³ I came to you^(A) in weakness^(B) with great fear and trembling.^{(C) 4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^(D) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^{(E) 5} so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.^(F)

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,^(G) but not the wisdom of this age^(H) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.^{(I) 7} No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery^(J) that has been hidden^(K) and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age^(L) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.^{(M) 9} However, as it is written:

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed^(O) to us by his Spirit.^(P)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts^(Q) except their own spirit^(R) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit^(S) of the world,^(T) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom^(U) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.^{[b] 14} The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God^(V) but considers them foolishness,^(W) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵ The person with the Spirit^(X) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,

But we have the mind of Christ.^(Z)

The Church and Its Leaders

3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit^(AA) but as people who are still worldly^(AB)—mere infants^(AC) in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food,^(AD) for you were not yet ready for it.^(AE) Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling^(AF) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”^(AG) are you not mere human beings?

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos?^(AH) And what is Paul? Only servants,^(AI) through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed,^(AJ) Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.^{(AK) 9} For we are co-workers in God’s service;^(AL) you are God’s field,^(AM) God’s building.^(AN)

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me,^(AO) I laid a foundation^(AP) as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.^{(AQ) 12} If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is,^(AR) because the Day^(AS) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.^{(AT) 14} If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.^{(AU) 15} If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.^(AV)

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple^(AW) and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?^{(AX) 17} If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise^(AY) by the standards of this age,^(AZ) you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness^(BA) in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”^[d];^{(BB) 20} and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”^{[e](BC) 21} So then, no more boasting about human leaders!^(BD) All things are yours,^{(BE) 22} whether Paul or Apollos^(BF) or Cephas^[f](BG) or the world or life or death or the present or the future^(BH)—all are yours, ²³ and you are of Christ,^(BI) and Christ is of God.

The Nature of True Apostleship

4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants^(BJ) of Christ and as those entrusted^(BK) with the mysteries^(BL) God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.