1 Corinthians 3

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1Brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as people led by God's Spirit. I had to talk to you as people who still live the world's way. You were like babies who had just begun to follow Christ.

2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

2I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. You were not ready for solid food then. You are still not ready now.

NoteIn 1611 "meat" meant food of any kind, not just meat from animals. Here it means solid food, the kind a grown-up eats.

3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

3You still live the world's way. You are jealous of each other, and you argue and split apart. Doesn't that show you live the world's way? You are acting like ordinary people who do not know God.

4For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

4One of you says, "I follow Paul." Another says, "I follow Apollos." Doesn't that show you are acting like ordinary people?

5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

5So who is Paul? Who is Apollos? We are only servants who helped you believe. The Lord gave each of us a job to do.

6I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

6I planted the seed. Apollos gave it water. But God is the one who made it grow.

7So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

7So the one who plants is not the important one. Neither is the one who waters. God matters, because God makes things grow.

8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

8The one who plants and the one who waters want the same thing. Each one will be paid for the work he did.

9For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

9We work together as God's helpers. You are God's field. You are God's building.

Note"Husbandry" was an old word for farmland, a field that someone plants and cares for.

10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

10God was kind to me and gave me this work. Like a skilled builder, I laid the foundation, the strong base under a building. Someone else is building on top of it. But each person must be careful how he builds.

11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

11No one can lay a different foundation. The only one is the one already laid, and that is Jesus Christ.

12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

12Someone may build on that foundation with gold, silver, or costly stones. Someone else may build with wood, hay, or straw.

13Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

13One day each person's work will be shown for what it is. That Day will make it clear. The work will be tested by fire. The fire will show what kind of work each person did.

14If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

14If what a person built is still standing, he will get a reward.

15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

15If a person's work burns up, he loses it. He himself will still be saved. But he will be like someone who escaped through a fire.

Note"Suffer loss" here means to lose something, not to be hurt. The person loses the work he built.

16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

16Don't you know that you are God's temple, the house where God lives? God's Spirit lives in you.

17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

17If anyone ruins God's temple, God will destroy him. God's temple is holy, set apart for God. And you are that temple.

18Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

18Don't fool yourself. Maybe you think you are wise in the way this world calls wise. Then you must become a fool, so you can be truly wise.

19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

19The wisdom of this world is foolish to God. The Scriptures say, "He catches wise people in their own tricks."

20And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

20They also say, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of wise people are worth nothing."

21Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

21So stop bragging about people. Everything belongs to you.

22Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

22That means Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, who is also called Peter. It means the world, life, and death. It means things now and things still to come. All of them belong to you.

23And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

23And you belong to Christ. And Christ belongs to God.