First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
Parallel translations
- WEB For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
- KJV For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
- NKJV For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
- NASB For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.
- NLT First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul has heard of divisions among them when they assemble and partly believes the report. Disunity was corrupting their worship.
Overview
Paul names 'divisions' in the gathered church, likely along social or economic lines, that surfaced at the common meal. He treats the report seriously while measured in tone. Such factions contradict the unity the Lord's Supper signifies (10:17), and Paul will expose how their selfishness profanes the sacred meal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Cor 3:3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
- 1 Cor 1:10–12I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.
- 1 Cor 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
- 1 Cor 6:1If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints!
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 11:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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