# 1 Corinthians 4.1-13 **Book:** [1 Corinthians](/codex/1-corinthians/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > **1. Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2. Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4. For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5. Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God. 6. Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other. 7. For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? 8. Already are ye filled, already ye are become rich, ye have come to reign without us: yea and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. 9. For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men. 10. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor. 11. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; 12. and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13. being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now.** > > 14. I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15. For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:1-15, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > **1. So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful. 3. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self. 4. For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. 5. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God. 6. Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another. 7. For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 8. You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you. 9. For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. 10. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. 11. Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. 12. We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. 13. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.** > > 14. I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15. For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News. (1 Corinthians 4:1-15, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > **1. Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. judgment: Gr. day 4. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. know: or, I am not conscious of any fault 5. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. 6. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. 7. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? maketh: Gr. distinguisheth thee 8. Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. 9. For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. spectacle: Gr. theatre 10. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 11. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 12. And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13. Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.** > > 14. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 15. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:1-15, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > **1. Let a man so reckon us as officers of Christ, and stewards of the secrets of God, 2. and as to the rest, it is required in the stewards that one may be found faithful, 3. and to me it is for a very little thing that by you I may be judged, or by man's day, but not even myself do I judge, 4. for of nothing to myself have I been conscious, but not in this have I been declared right, and he who is discerning me is the Lord: 5. so, then, nothing before the time judge ye, till the Lord may come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of the darkness, and will manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then the praise shall come to each from God. 6. And these things, brethren, I did transfer to myself and to Apollos because of you, that in us ye may learn not to think above that which hath been written, that ye may not be puffed up one for one against the other, 7. for who doth make thee to differ? and what hast thou, that thou didst not receive? and if thou didst also receive, why dost thou glory as not having received? 8. Already ye are having been filled, already ye were rich, apart from us ye did reign, and I would also ye did reign, that we also with you may reign together, 9. for I think that God did set forth us the apostles last, as appointed to death, because a spectacle we became to the world, and messengers, and men; 10. we [are] fools because of Christ, and ye wise in Christ; we [are] ailing, and ye strong; ye glorious, and we dishonoured; 11. unto the present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and wander about, 12. and labour, working with [our] own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer; 13. being spoken evil of, we entreat; as filth of the world we did become, of all things an offscouring, till now.** > > 14. Not [as] putting you to shame do I write these things, but as my beloved children I do admonish, 15. for if a myriad of child-conductors ye may have in Christ, yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus, through the good news, I, I did beget you; (1 Corinthians 4:1-15, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - [G3466 - mysterion](/codex/g3466-mysterion/), *mysterion*, Strong's G3466 - [G1344 - dikaioo](/codex/g1344-dikaioo/), *dikaioo*, Strong's G1344 - [G3049 - logizomai](/codex/g3049-logizomai/), *logizomai*, Strong's G3049 - [G2540 - kairos](/codex/g2540-kairos/), *kairos*, Strong's G2540 - [G2588 - kardia](/codex/g2588-kardia/), *kardia*, Strong's G2588 - [G2889 - kosmos](/codex/g2889-kosmos/), *kosmos*, Strong's G2889 ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Argument from the Addressee of Gratitude](/codex/argument-from-the-addressee-of-gratitude/), via [1 Corinthians 4.7](/codex/1-corinthians-4-7/) - [Argument from the Demand to Be Witnessed](/codex/argument-from-the-demand-to-be-witnessed/), via [1 Corinthians 4.5](/codex/1-corinthians-4-5/) - [Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity Objection Defeater](/codex/inherited-guilt-and-visiting-iniquity-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 4.5](/codex/1-corinthians-4-5/) - [Mohammed Killed Mockers Objection Defeater](/codex/mohammed-killed-mockers-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 4.12-13](/codex/1-corinthians-4-12-13/) **Concepts:** - [Augustine-Pelagius Controversy](/codex/augustine-pelagius-controversy/), via [1 Corinthians 4.7](/codex/1-corinthians-4-7/) - [Biblical Stewardship](/codex/biblical-stewardship/), via [1 Corinthians 4.1-2](/codex/1-corinthians-4-1-2/), [1 Corinthians 4.2](/codex/1-corinthians-4-2/) **Lexicon:** - [G2540 - kairos](/codex/g2540-kairos/), via [1 Corinthians 4.5](/codex/1-corinthians-4-5/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.