1 COR 4:12 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) and working hard—working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless them, and when they persecute us, we put up with it.[ref]

Key: khaki:verbs, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT and are working hard, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

UST We do manual labor to earn a living. When people speak badly to us, we say good things about them. When people hurt us because we serve the Messiah, we patiently live through it.

BLB and we toil, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

AICNT We labor, working with our own hands; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;

OEB we work hard, toiling with our own hands. We meet abuse with blessings, we meet persecution with endurance,

WEBBE We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET We do hard work, toiling with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing, when persecuted, we endure,

LSV and labor, working with [our] own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

FBV We struggle on doing manual work. When people curse us, we bless them. When they persecute us, we put up with it.

TCNT We labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;

T4T We work very hard to earn a living. When we are cursed by people {When people curse us}, we ask God to bless them. When we are persecuted {When people cause us to suffer}, we endure it.

LEB and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are[fn] reviled, we bless; when we are[fn] persecuted, we endure;

4:12 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“reviled”) which is understood as temporal

4:12 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“persecuted”) which is understood as temporal

BBE And with our hands we do the hardest work: when they give us curses we give blessings, when we undergo punishment we take it quietly;

Moff we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we put up with it;

Wymth Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently;

ASV and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

DRA And we labour, working with our own hands: we are reviled, and we bless; we are persecuted, and we suffer it.

YLT and labour, working with [our] own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer;

Drby and labour, working with our own hands. Railed at, we bless; persecuted, we suffer [it];

RV and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

SLT And we are wearied, working with our own hands: being reviled, we praise; being driven out, we hold up.

Wbstr And labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it;

KJB-1769 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

KJB-1611 And labour, working with our owne hands: being reuiled, wee blesse: being persecuted, we suffer it:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And labour, working with our owne handes. We are reuyled, and we blesse. We are persecuted, and suffer it.
(And labour, working with our own hands. We are reviled, and we blesse. We are persecuted, and suffer it.)

Gnva And labour, working with our owne handes: we are reuiled, and yet we blesse: we are persecuted, and suffer it.
(And labour, working with our own hands: we are reviled, and yet we bless: we are persecuted, and suffer it. )

Cvdl and laboure and worke with oure awne handes. We are reuyled, and yet we blesse: we are persecuted, and suffre it:
(and labour and work with our own hands. We are reviled, and yet we bless: we are persecuted, and suffer it:)

TNT and laboure workinge with oure awne hondes. We are revysed and yet we blesse. We are persecuted and suffer it.
(and labour workinge with our own hands. We are revysed and yet we blesse. We are persecuted and suffer it. )

Wycl and we ben vnstable, and we trauelen worchynge with oure hondis; we ben cursid, and we blessen; we suffren persecucioun, and we abiden longe; we ben blasfemyd, and we bisechen;
(and we been unstable, and we travelen worching with our hands; we been cursed, and we blessen; we suffering persecution, and we abiding longe; we been blasfemyd, and we bisechen;)

Luth und arbeiten und wirken mit unsern eigenen Händen. Man schilt uns, so segnen wir; man verfolgt uns, so dulden wir‘s, man lästert uns, so flehen wir.
(and work(v) and works/acts with ours own hands. They shield(v) us/to_us/ourselves, so bless we/us; man verfolgt us/to_us/ourselves, so dulden we/us, man blasphemes us/to_us/ourselves, so beg/implore we/us.)

ClVg et laboramus operantes manibus nostris: maledicimur, et benedicimus: persecutionem patimur, et sustinemus:
(and workamus operantes hands ours: curseimur, and to_be_blessedmus: persecution patimur, and hold_onmus: )

UGNT καὶ κοπιῶμεν, ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν. λοιδορούμενοι, εὐλογοῦμεν; διωκόμενοι, ἀνεχόμεθα;
(kai kopiōmen, ergazomenoi tais idiais ⱪersin. loidoroumenoi, eulogoumen; diōkomenoi, aneⱪometha;)

SBL-GNT καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν· λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα,
(kai kopiōmen ergazomenoi tais idiais ⱪersin; loidoroumenoi eulogoumen, diōkomenoi aneⱪometha,)

RP-GNT καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν· λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν· διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα·
(kai kopiōmen ergazomenoi tais idiais ⱪersin; loidoroumenoi eulogoumen; diōkomenoi aneⱪometha;)

TC-GNT καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσί· λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν· διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα·
(kai kopiōmen ergazomenoi tais idiais ⱪersi; loidoroumenoi eulogoumen; diōkomenoi aneⱪometha; )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–21: The Corinthians should respect Paul as a servant of Christ

Paul continued to talk about how the Corinthian believers should think about their Christian leaders, especially himself. He said that Christian leaders are servants of Christ and should be judged only by Christ. Some Corinthian believers were saying that they did not have to listen to Paul’s teaching. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to respect and obey him as their spiritual father.

