Parallel Bible results for "1 corinthians 4"

1 Corinthians 4

The Message Bible MSG

1 Don't imagine us leaders to be something we aren't. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God's most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them.

2 The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge.

3 It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don't even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless.

4 I'm not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn't mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

5 So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of - inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God.

6 All I'm doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It's important to look at things from God's point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay.

7 For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn't everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what's the point of all this comparing and competing?

8 You already have all you need. You already have more access to God than you can handle. Without bringing either Apollos or me into it, you're sitting on top of the world - at least God's world - and we're right there, sitting alongside you!

9 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We're something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street.

10 We're the Messiah's misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we're mostly kicked around.

11 Much of the time we don't have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces,

12 and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, "God bless you."

13 When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We're treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture's kitchen. And it's not getting any better.

14 I'm not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I'm writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled.

15 There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father.

16 I'm not, you know, asking you to do anything I'm not already doing myself.

17 This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier. He is also my dear son, and true to the Master. He will refresh your memory on the instructions I regularly give all the churches on the way of Christ.

18 I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don't think I'll ever show up in person.

19 But I'll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we'll see if they're full of anything but hot air.

20 God's Way is not a matter of mere talk; it's an empowered life.

21 So how should I prepare to come to you? As a severe disciplinarian who makes you toe the mark? Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you? You decide.

The Latin Vulgate VUL

1 sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei

2 hic iam quaeritur inter dispensatores ut fidelis quis inveniatur

3 mihi autem pro minimo est ut a vobis iudicer aut ab humano die sed neque me ipsum iudico

4 nihil enim mihi conscius sum sed non in hoc iustificatus sum qui autem iudicat me Dominus est

5 itaque nolite ante tempus iudicare quoadusque veniat Dominus qui et inluminabit abscondita tenebrarum et manifestabit consilia cordium et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo

6 haec autem fratres transfiguravi in me et Apollo propter vos ut in nobis discatis ne supra quam scriptum est unus adversus alterum infletur pro alio

7 quis enim te discernit quid autem habes quod non accepisti si autem accepisti quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis

8 iam saturati estis iam divites facti estis sine nobis regnastis et utinam regnaretis ut et nos vobiscum regnaremus

9 puto enim Deus nos apostolos novissimos ostendit tamquam morti destinatos quia spectaculum facti sumus mundo et angelis et hominibus

10 nos stulti propter Christum vos autem prudentes in Christo nos infirmi vos autem fortes vos nobiles nos autem ignobiles

11 usque in hanc horam et esurimus et sitimus et nudi sumus et colaphis caedimur et instabiles sumus

12 et laboramus operantes manibus nostris maledicimur et benedicimus persecutionem patimur et sustinemus

13 blasphemamur et obsecramus tamquam purgamenta huius mundi facti sumus omnium peripsima usque adhuc

14 non ut confundam vos haec scribo sed ut filios meos carissimos moneo

15 nam si decem milia pedagogorum habeatis in Christo sed non multos patres nam in Christo Iesu per evangelium ego vos genui

16 rogo ergo vos imitatores mei estote

17 ideo misi ad vos Timotheum qui est filius meus carissimus et fidelis in Domino qui vos commonefaciat vias meas quae sunt in Christo sicut ubique in omni ecclesia doceo

18 tamquam non venturus sim ad vos sic inflati sunt quidam

19 veniam autem cito ad vos si Dominus voluerit et cognoscam non sermonem eorum qui inflati sunt sed virtutem

20 non enim in sermone est regnum Dei sed in virtute

21 quid vultis in virga veniam ad vos an in caritate et spiritu mansuetudinis