whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours.
Parallel translations
- WEB whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours,
- KJV Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
- BSB whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
- NASB whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
- NLT whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you,
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, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, and the future all belong to the believers. Everything is theirs because they belong to Christ.
Overview
Paul lists the vast inheritance of believers: the ministers they were dividing over, and even the world, life, death, present, and future, all serve their good. There is no reason to boast in one leader when all leaders and all things belong to them. This sweeping assurance flows from their union with Christ, stated in the next verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Eph 4:11–12He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
- Phil 1:21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- Rom 8:37–39No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- 1 Cor 9:19–22For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
- 1 Cor 3:5–8Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?
- 2 Cor 4:5For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake;
- 1 Cor 1:12Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:22 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.