Sept. 8
1 Corinthians 4
1Co 4:1 So let a man
think of us as Christ's servants, and stewards of God's mysteries.
1Co 4:2 Here, moreover,
it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.
1Co 4:3 But with me it
is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man's
judgment. Yes, I don't judge my own self.
1Co 4:4 For I know
nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who
judges me is the Lord.
1Co 4:5 Therefore judge
nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to
light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the
hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
1Co 4:6 Now these
things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and
Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think
beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up
against one another.
1Co 4:7 For who makes
you different? And what do you have that you didn't receive? But if
you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
1Co 4:8 You are already
filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without
us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with
you.
1Co 4:9 For, I think
that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men
sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to
angels and men.
1Co 4:10 We are fools
for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you
are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor.
1Co 4:11 Even to this
present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no
certain dwelling place.
1Co 4:12 We toil,
working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being
persecuted, we endure.
1Co 4:13 Being defamed,
we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off
by all, even until now.
1Co 4:14 I don't write
these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved
children.
1Co 4:15 For though you
have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in
Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.
1Co 4:16 I beg you
therefore, be imitators of me.
1Co 4:17 Because of
this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child
in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even
as I teach everywhere in every assembly.
1Co 4:18 Now some are
puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
1Co 4:19 But I will
come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the
word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
1Co 4:20 For the
Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1Co 4:21 What do you
want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of
gentleness?