1 Corinthians 2
2
Paul’s Proclamation
1When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery#2:1 Other mss read testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance#1Tm 2:2 of speech#Col 4:6 or wisdom. 2I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.#1Co 1:23–24; Gl 6:14 3I came to you in weakness,#2Co 11:30 in fear,#Rv 11:11 and in much trembling.#Php 2:12 4My speech#Mt 12:37 and my preaching were not with persuasive#Php 1:25 words of wisdom#2:4 Other mss read human wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.#Mk 5:30; Lk 1:35; 6:19; Ac 19:11; 2Co 13:4; 2Tm 1:7; Rv 11:17
Spiritual Wisdom
6We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature,#Mt 5:48 but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers#Lk 12:58 of this age, who are coming to nothing.#Heb 2:14 7On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined#Eph 1:5 before the ages for our glory.#Lk 24:26; 1Pt 5:1,4 8None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.#Ps 24:7 9But as it is written,
What no eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no human heart has conceived —
God has prepared these things for those who love him. # 2:9 Is 52:15; 64:4 #
Is 52:15; 64:4; Lk 10:27; 1Jn 4:20
10Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything,#Ps 17:3; Jn 14:26 even the depths of God.#Rm 8:39; 11:33; Eph 3:18 11For who knows a person’s thoughts#2:11 Or things except his spirit#Rm 1:9 within him? In the same way, no one knows#1Jn 4:8 the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13We also speak these things, not in words#Mt 12:37 taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.#2:13 Or things with spiritual words 14But the person without the Spirit#2:14 Lit natural person does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated#2:14 Or judged, or discerned, also in v. 15 spiritually. 15The spiritual person, however, can evaluate#2:15 Or judge, or discern everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. 16For
who has known the Lord’s mind,
that he may instruct him? # 2:16 Is 40:13 #
Is 40:13
But we have the mind of Christ.#Col 2:2
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1 Corinthians 2: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
1 Corinthians 2
2
Paul’s Message of Wisdom
1When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,#2:1a Greek brothers. I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.#2:1b Greek God’s mystery; other manuscripts read God’s testimony. 2For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God#2:7 Greek But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery.—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”#2:9 Isa 64:4.
10But#2:10 Some manuscripts read For. it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.#2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people. 14But people who aren’t spiritual#2:14 Or who don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life. can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”#2:16 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
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