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.

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and ^(A)not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^(A)the Spirit and of power,

¹³ And we impart this ^(A)in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, ^(B)interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.^[a]

¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us ^(A)eternal life, and ^(B)this life is in his Son. ^12 (C)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(D)these things to you who ^(E)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

⁸ Therefore ^(A)do not be ashamed of ^(B)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(C)me his prisoner, but ^(D)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(A)their own appetites,^[a] and ^(B)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but ^(A)I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(A)I do not know how to speak, ^(B)for I am only a youth.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me,