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1 Corinthians 4

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1 Οὕτως ἡμᾶς λογιζέσθω ἄνθρωπος ὡς ὑπηρέτας Χριστοῦ καὶ οἰκονόμους μυστηρίων θεοῦ. 2 ὧδε λοιπὸν ζητεῖται ἐν τοῖς οἰκονόμοις ἵνα πιστός τις εὑρεθῇ. 3 ἐμοὶ δὲ εἰς ἐλάχιστόν ἐστιν ἵνα ὑφ' ὑμῶν ἀνακριθῶ ἢ ὑπὸ ἀνθρωπίνης ἡμέρας: ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἐμαυτὸν ἀνακρίνω: 4 οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι, ὁ δὲ ἀνακρίνων με κύριός ἐστιν. 5 ὥστε μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ κύριος, ὃς καὶ φωτίσει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους καὶ φανερώσει τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν: καὶ τότε ὁ ἔπαινος γενήσεται ἑκάστῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ.

1 That is how we ought to be regarded, as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2 And this is what we look for in choosing a steward; we must find one who is trustworthy. 3 Yet for myself, I make little account of your scrutiny, or of any human audit-day; I am not even at pains to scrutinize my own conduct. 4 My conscience does not, in fact, reproach me; but that is not where my justification lies; it is the Lord’s scrutiny I must undergo. 5 You do ill, therefore, to pass judgement prematurely, before the Lord’s coming; he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness, and reveal the secrets of men’s hearts; then each of us will receive his due award from God.

1 Sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi, et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei. 2 Hic jam quæritur inter dispensatores ut fidelis quis inveniatur. 3 Mihi autem pro minimo est ut a vobis judicer, aut ab humano die: sed neque meipsum judico. 4 Nihil enim mihi conscius sum, sed non in hoc justificatus sum: qui autem judicat me, Dominus est. 5 Itaque nolite ante tempus judicare, quoadusque veniat Dominus: qui et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestabit consilia cordium: et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo.

6 Ταῦτα δέ, ἀδελφοί, μετεσχημάτισα εἰς ἐμαυτὸν καὶ Ἀπολλῶν δι' ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἐν ἡμῖν μάθητε τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ ἃ γέγραπται, ἵνα μὴ εἷς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἑνὸς φυσιοῦσθε κατὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου. 7 τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει; τί δὲ ἔχεις ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών;

6 All this, brethren, I have applied to myself and to Apollo, but it is meant for you. The lesson you must learn from our example is, not to go beyond what is laid down for you, one man slighting another out of partiality for someone else.[1] 7 After all, friend, who is it that gives thee this pre-eminence? What powers hast thou, that did not come to thee by gift? And if they came to thee by gift, why dost thou boast of them, as if there were no gift in question?[2]

6 Hæc 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 ἤδη κεκορεσμένοι ἐστέ: ἤδη ἐπλουτήσατε: χωρὶς ἡμῶν ἐβασιλεύσατε: καὶ ὄφελόν γε ἐβασιλεύσατε, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν συμβασιλεύσωμεν. 9 δοκῶ γάρ, ὁ θεὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ἀπέδειξεν ὡς ἐπιθανατίους, ὅτι θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις. 10 ἡμεῖς μωροὶ διὰ Χριστόν, ὑμεῖς δὲ φρόνιμοι ἐν Χριστῷ: ἡμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἰσχυροί: ὑμεῖς ἔνδοξοι, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄτιμοι. 11 ἄχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας καὶ πεινῶμεν καὶ διψῶμεν καὶ γυμνιτεύομεν καὶ κολαφιζόμεθα καὶ ἀστατοῦμεν 12 καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν: λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, 13 δυσφημούμενοι παρακαλοῦμεν: ὡς περικαθάρματα τοῦ κόσμου ἐγενήθημεν, πάντων περίψημα, ἕως ἄρτι. 14 οὐκ ἐντρέπων ὑμᾶς γράφω ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ὡς τέκνα μου ἀγαπητὰ νουθετῶν: 15 ἐὰν γὰρ μυρίους παιδαγωγοὺς ἔχητε ἐν Χριστῷ, ἀλλ' οὐ πολλοὺς πατέρας, ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς ἐγέννησα. 16 παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε.

