1:1 Paul, appointed an Ambassador of Anointed Jesus through the will of God, and brother Sosthenes,

1:2 To the Congregation of God in Corinth, those who have been set apart in the anointing of Jesus, appointed and set apart along with all those everywhere who invoke the Name of our Master Jesus the Anointed, who is both our Master and theirs:

1:3 Favor, compassion, and peace to you all from God our Father and Anointed Jesus our Master.

1:4 I am always grateful to my God for you because of his favor given to you through Anointed Jesus.

1:5 In everything you say and do you are enriched in Him,

1:6 as confirmed by your testimony of the Anointed,

1:7 so that you lack no gift as you anticipate the revelation of our Master Jesus the Anointed.

1:8 He will also keep you firm to the end, blameless on the Day of our Master Jesus the Anointed.

1:9 God, through whom you were called into partnership with his Son Jesus the Anointed our Master, is trustworthy.

1:10 Now, brothers and sisters, I plead with you through the Name of our Master Jesus the Anointed, that you all agree and that there may not be factions among you, but instead that you are fully equipped with one mind and opinion.

1:11 Sisters and brothers, it has come to my attention via some of Chloe’s followers that there are rivalries among you.

1:12 I’m referring to the way each of you says, “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos” or “I follow Cephas” or “I follow the Anointed.”

1:13 You have carved up the Anointed!Paul was not crucified for your sakes, nor did you invoke the name of Paul when were you were immersed.

1:14 Thankfully I didn’t immerse any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

1:15 so that no one can claim they were immersed invoking my name.

1:16 Oh, and I immersed the household of Stephanas, but I don’t recall immersing anyone else.

1:17 For the Anointed did not commission me to immerse but to bring the Gospel— and not with sophisticated words which would drain the power from the cross of the Anointed.

1:18 In fact, what we say about the cross sounds ridiculous to those who are on the road to destruction, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

1:19 For it is written, “I will annihilate the wisdom of the wise, and I will confound the understanding of the educated.”

1:20 Where is the wise one? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has made a mockery of the world’s wisdom!

1:21 The fact is that in his wisdom God decided to save those who would believe by means of this “ridiculous” proclamation, not by the wisdom of the world.

1:22 The Judeans demand miraculous signs and the Greeks rely on wisdom,

1:23 but we proclaim the crucified Anointed— a trap for the Judeans and nonsense to non-Judeans.

1:24 Yet to those who are appointed, both Judeans and Greeks, the Anointed is the power and wisdom of God.

1:25 His “foolishness” is wiser than people’s wisdom, and his “weakness” is stronger than people’s strength!

1:26 Brothers and sisters, consider the circumstances of your appointment: not many of you were considered wise, not many had power, not many were of noble birth.

1:27 But God chose the foolish to shame the wise; he chose the weak of the world to disgrace the strong;

1:28 he chose the lowly, the outcast, and that which does not exist, to neutralize what does exist,

1:29 so that nobody could brag before God.

1:30 Yet you belong to him and are united with Anointed Jesus, who became wisdom from God to us, as well as justice and holiness and freedom.

1:31 So, as it is written, “Let the one who brags, brag about the Master!”