Bible verse wall art
1 Corinthians 16: Paul's closing charge to watch and stand fast
Paul ends his longest letter to Corinth with travel plans, a collection for the poor and a string of greetings. Tucked among them is a five-part command that reads like orders shouted along a city wall.
1 Corinthians 16 print
1 Corinthians 16 · King James Version
13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong
Practical business at the end of a letter
The chapter opens with money. Paul asks the Corinthians to set something aside on the first day of the week so that a gift for the believers in Jerusalem is ready when he arrives, the same arrangement he had given the churches of Galatia. Then he shares his plans: he will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great and effectual door has opened for him there, and there are many adversaries.
He mentions Timothy, who may be visiting them, and Apollos, who is not willing to come just yet. He praises the household of Stephanas, the first converts in Achaia, and passes on greetings from Aquila and Priscilla and the church that meets in their house. Near the end he picks up the pen himself and writes the salutation with his own hand, adding the Aramaic cry Maranatha, which means our Lord, come.
What does 1 Corinthians 16:13 mean?
Verse 13 is four quick commands, and our print carries all of them: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” To watch is to stay awake and alert, the duty of a sentry at night. To stand fast is to hold a position rather than drift. “Quit you like men” is old English for acting with courage and maturity; modern translations render it “act like men” or simply “be courageous.”
The list makes more sense against the rest of the letter. The Corinthian church had been split into factions, confused about the resurrection and careless at the Lord's Supper. Paul is not asking for bravado. He wants a church that is steady. And the very next verse softens the military tone: let all your things be done with charity. Strength without love was the problem he had spent sixteen chapters addressing.
The watchman on the wall
Our Watchman With a Lantern print turns the verse into a picture: a lone guard keeping a light burning over a town that sleeps. It is a piece of Christian wall art with a firm, carved look rather than soft color, and it suits a study, a men's group room, a youth pastor's office or the wall of someone starting military service or a demanding new job.
Watchmen and strength elsewhere in Scripture
The watchman is a familiar biblical figure. In Ezekiel 33 the prophet is appointed a watchman for Israel, responsible to warn the people when danger approaches, and Isaiah 62 speaks of watchmen set on the walls of Jerusalem who never hold their peace day or night. The call to be strong echoes the words given to Joshua before he crossed the Jordan, and Paul repeats it in Ephesians 6, where believers are told to be strong in the Lord before putting on the armor of God.