1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Christian Standard Bible

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.^(A) ¹⁹For it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.^[a]^(B)

²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law?^[b] Where is the debater of this age?^(C) Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? ²¹For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. ²²For the Jews ask for signs^(D) and the Greeks seek wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified,^(E) a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.^[c] ²⁴Yet to those who are called,^(F) both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, ²⁵because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

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Footnotes

1:19 Is 29:14
1:20 Or scholar
1:23 Other mss read Greeks

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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