1 Corinthians 1:15–31

¹⁵so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(I did baptize also ^zthe household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 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.”