1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16

Contemporary English Version

¹⁷ Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using words that sound wise and would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

Christ Is God's Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work. ^19 (A) As God says in the Scriptures,

^20 (B) What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? ^21 (C) God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.

Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. ²² Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. ²³ But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. ²⁴ Our message is God's power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. ²⁵ Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.

²⁶ My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

²⁸ What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. ²⁹ God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. ³⁰ You are God's children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. ^31 (D) So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord.

Telling about Christ and the Cross

2 Friends, when I came and told you the mystery^[a] that God had shared with us, I didn't use big words or try to sound wise. ² In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.

^3 (E) At first, I was weak and trembling with fear. ⁴ When I talked with you or preached, I didn't try to prove anything by sounding wise. I simply let God's Spirit show his power. ⁵ That way you would have faith because of God's power and not because of human wisdom.

⁶ We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn't the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear. ⁷ We speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began. ^8 (F) The rulers of this world didn't know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross. ^9 (G) But it is just as the Scriptures say,

¹⁰ God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God. ¹¹ You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind. ¹² But God has given us his Spirit. This is why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. This is also why we can recognize the blessings God has given us.

¹³ Every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people.^{[b] 14} This is why only someone who has God's Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn't have God's Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish. ¹⁵ People who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others. ^16 (H) The Scriptures ask,