For I received from the Lord this tradition which I handed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took a loaf and gave thanks and broke it and said: This is my body, which is for your sake; do this in remembrance of me. So also with the cup after supper, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink, in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this loaf and drink the cup, you are commemorating the Lord's death; until he comes.
Thus anyone who eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person prove himself worthy, and thus eat from the loaf and drink from the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks is eating and drinking his own damnation if he does not recognize the Body. For that reason many among you are weak and sick, and a good many have even died. If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged; but when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, so as not to be condemned with the world.
So, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home; so your gathering together will not be for your damnation.
I will give you my other instructions when I come.
But concerning matters of the spirit, brothers, I would not have you ignorant. You know that when you were heathens you were led helplessly at random to dumb idols. I make it known to you, therefore, that no one who is speaking in the Spirit says: A curse on Jesus; and no one can say: Jesus is Lord, unless he is speaking in the Holy Spirit.
But there are varieties of gifts; but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, and the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, and the same God, who activates them all among all. To each is given disclosure by the Spirit of what is to his advantage. To one, through the Spirit, it is given to speak with skill; to another, to speak with understanding, through the same Spirit; to another, faith, by the same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing, by that one Spirit; to another, miraculous powers; to another, prophecy; to another, the power to discern spirits; to another, the varieties of speaking with tongues; and to another, the interpretation of the tongues. One and the same Spirit activates all these things, distributing them separately to each person as it will.
For just as the body is one and has many parts, but all the parts of the body, being many, are one body, so likewise is the Christ; for we were all baptized in one Spirit into one body, whether we were Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and we have all been given one Spirit to drink. For the body is not one part but many. If the foot says: Because I am not a hand, I ^ not part of the body; it is not for that reason not part of the body. And if the ear says: Because I am not an eye, I ^ not part of the body; it is not for that reason not part of the body. If all the body were eye, where would our source of hearing be? If all were hearing, where would be our source of smell? But as it is, God has set the parts, each of them, in the body, according to his will. And if all were one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there are many parts, and one body. The eye cannot say to the hand: I have no need of you; nor again can the head say to the feet: I have no need of you. But by so much the more are those parts of the body necessary, which seem to be weak; and those parts of the body which we think are less regarded are those to which we give extra regard; and the unseemly parts of us are treated with more decorum, which our decorous parts do not need. But God has combined the body, giving extra attention to what is inferior, so that there may be no dissension in the body but all parts may be equally concerned for each other. And if one part suffers, all parts suffer with it; and if one part is honored, all parts rejoice with it. You are the body of Christ and its parts, individually.
And those whom God has established in the church are: first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, miraculous powers; then, gifts for healing, helpful actions, talents for governing, varieties of tongues. Surely we are not all apostles? Not all prophets? Not all teachers? Not all with miraculous power? Surely not all have gifts for healing? Not all speak with tongues? Not all can interpret these? Aspire to the gifts which are greater.
But now I show you a way that is even better. U I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have no love, all I am is sounding bronze or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all understanding, and if I have faith entire so as to move mountains, and have no love, I ^ nothing. And if I give all I have in alms, and if I give my body to be b^raed, and have no love, it does me no good. Love is patient, is kind, love has no jealousy, does not swagger, has no pride, is not immodest, does not look for its own advantage, is not stirred to anger, does not keep count of evil done, is not happy over wrongdoing, shares the happiness of the truth; all-sustaining, all-faithful, all-hopeful, all- enduring. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will come to nothing; if there are speeches, they will be stopped; if there is understanding, it will come to nothing. For we understand in part and we prophesy in part; but when completeness comes, what is in part will vanish away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and thought as a child, and reasoned as a child; now that I am a man, I am through with childish things. For now we see by a mirror, obscurely; but then face to face. Now
know in part; but then I will know in full, as I myself ^ fully known. And now there remain faith, hope, love; these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Pursue love, aspire to things spiritual, all the more so that you may prophesy. For one who speaks with tongues speaks not to men but to God, since no one understands him, and he talks mysteries by the Spirit; but one who prophesies to men speaks edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks with tongues edifies himself ; one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like you all to speak with tongues, but would like still more for you to prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless the latter translates it so that the church may be edified. But as it is, brothers, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what good shall I do you; unless I speak to you by way of revelation, or understanding, or prophecy, or teaching? In the same way, if the inanimate things which produce sound, whether flute or lyre, have no distinction in their tones, how will what is played on the flute or lyre be recognized? And again, if the trumpet gives out an unrecognizable call, who will make ready for battle? So too with you, if you do not with your speaking offer orderly discourse, how will what is said by you be understood? You will be talking to the air. Who knows how many kinds of language there are in the world? And none without its own sound. If, then, I do not know the meaning of the sound, I shall be a stupid barbarian to him who speaks it, and he who speaks it will be a stupid barbarian to me. Thus, as for you, since you are eager for the things of the spirit, try to excel in the edification of the church.
