1 Corinthians 1:9-18

9God always does what he has promised to do. He has chosen you to be friends with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.

10My Christian friends, I tell you this with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Please agree with each other. Do not become separate groups. Be united and think about things in the same way.’

11Some people from Chloe's house have told me news about you. My friends, they say that you are quarrelling among yourselves.

12It happens like this: One of you says, ‘I belong to Paul's group.’ Another person says, ‘I belong to Apollos's group.’ Another person says, ‘I belong to Peter's group.’ And another person says, ‘I belong to Christ's group.’

13You should not speak like that! It seems that you are breaking Christ into several parts. I, Paul, did not die on a cross to save you. When they baptized you, it was not on my behalf.

14I thank God that I myself did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius.

15So none of you can say, ‘I belong to Paul's group because he baptized me.’

16(Now I remember that I also baptized Stephanas and his family. I cannot remember that I baptized anyone else.)

17Christ did not send me to baptize people. But he did send me to tell God's good news to people. When I speak his message, I do not use clever words. It is Christ's death on the cross that has power to save people. I do not want to spoil that power with clever words.

18Some people think that the message about Christ's death on the cross is silly. Those people are destroying themselves. But it is different for us, the people that God is saving. The message about the cross shows us God's power to save us.