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
Legacy Standard Bible
Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit
2 And when I came to you, brothers, I (A)did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you (B)the [a]witness of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except (C)Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in (D)weakness and in (E)fear and in much trembling, 4 and my word and my preaching were (F)not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of (G)the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in (H)the power of God.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are (I)mature, a wisdom, however, not of (J)this age nor of the rulers of (K)this age, who are (L)being abolished. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a (M)mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God (N)predestined before the (O)ages to our glory, 8 (P)which none of the rulers of (Q)this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified (R)the Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written,
“(S)Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 [b](T)But to us God revealed them (U)through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the (V)depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the depths of a man except the (W)spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we (X)have received, not the spirit of (Y)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God, 13 of which depths we also speak, (Z)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [c]combining spiritual depths with spiritual words.
14 But [d]a (AA)natural man (AB)does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are (AC)foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because (AD)they are spiritually examined. 15 But he who is (AE)spiritual examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one. 16 For (AF)who has known the mind of the [e]Lord, that he will direct Him? But (AG)we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some early mss mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:10 Some early mss For
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual things for spiritual men
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 Or an unspiritual
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Is 40:13
1 Corinthians 2
New King James Version
Christ Crucified
2 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. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you (A)except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 (B)I was with you (C)in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 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, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the (F)power of God.
Spiritual Wisdom
6 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. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God [c]ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for (G)had they known, they would not have (H)crucified the Lord of glory.
9 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. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the (K)spirit of the man which is in him? (L)Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but (M)the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 (N)But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For (O)“who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” (P)But we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 NU mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:4 NU omits human
- 1 Corinthians 2:7 predetermined
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 NU omits Holy
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