So let him who speaks with tongues pray that he may be able to translate it. If I pray speaking with tongues, my spirit prays but my mind adds nothing. What then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray also with my mind. I will sing praises with my spirit, but I will sing praises also with my mind. Since if you give thanks and praise in the spirit only, how will one who is in the position of an uninitiate add his amen to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You give thanks very well, but the other ^^ is not edified. I thank God that I speak with tongues more than all the rest of you; but in the church, I would rather say five words rationally and so commrmicate with others, than ten thousand words with speaking with tongues.
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking; in evil- doing be like little innocents, but in thinking be grownup. in the law it is written: In strangers' tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and not even so will they listen to me, says the Lord. Thus speaking in tongues is portentous not for believers but only for unbelievers; but prophecy is not for unbelievers, but only for believers. If, then, t
he whole congregation assembles in one place, and all speak with tongues, and uninstructed persons or unbelievers come in, will they not say you are mad? But if all are prophesying, and an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in, he is examined by all, and questioned by all, and the secrets of his heart are laid open; and thus he will fling himself down on his face and worship God, announcing: God is really among you.
What then, brothers? When you meet together, each has a song of praise, or a lesson, or a revelation, or speech with tongues, or interpretation. Let all be for edification. If there is speaking with tongues, let it be two at a time or at most three, and in tum, and let one person interpret it. And if there is none who can interpret, let each man be silent in church, and talk to himself and to God. And let two or three speak as prophets, and the rest pass judgment; and if a revelation comes to someone else who is sitting there, let the first speaker be silent. For you can all prophesy, one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged; and the spirits of prophets are under the control of the prophets, for God is not the God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, women must be silent in church meetings; they are not allowed to speak, so let them submit as the law dictates. If they wish to le^n about something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church.
Did the word of God originate from you? Or did it come to you alone? If any one of you t^^s that he is a prophet or gifted with spirit, let him understand that what I write you is the commandment of God; one who disregards this is himself disregarded.
So, my brothers, strive to be prophets, and do not oppose speaking with tongues; but let everything be done properly, in an orderly way.
1 remind you, brothers, of the gospel which I brought to you, which you accepted, on which you have stood fast, by which you are saved; what I said when I brought the gospel to you, if you retain it still, if you did not become believers frivolously. To you I handed on what I had been given to believe which was of the highest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as in the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose on the third day, as in the scriptures, and that he was seen by Peter, and then by the twelve. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brothers all at once, and most of them are still with us, but some have died. And then he was seen by James, and then by all the apostles; and last of all, as to an aborted child, he appeared also to me. For I ^ the least of the apostles, who ^ not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by grace of God I ^ what I and his gift of grace to me has not been vain, but I, not I but the grace of God which is with me, have worked harder than all of them.
But whether it is I or they, thus we preach and thus you believed.
But if it is preached that Christ rose from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither was Christ raised. But if Christ was not raised, then our preaching is empty, and your belief is empty, and we are found out as false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if, that is, the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then neither has Christ risen; and if Christ has not risen, your faith is vain, you are still in your sins. And then also those who went to their rest in Christ are lost. If by this life in Christ we are no more than hopeful, then we are the most pitiful of all people.
