1 Corinthians 12:29
ESV
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
NIV
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
NASB
All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
CSB
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?
NLT
Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?
KJV
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
NKJV
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
What does 1 Corinthians 12:29 mean?
In this and following verses, Paul is driving home his main point. This is that all spiritual gifts are needed and should be honored in the church, which is the body of Christ. Some may seem more desirable. Others may seem less interesting. Those are only perception, however. All are needed and vital to the proper function of the church.As he does often, Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions: statements which assume a particular answer. Is everyone in the church an apostle or a prophet or a teacher? Of course not. Can everyone work miracles? No, only those given the gift of the ability to work miracles by the Holy Spirit can work miracles. This applies the body analogy Paul used earlier (1 Corinthians 12:17), pointing out that the whole body cannot be made up of identical copies of the same organ.
Paul continues these questions in the following verse.
