Balanda be Ndzimu
1 Koga imi zwikamu, ndakabe ndisingake alebeleka namwi se ndinolebeleka ne bathu tjimeya, koga ndabe ndingalebeleka namwi se bathu tjinyama kene se bana muna Kirisiti. 2 Ndakamupa nkaka, kusi zojiwa zwakabhata, ngobe zwakabe zwisathu zwikamulizana, ngono nangwenu azwithu zwikamulizana, 3 ngobe mu bathu tjinyama. Ngoti se kutjina ndandala ne zhoba pakati kwenyu, apa ate muli bathu tjinyama kakale muzwibhata se bathu koga kene? 4 Ha mmwe eti, “Imi ndiwa Paulo,” ngono mmwe eti, “Imi ndiwa Apolosi” ate muli bathu koga kene?
5 Apa Apolosi ini? Na Paulo ini? Balanda koga bamakagalamoyo ndibo. Sekwabakapiwa nshingo ndi She. 6 Imi ndakadzwala, ngono Apolosi wakadilidzila, koga Ndzimu ndiwo wakakudza. 7 Ndizo unodzwala ne unodilidzila ate bali tjimwe, koga Ndzimu iwo unokudza ndiwo tjimwe. 8 Iye unodzwala ne unodilidzila bakalizana, ngono mmwe ne mmwe wabo unowopiwa mbhayilo kuyendidzana ne nshingo waakashinga. 9 Ngobe iswi toshinga tose tishingila Ndzimu, ngono imwi mu nnda we Ndzimu. Kakale mu mbako ye Ndzimu. 10 Kuyendidzana nge ngoni dzandakapiwa nge Ndzimu, ndakateya ng'umba se nyambi ye mbaki, ngono mmwe upoga unobaka pezhugwi kwe thiwa iyeyi. Mmwe ne mmwe nthu ngaabe ne njele kuti unobaka tjini pezhugwi kwayo. 11 Ngobe akuna ungateya thiwa imwe kuzhe kwe yakateyiwa kale, iyo ili Jesu Kirisiti. 12 Ha bamwe be baka mu thiwa iyeyi nge golide bamwe nge siliva bamwe nge mabgwe e themba ipezhugwi, bamwe nge mapango bamwe nge bushwa bamwe nge mashanga, 13 nshingo we nthu mmwe ne mmwe unowoboneka, ngobe zhuba la Kirisiti lowolakidza, ngobe inowolikiwa nge moto, ngono unowolakidza kuti mmwe ne mmwe nthu wakashinga nshingo wakatini. 14 Ha tjakabakwa tjingakona moto, mbaki mmwe ne mmwe unowowana mbhayilo. 15 Ha nshingo we mmwe ungatshwa, unowolashikigwa ngono iye nge kukwe unowotjidziwa, koga ebhugwa mu moto.
16 Apa amutoziba kuti imwi mu ng'umba ye Ndzimu nenge kuti Meya ye Ndzimu inogala mu muli kene? 17 Iye unokolomola ng'umba ye Ndzimu, Ndzimu unowonkolomola, ngobe ng'umba ye Ndzimu yakayengemala, ngono imwi nge kwenyu mu ng'umba iyeyo.
18 Kusibe ne unozwitjengedza. Ha mmwe wenyu ekumbula kuti wakatjenjela mu mazhuba ano, ngaabe tjilengwe, kuti ndizo abe ntjenjedu. 19 Ngobe butjenjedu gwe shango ino bulengwe mu mesho e Ndzimu, nge kuti kwakakwagwa kuyi, “Ndzimu unobhatshila batjenjedu mu butjakwani gwabo.” 20 Kakale kukayi, “She banoziba kuti mikumbulo ye batjenjedu madatha.” 21 Ndizo ngakusibe ne unozwiloba ifuba nge mmwe nthu, ngobe zwithu zose nge zwenyu, 22 Paulo, kene Apolosi kene Pita kene shango, kene butjilo kene lufu, kene misi ino kene misi inozha, kose ikoku nge kwenyu, 23 ngono imwi mu bathu Bakirisiti, ngono Kirisiti nge we Ndzimu.
Servants of God
1 As a matter of fact, my friends, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world, as children in the Christian faith. 2 I had to feed you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready for it, 3 because you still live as the people of this world live. When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another, doesn't this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards? 4 When one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos”—aren't you acting like worldly people?
5 After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do: 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. 7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow. 8 There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done. 9 For we are partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
You are also God's building. 10 Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. 11 For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. 12 Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw. 13 And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work; the fire will test it and show its real quality. 14 If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. 15 But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.
16 Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple.
18 You should not fool yourself. If any of you think that you are wise by this world's standards, you should become a fool, in order to be really wise. 19 For what this world considers to be wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, “God traps the wise in their cleverness”; 20 and another scripture says, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless.” 21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you: 22 Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.