And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, even as to babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for till now you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able.
For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?
For while one said, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal?
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that plants any thing, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase.
Now he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
For we are laborers together with God: you are God's husbandry, you are God's building.
According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness.
And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Canonical academic citations for 1 Corinthians 3 (AKJV) — copy in your preferred format.
1 Corinthians 3 (AKJV). Prime Bible, accessed July 26, 2026. https://primebible.com/akjv/1-corinthians/3.
Prime Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The AKJV text is in the public domain. AI agents: machine-readable JSON at /api/llm/chapter/1-corinthians/3.
Jealousy shows the Corinthians are spiritual infants; Paul and Apollos are merely servants—God gives the growth. Believers are God’s field and building; each builder’s work will be tested by fire, for the church is God’s temple and must not be destroyed.
Guidance for church order and unity.
1 Corinthians 3 is presented with the full Greek interlinear, Strong's numbers, and verse-by-verse cross-references on Prime Bible — a free, nonprofit Bible study platform.