8 Well, you are already fully content; already you have grown rich; already you have come into your kingdom, without waiting for help from us. Would that you had come into your kingdom indeed; then we should be sharing it with you.[3] 9 As it is, it seems as if God had destined us, his apostles, to be in the lowest place of all, like men under sentence of death; such a spectacle do we present to the whole creation, men and angels alike. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, you are so wise; we are so helpless, you so stout of heart; you are held in honour, while we are despised. 11 Still, as I write, we go hungry and thirsty and naked; we are mishandled, we have no home to settle in, 12 we are hard put to it, working with our own hands. Men revile us, and we answer with a blessing, persecute us, and we make the best of it, 13 speak ill of us, and we fall to entreaty. We are still the world’s refuse; everybody thinks himself well rid of us.[4] 14 I am not writing this to shame you; you are my dearly loved children, and I would bring you to a better mind. 15 Yes, you may have ten thousand schoolmasters in Christ, but not more than one father; it was I that begot you in Jesus Christ, when I preached the gospel to you. 16 Follow my example, then, I entreat you, as I follow Christ’s.[5]

8 Jam saturati estis, jam divites facti estis: sine nobis regnatis: et utinam regnetis, ut et nos vobiscum regnemus. 9 Puto enim quod 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 cædimur, et instabiles sumus, 12 et laboramus operantes manibus nostris: maledicimur, et benedicimus: persecutionem patimur, et sustinemus: 13 blasphemamur, et obsecramus: tamquam purgamenta hujus mundi facti sumus, omnium peripsema usque adhuc. 14 Non ut confundam vos, hæc scribo, sed ut filios meos carissimos moneo. 15 Nam si decem millia pædagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres. Nam in Christo Jesu per Evangelium ego vos genui. 16 Rogo ergo vos, imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi.

17 διὰ τοῦτο ἔπεμψα ὑμῖν Τιμόθεον, ὅς ἐστίν μου τέκνον ἀγαπητὸν καὶ πιστὸν ἐν κυρίῳ, ὃς ὑμᾶς ἀναμνήσει τὰς ὁδούς μου τὰς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, καθὼς πανταχοῦ ἐν πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ διδάσκω. 18 ὡς μὴ ἐρχομένου δέ μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐφυσιώθησάν τινες: 19 ἐλεύσομαι δὲ ταχέως πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ γνώσομαι οὐ τὸν λόγον τῶν πεφυσιωμένων ἀλλὰ τὴν δύναμιν, 20 οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλ' ἐν δυνάμει. 21 τί θέλετε; ἐν ῥάβδῳ ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἢ ἐν ἀγάπῃ πνεύματί τε πραΰτητος;

17 That is why I have sent Timothy to you, a faithful and dearly loved son of mine in the Lord; he will remind you of the path I tread in Christ Jesus, the lessons I give to all churches alike. 18 Some of you have grown contemptuous, thinking that I would never come to visit you. 19 But I shall be coming to see you soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will test, not the fine words of those who hold me in contempt, but the powers they can shew.[6] 20 It is power that builds up the kingdom of God, not words. 21 Choose, then; am I to come to you rod in hand, or lovingly, in a spirit of forbearance?

17 Ideo misi ad vos Timotheum, qui est filius meus carissimus, et fidelis in Domino: qui vos commonefaciet vias meas, quæ sunt in Christo Jesu, sicut ubique in omni ecclesia doceo. 18 Tamquam non venturus sim ad vos, sic inflati sunt quidam. 19 Veniam autem ad vos cito, 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?

[1] St Paul apparently means that all he has been saying (about the account which Christian teachers will have to give of themselves) is intended as a warning to the heads of the rival factions in Corinth. Out of charity, he does not mention these by name, but uses his own name and that of Apollo to illustrate what he has been saying. ‘Not to go beyond what is laid down for you’ must have been a proverbial expression; the Corinthians should be content with the general outline of Christian truth which has been handed on to them, instead of quarrelling over rival interpretations of it.

[2] St Chrysostom thinks that this verse is addressed, not to the Corinthians generally, but to the teachers who were creating divisions in the Church. If this is the true interpretation, the second part of the verse is perhaps meant to remind them, not only that all spiritual gifts come from God, but that the functions which they exercise were conferred on them by St Paul himself (cf. verses 18 and 19 below).

[3] It has generally been held that St Paul here speaks in irony; but it must be confessed that the bearing of this whole passage on the context is somewhat obscure. He may be only contrasting his own sufferings with the privileges which the Corinthians enjoy, by way of reinforcing his appeal to their loyalty.

[4] ‘Thinks himself well rid of us’; the Greek word used here may mean simply, ‘offscourings’, or may be an allusion to the heathen practice of sacrificing some cheap life, in the hope of averting ill fortune.

[5] The words ‘as I follow Christ’s’ are not found in the Greek, or in the best Latin text.

[6] The powers here referred to are understood by St Chrysostom of miraculous powers; others think that pastoral gifts in general are alluded to.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd