Paul’s Proclamation
1When I came to you, •brothers, announcing the testimonya of God to you, I did not come with brillianceb of speechc or wisdom. 2For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.d 3I came to you in weakness,e in fear,f and in much trembling.g 4My speechh and my proclamation were not with persuasivei words of wisdomj but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, 5so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.k
Spiritual Wisdom
6However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature,l but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulersm of this age, who are coming to nothing.n 7On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a •mystery, a wisdom God predestinedo before the ages for our glory.p 8None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.q 9But as it is written:
What eye did not see and ear did not hear,
and what never entered the human mind —
God prepared this for those who love Him.r, s
10Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything,t even the depths of God.u 11For who among men knows the thoughtsv of a man except the spiritw of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knowsx the thoughtsy of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have not received the spirit of the •world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13We also speak these things, not in wordsz taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.aa 14But the unbelieverab does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluatedac spiritually. 15The spiritual person, however, can evaluatead everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluatedae by anyone. 16For
who has known the Lord’s mind,
that he may instruct Him?af, ag
But we have the mind of Christ.ah
Footnotes:
a. 2:1 Other mss read mystery
b. 2:1 1Tm 2:2
c. 2:1 Col 4:6
d. 2:2 1Co 1:23-24; Gl 6:14
e. 2:3 2Co 11:30
f. 2:3 Rv 11:11
g. 2:3 Php 2:12
h. 2:4 Mt 12:37
i. 2:4 Php 1:25
j. 2:4 Other mss read human wisdom
k. 2:5 Mk 5:30; Lk 1:35; 6:19; Ac 19:11; 2Co 13:4; 2Tm 1:7; Rv 11:17
l. 2:6 Mt 5:48
m. 2:6 Lk 12:58
n. 2:6 Heb 2:14
o. 2:7 Eph 1:5
p. 2:7 Lk 24:26; 1Pt 5:1,4
q. 2:8 Ps 24:7
r. 2:9 Is 52:15; 64:4; Lk 10:27; 1Jn 4:20
s. 2:9 Is 52:15; 64:4
t. 2:10 Ps 17:3; Jn 14:26
u. 2:10 Rm 8:39; 11:33; Eph 3:18
v. 2:11 Or things
w. 2:11 Rm 1:9
x. 2:11 1Jn 4:8
y. 2:11 Or things
z. 2:13 Mt 12:37
aa. 2:13 Or things with spiritual words
ab. 2:14 Or unspiritual; lit natural
ac. 2:14 Or judged, or discerned
ad. 2:15 Or judge, or discern
ae. 2:15 Or judged, or discerned
af. 2:16 Is 40:13
ag. 2:16 Is 40:13
ah. 2:16 Col 2:2