But in truth, Christ has risen from the dead, the first of the sleepers to rise. For since death came through man, so also resurrection is through man; just as all die in Adam, so in the Christ all will be brought to life. Each in his own appointed place: first Christ, then the Christ's own, at his coming; and then the end, when he hands over his kingdom to his God and Father, when he abolishes every realm and authority and power, for he must be King until he places all his enemies beneath his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death, for: He has set all things beneath his feet. But when it says that all has been subjected, it means all except the one who subjected all things to him. But when all things are subjected to him, then the son himself will be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.
Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the sake of their dead bodies? If the dead bodies do not rise at all, why are they baptized for their sake? And why do we too go in danger every hour? I die every day; I swear it by the pride I have in you, brothers, through Christ Jesus our Lord. If as a man I fought with beasts in Ephesus, what use is that to me? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived; bad associations corrupt good characters; be justly sober and sin no more, for there are some who have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
But some one will ask: In what way are the dead raised and with what kind of body do they appear? Foolish man; the seed you sow does not germinate unless it dies. And when you sow it is not the body to come that you are sowing, but the bare seed, whether it be of wheat or any other grain; and God gives it a body according to his will, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one of human beings, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes. And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; and the glory of the heavenly bodies is one thing, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory for the sun, and another glory for the moon, and another glory for the stars; star differs from star in glory.
And thus it is also with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption and raised in incorrup- tion; it is sown in dishonor and raised in glory; it is sown in weakness and raised in strength. It is sown as a sensual body and raised as a spiritual body. If there is a sensual body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written: The first man, Adam, was created for sensual life; the last Adam is for life-giving spirit. But first comes not the spiritual, but the sensual first, and then the spiritual. The first man is made from earth, the second from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are the earthly ones, and as was the heavenly man, so are the heavenly ones; and as we wore the likeness of the earthly one, so shall we wear the likeness of the heavenly one.
But this I tell you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor shall corruption inherit incorruption. See, I ^ telling you a mystery. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will blow, and the dead will waken uncor- rupted, and we shall be changed. For this which is perishable must put on imperishability, and this which is mortal must put on immortality. But when this which is mortal puts on immortality, then will come to pass the word which is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; now thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, be immovable, surpassing always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not vain, by reason of the Lord.
Now, regarding the coUection for the saints, do you also do as I directed to the churches in Galatia. On every sabbath let each one of you, laying aside money in proportion to his gains, save it, so that there will not have to be collections when I arrive. And when I come to you I will send those whom you have recommended in your letters to convey your charitable gift to Jerusalem; and if it is of any importance for me to go myself, they will travel in my company.
I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I ^ going through Macedonia, and perhaps I shall stay with you, or spend the winter, so that you can send me on my way wherever I may be going. For I do not want to see you now only in passing, since I hope to stay for some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I shall stay in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a great and important do
or has opened for me, and my adversaries are many.
But if Timothy goes to you, see that he has nothing to fear from you, for he does the Lord's work, as I do; let no one treat him with contempt, but send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, for I am waiting for him with the brothers.
As for our brother Apollos, I have much entreated him to visit you, along with the brothers; but his choice was not to go just now, but he will visit you when the time is right.
Be watchful, be steadfast in your faith, be brave, be strong. Let all be love among you. And I ask this of you, brothers: You know the household of Stephanas, that it was my first conversion in Achaea and that they have given themselves to the service of the saints; I ask you to work under such people, or anyone else who toils and labors with them. And I am happy in the presence here of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they made up for your absence, since they refreshed my spirit and yours. Give recognition to men like these.
The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca send many greetings, along with the church at their household. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet each other with the sacred kiss.
This greeting is in the hand of myself, Paul. A curse upon anyone who does not love the Lord. The Lord has come. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all, in Christ Jesus.
The Second Letter to the Corinthians
1/PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS BY the will of God; and Timothy our brother; to the church of God which is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaea: grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Testament Page 34