Other possible section headings include:

Paul encouraged the Corinthians to respect him and Apollos

Paul and Apollos deserved respect as Christ’s servants

Paragraph 4:6–13

In this paragraph Paul rebuked the Corinthians for talking proudly about their abilities. Since all their abilities came from God, they had no reason to talk proudly about them. Paul talked about Apollos and himself to contrast the suffering that true workers of Christ were enduring with the proud, boastful attitudes of the Corinthians.

4:12a

We work hard with our own hands.

And/Also we^(excl) have to work very hard with our own hands to earn money.
We^(excl) work hard to earn a living.

We work hard with our own hands: This verse part indicates that that Paul and his coworkers had to do hard physical labor. They did not depend on the work of others as kings do. Another way to translate this is:

We do hard manual labor.

4:12b

When we are vilified, we bless;

When people say bad things to us^(excl) we bless them.
If people wish bad to happen to us^(excl) we wish good to happen to them.
We ask God to help/bless those who insult us^(excl).

When we are vilified, we bless: This verse part indicates that the apostles spoke good things to people who spoke badly to them. Translate using verbs that form a strong contrast. Other ways to translate this in English include:

when we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing (NET)

we are vilified: The Greek word that the BSB translates as vilified refers to someone being spoken to in an insulting way. The speaker expresses hatred toward someone by insulting him or calling him bad names. The verb we are vilified is in the passive. There are two ways of translating this:

with a passive verb. For example:
we are verbally abused (NET)
with an active verb. For example:
people abuse us (NCV)
enemies/unbelievers insult us

Translate in whichever way is most natural in your language in this context.

we bless: The Greek word that the BSB translates as bless refers to a special kind of prayer that God would do good to someone. In some languages it may be natural to use direct speech here. For example:

we say to them, “May God do good to you.”

4:12c

when we are persecuted, we endure it;

When people cause us^(excl) to suffer, we do not fight back.
We^(excl) are patient when people treat us badly.

when we are persecuted, we endure it: This verse part indicates that the apostles were patient rather than violent when others did evil to them.

we are persecuted: This is a passive verb. There are two ways to translate it:

as a passive verb. For example:
we^(excl) are mistreated
as an active verb. For example:
When people persecute us (GW)

we endure it: The phrase we endure it means that the apostles were patient while they were suffering persecution. They did not fight back. Here is another way to translate this:

we are patient (CEV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

ἰδίαις & εὐλογοῦμεν & ἀνεχόμεθα

own & ˱we˲_˓are˒_blessing & ˱we˲_˓are˒_tolerating

Here, our and we refer to Paul and other “apostles.” They do not include the Corinthians.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

κοπιῶμεν, ἐργαζόμενοι

˱we˲_˓are˒_laboring working

Here, the words working hard and working mean basically the same thing. Paul uses both words to emphasize how hard he is working. If your language does not use repetition in this way, you can combine these words and indicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [are working very hard]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν

working ˱with˲_our own hands

In Paul’s culture, the phrase with our own hands indicates that Paul and other apostles were doing manual labor. In fact, we know that Paul himself made tents (See: [Acts 18:3](../act/018/03.md)), so that is probably the manual labor which he refers to here. If with our hands would not refer to manual labor in your language, you could use a comparable idiom or an expression that refers to manual labor. Alternate translation: [doing physically demanding work]

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-time-simultaneous

λοιδορούμενοι & διωκόμενοι

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν Λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα)

The phrases Being reviled and being persecuted identify the situations in which Paul and other apostles bless and endure. If it would be helpful in your language, you could: (1) include a word such as “when” to indicate that these actions happen at the same time. Alternate translation: [Any time we are reviled … any time we are persecuted] (2) include a word such as “although” to indicate that these actions are in contrast with each other. Alternate translation: [Although we are reviled … although we are persecuted]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

λοιδορούμενοι

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Paul uses the passive form here to focus on those who are reviled rather than focusing on the people doing the “reviling.” If you must state who does the action, you can use a vague or indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [Others reviling us]

Note 6 topic: translate-unknown

λοιδορούμενοι

Here, Being reviled refers to someone abusing another person with words. If that meaning for Being reviled would not be obvious in your language, you could use a word or phrase that does refer to using abusive words about another person. Alternate translation: [Being slandered] or [Being attacked verbally]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὐλογοῦμεν

˱we˲_˓are˒_blessing

Here Paul does not state whom or what they bless. He could mean that they bless: (1) the people who “revile” them. Alternate translation: [we bless in return] (2) God, even though they are suffering. Alternate translation: [we bless God anyway]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

διωκόμενοι

˓being˒_persecuted

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Paul uses the passive form here to focus on those who are persecuted rather than the people doing the “persecuting.” If you must state who does the action, you can use a vague or indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [Others persecuting us]

Parallel 1 COR 4:12

Section 4:1–21: The Corinthians should respect Paul as a servant of Christ

Paragraph 4:6–13

4:12a

4:12b

4:12c

Parallel 1 COR 4:12