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And I, having come unto you, brethren, came -- not in superiority of discourse or wisdom -- declaring to you the testimony of God,

for I decided not to know any thing among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified;

and I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you;

and my word and my preaching was not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power --

that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age -- of those becoming useless,

but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory,

which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified;

but, according as it hath been written, `What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and upon the heart of man came not up, what God did prepare for those loving Him --'

10 but to us did God reveal [them] through His Spirit, for the Spirit all things doth search, even the depths of God,

11 for who of men hath known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, except the Spirit of God.

12 And we the spirit of the world did not receive, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us,

13 which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, with spiritual things spiritual things comparing,

14 and the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know [them], because spiritually they are discerned;

15 and he who is spiritual, doth discern indeed all things, and he himself is by no one discerned;

16 for who did know the mind of the Lord that he shall instruct Him? and we -- we have the mind of Christ.

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.(B) I came to you(C) in weakness(D) with great fear and trembling.(E) My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,(G) so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(H)

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,(I) but not the wisdom of this age(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.(K) No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery(L) that has been hidden(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(O) However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—(P)

10 these are the things God has revealed(Q) to us by his Spirit.(R)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts(S) except their own spirit(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit(U) of the world,(V) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom(W) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God(X) but considers them foolishness,(Y) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit(Z) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”[d](AA)

But we have the mind of Christ.(AB)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual
  4. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13