1 Corinthians 1:17–2:16

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

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸For the word of the cross is ^bfolly to ^cthose who are perishing, but to us ^dwho are being saved it is ^ethe power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,

^f“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

^20gWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^hHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach² to save those who believe. ²²For ⁱJews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ ^jcrucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^kthe power of God and ^lthe wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For consider your calling, brothers: ^mnot many of you were wise according to worldly standards,³ not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But ⁿGod chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^oGod chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^pthings that are not, to ^qbring to nothing things that are, ²⁹so ^rthat no human being⁴ might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰And because of him⁵ you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^swisdom from God, ^trighteousness and ^usanctification and ^vredemption, ³¹so that, as it is written, ^w“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2And I, when I came to you, brothers,^{1 x}did not come proclaiming to you ^ythe testimony² of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except ^zJesus Christ and him crucified. ³And ^aI was with you ^bin weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^cthe Spirit and of power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men³ but ^din the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

⁶Yet among ^ethe mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not ^fa wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, ^gwho are doomed to pass away. ⁷But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, ^hwhich God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸None of ⁱthe rulers of this age understood this, for ^jif they had, they would not have crucified ^kthe Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,

^l“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has ^mprepared ⁿfor those who love him”—

¹⁰these things ^oGod has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even ^pthe depths of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts ^qexcept the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now ^rwe have received not ^sthe spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³And we impart this ^tin words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, ^uinterpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.⁴

¹⁴The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^vfolly to him, and ^whe is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The ^xspiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ^16y“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But ^zwe have the mind of Christ.