are
uttering prophecies, the visitor, when he enters, hears from everyone
something that searches his conscience and brings conviction, and the
secrets of his heart are laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God,
crying, 'God is certainly among you!'
To sum up, my friends: when you meet for worship, each of you con-
tributes a hymn, some instruction, a revelation, and ecstatic utterance, or
the interpretation of such an utterance. All of these must aim at one thing:
to build up the church. If it is a matter of ecstatic utterance, only two should
speak, or at most three, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If
there is no interpreter, the speaker had better not address the meeting at
all, but speak to himself and to God. Of the prophets, two or three may
speak, while the rest exercise their judgement upon what is said. If some-
one else, sitting in his place, receives a revelation, let the first speaker stop.
You can all prophesy, one at a time, so that the whole congregation may
receive instruction and encouragement. It is for prophets to control pro-
phetic inspiration, for the God who inspires them is not a God of disorder
but of peace.
As in all congregations of God's people, women should not address the
meeting. They have no license to speak, but should keep their place as the
law directs. If there is something they want to know, they can ask their
own husbands at home. It is a shocking thing that a woman should address
the congregation.
Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people to
whom it came? If anyone claims to be inspired or a prophet, let him recog-
nize that what I write has the Lord's authority. If he does not acknowledge
this, God does not acknowledge him.
In short, my friends, be eager to prophesy; do not forbid ecstatic utter-
ance; but let it be done decently and in order.
15 AND NOW, MY BROTHERS, I must remind you of the gospel that I
preached to you; the gospel which you received, on which you have
taken your stand, and which is now bringing you salvation. Do you still
hold fast the Gospel as I preached it to you? If not, your conversion was
in vain.
First and foremost, I handed on to you the facts which had been im-
parted to me: that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scrip-
tures; that he was buried; that he was raised to life on the third day,
according to the scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas, and after-
wards to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred of our brothers
at once, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he
appeared to James, and afterwards to all the apostles.
In the end he appeared even to me. It was like an abnormal birth; I had
persecuted the church of God and am therefore inferior to all other
apostles — indeed not fit to be called an apostle. However, by God's grace
I am what I am, nor has his grave been given to me in vain; on the contrary,
in my labours I have outdone them all — not I, indeed, but the grace of
God working with me. But what matter, I or they? This is what we all
proclaim, and this is what you believed.
Now if this is what we proclaim, that Christ was raised from the dead,
how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there be
no resurrection, then Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not raised,
then our gospel is null and void, and so is your faith; and we must turn out to be
lying witnesses for God, because we bore witness that he raised Christ to
life, whereas, if the dead are not raised, he did not raise him. For if the dead
are not raised, it follows that Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not
raised, your faith has nothing in it and you are still in your old state of sin.
It follows also that those who have died within Christ's fellowship are
utterly lost. If it is for this life only that Christ has given us hope, we of all
men are most to be pitied.
But the truth is, Christ was raised to life — the firstfruits of the harvest
of the dead. For since it was a man who brought death into the world, a
man also brought resurrection to the dead. As in Adam all men die, so in
Christ all will be brought to life; but each in his own proper place: Christ
the firstfruits, and afterwards, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father,
after abolishing every kind of domination, authority, and power. For he is
destined to reign until God has put all enemies under his feet; and the last
enemy to be abolished is death. Scripture says, 'He has put all things in
subjection under his feet.' But in saying all things', it clearly means to
exclude God who subordinates them; and when all things are thus subject
to him, then the Son himself will also be made subordinate to God who
made all things subject to him, and thus god will be all in all.
Again, there are those who receive baptism on behalf of the dead. Why
should they do this? If the dead are not raised to life at all, what do they
mean by being baptized on their behalf?
And we ourselves — why do we face these dangers hour by hour? Every
day I die: I swear it by my pride in you, my brothers — for in Christ Jesus
our Lord I am proud of you. If, as the saying is, I 'fought wild beasts' at
Ephesus, what have I gained by it? If the dead are never raised to life, 'let
us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'.
