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1 Corinthians 2
New International Version
1 Corinthians 2
New International Version
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.(B) 3 I came to you(C) in weakness(D) with great fear and trembling.(E) 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,(G) 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(H)
God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,(I) but not the wisdom of this age(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.(K) 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery(L) that has been hidden(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(O) 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—(P)
10 these are the things God has revealed(Q) to us by his Spirit.(R)
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts(S) except their own spirit(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit(U) of the world,(V) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom(W) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God(X) but considers them foolishness,(Y) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit(Z) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
But we have the mind of Christ.(AB)
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13
1 Corinthians 2
New Living Translation
1 Corinthians 2
New Living Translation
Paul’s Message of Wisdom
2 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.[b] 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God[c]—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”[d]
10 But[e] it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.[f] 14 But people who aren’t spiritual[g] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”[h]
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 2:1a Greek brothers.
- 2:1b Greek God’s mystery; other manuscripts read God’s testimony.
- 2:7 Greek But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery.
- 2:9 Isa 64:4.
- 2:10 Some manuscripts read For.
- 2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people.
- 2:14 Or who don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life.
- 2:16 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).
1 Corinthians 2
New King James Version
1 Corinthians 2
New King James Version
Christ Crucified
2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the [a]testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you (A)except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 (B)I was with you (C)in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching (D)were not with persuasive words of [b]human wisdom, (E)but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the (F)power of God.
Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God [c]ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for (G)had they known, they would not have (H)crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
(I)“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But (J)God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the (K)spirit of the man which is in him? (L)Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but (M)the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 (N)But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For (O)“who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” (P)But we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 NU mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:4 NU omits human
- 1 Corinthians 2:7 predetermined
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 NU omits Holy
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.