1 Corinthians 2
2
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
1When I came to you, brothers and sisters,#2.1 Gk brothers I did not come proclaiming the mystery#2.1 Other ancient authorities read testimony of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom,#2.4 Other ancient authorities read the persuasiveness of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
The True Wisdom of God
6Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.#2.13 Or interpreting spiritual things in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual
14Those who are unspiritual#2.14 Or natural do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny.
16“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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