1 Corinthians

Literal Standard Version

1 Corinthians has 16 chapters. Read 1 Corinthians in the Literal Standard Version, chapter by chapter, free and without an account.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses divisions and practical questions in the Corinthian church. He brings the cross of Christ to bear on status, conduct, marriage, food offered to idols, and worship. Spiritual gifts must serve the whole community and be governed by love. The letter also defends the resurrection of the dead and closes with plans for a collection and future visits.

Read the 1 Corinthians summary and outline →

1 Corinthians is one of Paul's letters of the New Testament, the same 27 books in every Christian Bible. See it on the shelf.

A teacher addressing divided groups in a Corinthian courtyard with a distant wooden cross-shaped beam on a hill

1 Corinthians 1

1 Corinthians 1 confronts church divisions and presents the cross as God’s wisdom and power beyond human boasting.

A humble teacher speaking to attentive believers as wind moves curtains beside abandoned ornate objects

1 Corinthians 2

1 Corinthians 2 contrasts rhetorical display with Spirit-revealed wisdom centered on Christ crucified.

Believers planting and watering a garden beside coworkers building carefully on a stone foundation

1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3 pictures the church as God’s field and building, calling coworkers to humility and careful work.

Household stewards sharing provisions while a travel-worn apostle enters a Corinthian courtyard

1 Corinthians 4

1 Corinthians 4 calls for faithful stewardship, rejects pride, and portrays Paul’s corrective fatherly care.

A solemn house church establishing a boundary as families remove old leaven from fresh dough

1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 5 addresses serious misconduct, church accountability, and the call to become unleavened in sincerity and truth.

Two reconciled believers with a mediator beside people washing and receiving clean garments

1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6 calls believers from lawsuits toward reconciliation and teaches that their bodies belong to Christ.

A counselor listening among married and unmarried believers in varied first-century life situations

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7 offers pastoral guidance on marriage, singleness, separation, and faithful living within one’s calling.

A believer declining food near a pagan banquet and sharing a simple meal with a concerned friend

1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8 teaches that love should govern knowledge and freedom when another believer’s conscience is vulnerable.

A Paul-like worker sewing tent fabric beside the same man running with discipline on an ancient track

1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9 presents Paul’s surrendered rights, servant adaptability, and disciplined pursuit of the gospel.

A wise elder guiding believers away from an idol feast toward a modest shared table

1 Corinthians 10

1 Corinthians 10 uses Israel’s failures to warn against idolatry and calls believers to faithful, considerate freedom.

A diverse house church praying and speaking as all gather around one loaf and one cup

1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11 addresses honorable worship and calls the church to share the Lord’s Supper with dignity and care.

A diverse community preparing food, carrying aid, listening, teaching, and serving together

1 Corinthians 12

1 Corinthians 12 celebrates diverse spiritual gifts within one interdependent body formed by the same Spirit.

Believers caring for an elder, reconciling friends, sharing food, and protecting a child beside a bronze mirror

1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13 describes patient, selfless, enduring love as the indispensable and greatest Christian way.

An orderly Corinthian gathering with speakers taking turns, listeners discerning, and an outsider welcomed

1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14 calls for intelligible, orderly, participatory worship that strengthens believers and welcomes outsiders.

An opened empty tomb at dawn as a renewed community rises joyfully across the hillside

1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15 proclaims Christ’s resurrection, the future resurrection body, and victory over death.

Corinthian believers collecting gifts, packing provisions, and greeting a diverse group of ministry coworkers

1 Corinthians 16

1 Corinthians 16 joins generous giving, travel plans, faithful coworkers, watchfulness, courage, and love.