¹⁷ Christ did not send me to baptize people, but he sent me to tell the good news. I must not tell it with the clever words of this world. That would not show what the death of Christ on a cross truly means.

¹⁸ When people who are turning away from God hear about the cross, they say, `That is foolish!' But for us who are being saved, the cross is the power God uses to save us.

¹⁹ God says in the holy writings, `I will fool the wise people. I will bring to nothing the understanding of the clever people.'