Because of all this, I have been constantly prevented from coming to you. But now I no longer find any place for me in these regions, and for some years I have been longing to visit you, and then go on to Spain; for I hope to become acquainted with you as I pass through, and that you will see me on my way after I have first enjoyed something of your company. But now I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints. For Macedonia and Achaea have decided to make a contribution for the poor who are among the saints in Jerusalem. They have so decided and they are indebted to them; for since the Gentiles shared with them in matters of the spirit, they owe it to them to help them in a material way. When I have finished this business and set my seal upon this bounty for them, then I shall leave for Spain, stopping with you on the way; and I know that when I come to you I shall come with the full blessing of Christ.
Now I entreat you, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to aid me in my struggle, through your prayers to God, for me, so that I may be kept safe from the faithless in Judaea and my ministry in Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints, and so by God's will I may come to you in joy and take some rest with you. And may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
1 recommend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is deaconess of the church in Cenchreae; to receive her, in the Lord's name, in a manner befitting the saints, and help her in anything she needs from you, for she has been the benefactor of many, myself among them.
Give greetings to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They have risked their necks for my life, and not only ^ I grateful to them but so are all the churches among the Gentiles. Give greetings also to the church that is in their own house. Give greetings to my beloved Epaenetus, who is Asia's first offering to Christ. Give greetings to Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Give greetings to Andronicus and Junias, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners, who are distinguished among the apostles and were with Christ even before me. Give greetings to Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Give greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and to my beloved Stachys. Give greetings to Apelles, honored in Christ. Give greetings to the household of Aristobulus. Give greetings to Herodian, my fellow countryman. Give greetings to those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Give greetings to Try- phaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord. Give greetings to the beloved Persis, who has worked very hard for the Lord. Give greetings to Rufus, excellent in the Lord, and to his mother, who is a mother to me. Give greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Give greetings to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Give greetings to each other with the sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ give you greetings.
And I entreat you, brothers, to mark well those who cause dissension and misguidance, which are counter to the doctrine you have learned; and avoid them. Such people are the slaves not of our Lord Christ but of their own bellies; but by fair speech and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple. Your obedience has become known to everyone. Therefore I rejoice in you, and I wish you to be wise for good, but innocent for evil. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet soon.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, as do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen. And I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter send you greetings in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the entire church, sends you greetings. And Erastus, the treasurer of the city, sends you greetings, as does Quar- tus, his brother.
To the one who has power to strengthen you, as in my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ; by the revelation of a mystery which was silenced through the ages but now has been brought to light, and has been made known through prophetic scriptures to all the nations by order of the everlasting God, to make them obedient to the faith; to the one God, who is wise, may the glory be given, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.
The First Letter to the Corinthians
1!PAUL, CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE OF Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes, his brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints; together with all those who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every locality, theirs and ours: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank God at all times on your account for the grace of God given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you have been made rich in him, in every word and all understanding, as the testimony to the Christ has been confirmed among you, so that you do not come short in any gift of grace, as you look for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm until the end, without reproach on the Day of our Lord Jesus. One must believe in God, by whom you were summoned to the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Still, I entreat you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, all to agree with each other, so that there will be no schisms among you, but you will be united in the same mind and the same understanding. For, my brothers, I have been told about you by Chloe and her people; that there are rivalries among you. I mean this: each of you says: I am for Paul; or else: I am for Apollos; or: I am for Peter; or: I am for Christ. Christ is partitioned! Was Paul ever crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I am thankful that I baptized no one of you (except Crispus and Gaius), so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. I did also baptize the household of Stephanas. For the rest, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me forth to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not in accomplished oratory, but so that the cross of the Christ might not be made meaningless.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who go the way of perdition, but to us who go the way of salvation it is the power of God. Since it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will make void the intelligence of the intelligent.
Where is the sage? Where is the scholar? Where is the student of this age? Did not God tum the wisdom of the world to folly? For since by the wisdom of God the world did not, because of its wisdom, know God, God saw fit to save the believers through the folly of what was preached to them. For the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the heathens, but to us who are chosen, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Since the folly of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: that not many of you are wise in the way of the flesh, not many are strong, not many are well born. But God chose out the fools of the world, to shame the wise, and God chose out the weak of the world, to shame the strong, and God chose out the humble and despised of the world; and what is not, to abolish what is; so that no flesh may take pride before God. For you are from him, in Christ Jesus, who was born our wisdom from God, and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written: Let him who takes pride take pride in the Lord.