1 Corinthians 1:17–2:16

^17aFor Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, ^bnot in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸For the word of the cross is ^afoolishness to ^bthose who ¹are perishing, but to us who ²are being saved, it is ^cthe power of God.

¹⁹For it is written,

“^aI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

^20aWhere is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of ^bthis age? Has not God ^cmade foolish the wisdom of ^dthe world?

²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, ^athe world through its wisdom did not come to know God, ^bGod was well-pleased, through the ^cfoolishness of the ¹message preached, to ^dsave those who believe.

²²For indeed ^aJews ask for ¹signs and Greeks search for wisdom,

²³but we preach ^1aChrist crucified, ^bto Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles ^cfoolishness,

²⁴but to those who are ^athe called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^bthe power of God and ^cthe wisdom of God.

²⁵Because the ^afoolishness of God is wiser than men, and ^bthe weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For ¹consider your ^acalling, brothers, that there were ^bnot many wise according to ²the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

²⁷But ^aGod has chosen the foolish things of ^bthe world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of ^cthe world to shame the things which are strong,

²⁸and the base things of ^athe world and the despised God has chosen, ^bthe things that are not, so that He may ^cabolish the things that are,

²⁹so that ^ano flesh may boast before God.

³⁰But by His doing you are in ^aChrist Jesus, who became to us ^bwisdom from God, ¹and ^crighteousness and ^dsanctification, and ^eredemption,

³¹so that, just as it is written, “^aLet him who boasts, boast in the ¹Lord.”

CHAPTER 2

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

¹And when I came to you, brothers, I ^adid not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you ^bthe ¹witness of God.

²For I determined to know nothing among you except ^aJesus Christ, and Him crucified.

³And I was with you in ^aweakness and in ^bfear and in much trembling,

⁴and my word and my preaching were ^anot in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of ^bthe Spirit and of power,

⁵so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in ^athe power of God.

⁶Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are ^amature, a wisdom, however, not of ^bthis age nor of the rulers of ^cthis age, who are ^dbeing abolished.

⁷But we speak God’s wisdom in a ^amystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God ^bpredestined before the ^cages to our glory,

^8awhich none of the rulers of ^bthis age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified ^cthe Lord of glory.

⁹But just as it is written,

“^aThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,

And which have not entered the heart of man,

All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

^101aBut to us God revealed them ^bthrough the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the ^cdepths of God.

¹¹For who among men knows the depths of a man except the ^aspirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we ^ahave received, not the spirit of ^bthe world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God,

¹³of which depths we also speak, ^anot in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, ¹combining spiritual depths with spiritual words.

¹⁴But ¹a ^anatural man ^bdoes not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are ^cfoolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because ^dthey are spiritually examined.

¹⁵But he who is ^aspiritual examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one.

¹⁶For ^awho has known the mind of the ¹Lord, that he will direct Him? But ^bwe have the mind of Christ.