Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 So a person should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and managers of God's secrets.
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Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries.
2 In this kind of situation, what is expected of a manager is that they prove to be faithful.
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Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.
3 I couldn't care less if I'm judged by you or by any human court; I don't even judge myself.
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But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.
4 I'm not aware of anything against me, but that doesn't make me innocent, because the Lord is the one who judges me.
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I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
5 So don't judge anything before the right time—wait until the Lord comes. He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people's motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God.
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Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.
6 Brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit. I've done this so that you can learn what it means not to go beyond what has been written and so none of you will become arrogant by supporting one of us against the other.
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I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, "Nothing beyond what is written," so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another.
7 Who says that you are better than anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive? And if you received it, then why are you bragging as if you didn't receive it?
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For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?
8 You've been filled already! You've become rich already! You rule like kings without us! I wish you did rule so that we could be kings with you!
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Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you!
9 I suppose that God has shown that we apostles are at the end of the line. We are like prisoners sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle in the world, both to angels and to humans.
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For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals.
10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise through Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are dishonored!
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We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
11 Up to this very moment we are hungry, thirsty, wearing rags, abused, and homeless.
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To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless,
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are insulted, we respond with a blessing; when we are harassed, we put up with it;
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and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
13 when our reputation is attacked, we are encouraging. We have become the scum of the earth, the waste that runs off everything, up to the present time.
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when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.
14 I'm not writing these things to make you ashamed but to warn you, since you are my loved children.
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I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15 You may have ten thousand mentors in Christ, but you don't have many fathers. I gave birth to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
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For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16 so I encourage you to follow my example.
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I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.
17 This is why I've sent Timothy to you; he's my loved and trusted child in the Lord; he'll remind you about my way of life in Christ Jesus. He'll teach the same way as I teach everywhere in every church.
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For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
18 Some have become arrogant as if I'm not coming to see you.
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But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant.
19 But, if the Lord is willing, I'll come to you soon. Then I won't focus on what these arrogant people say, but I'll find out what power they possess.
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But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.
20 God's kingdom isn't about words but about power.
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For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.
21 Which do you want? Should I come to you with a big stick to punish you, or with love and a gentle spirit?
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What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.