that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
Parallel translations
- KJV That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
- BSB so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another.
- NKJV that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
- NASB so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another.
- NLT This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.
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
God's design aims to prevent division, so that members care equally for one another. Mutual care is the goal of the body's structure.
Overview
Here Paul names the purpose behind God's arrangement: unity expressed in shared, mutual care. The honoring of weaker members exists to knit the body together rather than fracture it. This directly addresses the Corinthians' divisions, summoning them to the same love that flows from their common life in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Cor 13:11Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- 1 Cor 1:10–12Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
- John 17:21–26that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
- 2 Cor 8:16But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.
- 1 Cor 3:3for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?
- 2 Cor 7:12So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God.
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Christ at the center
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 12:25 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.