He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. The man gave one servant five bags of money. {\cf2\super [387]} He gave another servant two bags of money. And he gave a third servant one bag of money. Then that man left.
1 Corinthians 3:5 - Easy To Read Version Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? Amplified Bible - Classic Edition What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministering servants [not heads of parties] through whom you believed, even as the Lord appointed to each his task: American Standard Version (1901) What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. Common English Bible After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord: Catholic Public Domain Version We are only the ministers of him in whom you have believed, just as the Lord has granted to each of you. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version The ministers of him whom you have believed; and to every one as the Lord hath given. |
He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. The man gave one servant five bags of money. {\cf2\super [387]} He gave another servant two bags of money. And he gave a third servant one bag of money. Then that man left.
They have written the same things that we learned from some other people—the people that saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message.
A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. Apollos was born in the city of Alexandria. He was an educated man. He knew very much about the Scriptures. {\cf2\super [370]}
While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on the way to the city of Ephesus. In Ephesus Paul found some followers \{of the Lord\}.
to be a minister of Christ Jesus. God made me a minister to help the non-Jewish people. I serve God by teaching his Good News. {\cf2\super [151]} I do this so that the non-Jewish people may be an offering that God will accept. Those people are made holy {\cf2\super [152]} for God by the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [153]}
And in the church God has given a place first to apostles, {\cf2\super [89]} second to prophets, {\cf2\super [90]} and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those people that do miracles, {\cf2\super [91]} those people that have gifts of healing, those people that can help others, those people that are able to lead, and those people that can speak in different kinds of languages.
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers. But he was sure that he did not want to go now. But when he has the opportunity, he will go to you.
Like an expert builder I built the foundation {\cf2\super [17]} of that house. I used the gift that God gave me to do this. Other people are building on that foundation. But each person should be careful how he builds.
Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (Peter); the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these things are yours.
So the person that plants is not important, and the person that waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the One who makes things grow.
If I do this work of telling the Good News because it is my own choice, then I deserve a reward. But I have no choice. I must tell the Good News. I am only doing the duty that was given to me.
Are those people serving Christ? I am serving him more. (I am crazy to talk like this.) I have worked much harder than those people. I have been in prison more often. I have been hurt more in beatings. I have been near death many times.
You show that you are a letter from Christ that he sent through us. This letter is not written with ink but with the Spirit {\cf2\super [7]} of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets. {\cf2\super [8]} It is written on human hearts.
God made us able to be servants of a new agreement \{from God to his people\}. This new agreement is not a written law. It is of the Spirit. {\cf2\super [9]} The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
We don’t tell people about ourselves. But we tell people that Jesus Christ is Lord; and we tell people that we are your servants for Jesus.
We have this treasure \{from God\}. But we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that this great power is from God, not from us.
So we think about the things we cannot see, not what we see. The things we see continue only a short time. And the things we cannot see will continue forever.
We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Don’t let the grace (kindness) that you received from God be for nothing.
But in every way we show that we are servants of God: in accepting many hard things, in troubles, in difficulties, and in great problems.
By God’s special gift of grace (kindness), I became a servant to tell that Good News. {\cf2\super [24]} God gave me that grace by using his power.
Christ will do this if you continue to believe in the Good News {\cf2\super [7]} you heard. You must continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope that Good News gave you. That same Good News has been told to all people in the world. I, Paul, help in telling that Good News.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. He gives me strength.
Each of you received a spiritual gift \{from God\}. God has shown you his grace (kindness) in many different ways. And you are like servants who are responsible for using God’s gifts. So be good servants and use your gifts to serve each other.