1 Corinthians 2:3–14

³When I came to you, I was weak and afraid and trembling all over. ⁴I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. As I preached, the Holy Spirit showed his power. ⁵That was so you would believe not because of human wisdom but because of God’s power.

Wisdom From the Holy Spirit

⁶The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the words of the wise people or rulers of this world. People like that aren’t going anywhere. ⁷No, we speak about God’s secret wisdom. His wisdom has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory.

⁸None of the rulers of this world understood God’s wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross. ⁹It is written,

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has known

what God has prepared for those who love him.”

¹⁰But God has shown it to us through his Spirit.

The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God. ¹¹Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person’s own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts.

¹²We have not received the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us.

¹³That is what we speak about. We don’t use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words of the Spirit to teach the truths of the Spirit.

¹⁴Some people don’t have the Holy Spirit. They don’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. Things like that are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help.