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
New Living Translation
Paul’s Message of Wisdom
2 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.[b] 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And 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. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6 Yet 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. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God[c]—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That 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.”[d]
10 But[e] 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. 11 No 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. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13 When 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.[f] 14 But people who aren’t spiritual[g] 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. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”[h]
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 2:1a Greek brothers.
- 2:1b Greek God’s mystery; other manuscripts read God’s testimony.
- 2:7 Greek But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery.
- 2:9 Isa 64:4.
- 2:10 Some manuscripts read For.
- 2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people.
- 2:14 Or who don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life.
- 2:16 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
