Christ Crucified

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the [a]testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you (A)except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (B)I was with you (C)in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching (D)were not with persuasive words of [b]human wisdom, (E)but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the (F)power of God.

Spiritual Wisdom

However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God [c]ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for (G)had they known, they would not have (H)crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written:

(I)“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But (J)God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 NU mystery
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:4 NU omits human
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:7 predetermined

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.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] (A)did not come proclaiming to you (B)the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except (C)Jesus Christ and him crucified. And (D)I was with you (E)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of (F)the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but (G)in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

Yet among (H)the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not (I)a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, (J)who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, (K)which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of (L)the rulers of this age understood this, for (M)if they had, they would not have crucified (N)the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

(O)“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has (P)prepared (Q)for those who love him”—

10 these things (R)God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even (S)the depths of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret)
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women