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¶ And I, brothers, when I came to you, came not with puffed up speech or wisdom to declare unto you the testimony of God.

For I judged not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

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

¶ For we speak perfect wisdom of God, and not the wisdom of this age nor of the princes of this age, that come to nought,

but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages unto our glory,

which none of the princes of this age knew (for had they known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory).

But as it is written, That which eye has not seen nor ear heard neither has entered into the heart of man is that which God has prepared for those that love him.

10 But God has revealed this unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

11 For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one has known the things of God, but the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that God has given us.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but with doctrine of the Holy Spirit, jointly fitting spiritual things by spiritual means.

14 But the natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

15 But he that is spiritual discerns all things, yet he is discerned by no one.

16 For who has known the understanding of the Lord? Who has instructed him? But we have the understanding 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