1 Corinthians 12:17

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell?

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Sam 9:9 : 9 (Now it used to be in Israel that whenever someone went to inquire of God he would say,“Come on, let’s go to the seer.” For today’s prophet used to be called a seer.)
  • Ps 94:9 : 9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear? Does the one who forms the human eye not see?
  • Ps 139:13-16 : 13 Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly; 15 my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence.
  • Prov 20:12 : 12 The ear that hears and the eye that sees– the LORD has made them both.
  • 1 Cor 12:21 : 21 The eye cannot say to the hand,“I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot,“I do not need you.”
  • 1 Cor 12:29 : 29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they?

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • 1 Cor 12:11-16
    6 verses
    90%

    11It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.

    12Different Members in One Body For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body– though many– are one body, so too is Christ.

    13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.

    14For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.

    15If the foot says,“Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

    16And if the ear says,“Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

  • 1 Cor 12:18-27
    10 verses
    86%

    18But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.

    19If they were all the same member, where would the body be?

    20So now there are many members, but one body.

    21The eye cannot say to the hand,“I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot,“I do not need you.”

    22On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,

    23and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,

    24but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,

    25so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.

    26If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.

    27Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.

  • Rom 12:4-5
    2 verses
    75%

    4For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function,

    5so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another.

  • Ps 115:6
    71%

    6ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell,

  • Prov 20:12
    70%

    12The ear that hears and the eye that sees– the LORD has made them both.

  • Ps 94:9
    70%

    9Does the one who makes the human ear not hear? Does the one who forms the human eye not see?

  • Matt 6:22-23
    2 verses
    69%

    22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

    23But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

  • Luke 11:34
    68%

    34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness.

  • 1 Cor 14:7-10
    4 verses
    68%

    7It is similar for lifeless things that make a sound, like a flute or harp. Unless they make a distinction in the notes, how can what is played on the flute or harp be understood?

    8If, for example, the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will get ready for battle?

    9It is the same for you. If you do not speak clearly with your tongue, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.

    10There are probably many kinds of languages in the world, and none is without meaning.

  • Mark 8:18
    68%

    18Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember?

  • Matt 13:16
    68%

    16“But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear.

  • Mark 9:47
    67%

    47If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

  • Col 2:19
    67%

    19He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

  • Isa 32:3
    67%

    3Eyes will no longer be blind and ears will be attentive.

  • 1 Cor 14:23
    67%

    23So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds?

  • Matt 5:29
    67%

    29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

  • Rev 13:9
    67%

    9If anyone has an ear, he had better listen!

  • Ps 135:17
    67%

    17and ears, but cannot hear. Indeed, they cannot breathe.

  • 1 Cor 12:30
    67%

    30Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?

  • Job 12:11
    66%

    11Does not the ear test words, as the tongue tastes food?

  • Eph 4:16
    66%

    16From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love.

  • Matt 13:9
    66%

    9The one who has ears had better listen!”

  • Matt 11:15
    66%

    15The one who has ears had better listen!

  • Luke 11:36
    66%

    36If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

  • Jas 1:23
    66%

    23For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror.

  • Isa 42:18
    66%

    18The Lord Reasons with His People“Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!

  • 1 Cor 10:17
    66%

    17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread.

  • 1 Cor 12:1
    66%

    1Spiritual Gifts With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

  • Matt 18:9
    66%

    9And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.

  • Acts 28:26
    66%

    26when he said,‘Go to this people and say,“You will keep on hearing, but will never understand, and you will keep on looking, but will never perceive.