Make no mistake: 'Bad company is the ruin of good character.' Come
back to a sober and upright life and leave your sinful ways. There are some
who know nothing of God; to your shame I say it.
But, you may ask, how are the dead raised? In what kind of body?
How foolish! The seed you sow does not come to life unless it has first
died; and what you sow is not the body that shall be, but a naked grain,
perhaps of wheat, or of some other kind; and God clothes it with the body of
his choice, each seed with its own particular body. All flesh is not the same
flesh: there is flesh of men, flesh of beasts, of birds, and of fishes — all dif-
ferent. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; and the splendour of
the heavenly bodies is one thing, the splendour of the earthly, another. The
sun has a splendour of its own, the moon another splendour, and the stars
another, for star differs from star in brightness. So it is with the resurrection
of the dead. What is sown in the earth as a perishable thing is raised
imperishable. Sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; sown in weakness,
it is raised in power; sown as an animal body, it is raised as a spiritual body.
If there is such a thing as an animal body, there is also a spiritual body.
It is in this sense that Scripture says, 'The first man, Adam, became an
animate being', whereas the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.
Observe, the spiritual does not come first; the animal body comes first, and
then the spiritual. The first man was made 'of the dust of the earth': the
second man is from heaven. The man made of dust is the pattern of all
men of dust, and the heavenly man is the pattern of all the heavenly. As
we have worn the likeness of the man made of dust, so we shall wear the
likeness of the heavenly man.
What I mean, my brothers, is this: flesh and blood can never possess
the kingdom of God, and the perishable cannot possess immortality.
Listen! I will unfold a mystery: we shall not all die, but we shall all be
changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise immortal, and we shall be
changed. This perishable being must be clothed with the imperishable,
and what is mortal must be clothed with immortality. And when our
mortality has been clothed with immortality, then the saying of Scripture
will come true: 'Death is swallowed up; victory is won!' 'O Death, where
is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin,
and sin gains its power from the law; but, God be praised, he gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, stand firm and immovable, and work for
the Lord always, work without limit, since you know that in the Lord your
labour cannot be lost.
16 AND NOW about the collection in aid of God's people: you should
follow my directions to our congregation in Galatia. Every Sunday
each of you is to put aside and keep by him a sum in proportion to his gains,
so that there may be no collecting when I come. When I arrive, I will give
letters of introduction to persons approved by you, and send them to carry
your gift to Jerusalem. If it should seem worth while for me to go as well,
they shall go with me.
I shall come to Corinth after passing through Macedonia — for I am
travelling by way of Macedonia — and I may stay with you, perhaps even
for the whole winter, and then you can help me on my way wherever I go
next. I do not want this to be a flying visit; I hope to spend some time with
you, if the Lord permits. But I shall remain at Ephesus until Whitsuntide,
for a great opportunity has opened for effective work, and there is much
opposition.
If Timothy comes, see that you put him at his ease; for it is the Lord's
work that he is engaged upon, as I am myself; so no one must slight him.
Send him happily on his way to join me, since I am waiting for him with
our friends. As for our friend Apollos, I urged him strongly to go to
Corinth with the others, but he was quite determined not to go at present;
he will go when opportunity offers.
Be alert; stand firm in the faith; be valiant and strong. Let all you do be
done in love.
I have a request to make of you, my brothers. You know that the
Stephanas family were the first converts in Achaia, and have laid themselves
out to serve God's people. I wish you to give their due position to such
persons, and indeed to everyone who labours hard at our common task.
It is a great pleasure to me that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have
arrived, because they have done what you had no chance to do; they have
relieved my mind — and no doubt yours too. Such men deserve recognition.
Greetings from the congregations in Asia. Many greetings in the Lord
from Aquila and Prisca and the congregation at their house. Greetings from
all the brothers. Greet one another with the kiss of peace.
This greeting is in my own hand — PAUL.
If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be outcast.
Marana tha – Come, O Lord!
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
My love to you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Dec 27, 2018, 3:27 AM UTC
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