² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength^(A) has saved me.’

¹⁷ You may say to yourself,^(A) “My power and the strength of my hands^(B) have produced this wealth for me.”

²⁷ But God chose^(A) the foolish^(B) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not^(C)—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him.^(D)

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay^(A) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God^(B) and not from us.

¹⁸ do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.^(A)

¹³ For he says:

⁹ not by works,^(A) so that no one can boast.^(B)

⁴ The weapons we fight with^(A) are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power^(B) to demolish strongholds.^{(C) 5} We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,^(D) and we take captive every thought to make it obedient^(E) to Christ.

⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^(A) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^{(B) 5} so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.^(C)