1 Corinthians 2
English Standard Version
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
2 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. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except (C)Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And (D)I was with you (E)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of (F)the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but (G)in the power of God.
Wisdom from the Spirit
6 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. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, (K)which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 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. 9 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. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts (T)except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now (U)we have received not (V)the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this (W)in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, (X)interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[d]
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (Y)folly to him, and (Z)he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The (AA)spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 (AB)“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But (AC)we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret)
- 1 Corinthians 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual
1 Corinthians 2
Common English Bible
2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. 2 I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified. 3 I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. 4 My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. 5 I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God.
Definition of wisdom
6 What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn’t a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing. 7 We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory. 8 It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! 9 But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being.[a] 10 God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God. 11 Who knows a person’s depths except their own spirit that lives in them? In the same way, no one has known the depths of God except God’s Spirit. 12 We haven’t received the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit so that we can know the things given to us by God. 13 These are the things we are talking about—not with words taught by human wisdom but with words taught by the Spirit—we are interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 But people who are unspiritual don’t accept the things from God’s Spirit. They are foolishness to them and can’t be understood, because they can only be comprehended in a spiritual way. 15 Spiritual people comprehend everything, but they themselves aren’t understood by anyone. 16 Who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him?[b] But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible