To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
Parallel translations
- WEB Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place.
- KJV Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
- NKJV To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
- NASB Up to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless;
- NLT Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home.
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 lists the hardships of apostolic life—hunger, thirst, poor clothing, beatings, homelessness. It matters because faithful ministry embraced real suffering, unlike the Corinthians' comfort.
Overview
In a catalog of afflictions, Paul shows that being an apostle meant ongoing physical deprivation and abuse 'to this present hour.' Far from the kingly ease the Corinthians imagined for themselves, the messengers of Christ shared in His sufferings. This sober list rebukes spiritual complacency and dignifies hardship endured for the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 8:35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
- Phil 4:12I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.
- 2 Cor 11:23–27Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Matt 8:20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
- 2 Tim 3:11my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
- Job 22:6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
- 2 Cor 6:4–5Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
- 2 Cor 4:8We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- Acts 14:19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
- Acts 23:2At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
- Acts 16:23And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.
- 1 Cor 9:4Have we no right to food and to drink?
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 4:11 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.