1 Corinthians 2

1 My fellow believers, when I came to you, I proclaimed to you the message that God had revealed to me. But I did not proclaim it using eloquent words that would make people think highly of me, nor did I argue in a way that unbelievers would think was very wise.

And I, having come to you, brothers, came—not in superiority of discourse or wisdom—declaring to you the testimony of God,

2 I did that because I decided that I would speak only about Jesus Christ. Specifically, I told you [what he accomplished for us when] he was killed by being nailed {[when they] killed him by nailing him} to a cross.

for I decided not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified;

3 Furthermore, when I was with you, I felt that I was not adequate [to do what Christ wanted me to do]. I was afraid [that I would not be able to do it], and because of that I was trembling very much.

and I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you;

4 When I taught you and preached to you, I did not speak words that [unbelievers would consider] [IRO] wise in order to convince them that my message was true. Instead, [God’s] Spirit showed that it was true by [enabling me to] powerfully [perform miracles].

and my word and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power—

5 [I taught and preached that way] in order that you might believe [my message], not because you heard words that people [considered to be] [IRO] wise, but [because you recognized] God’s power.

that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

6 I do teach a message that people who are [spiritually] mature [consider to] be wise. But I do not teach a message that unbelievers [consider to be] wise. I also do not teach a message that unbelieving rulers in the world consider to be wise. [What they think about it does not matter], because [some day] (they will lose their power/not be ruling any more). (aiōn g165)

And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age—of those becoming useless, (aiōn g165)

7 Instead, I teach about what God planned wisely [long ago]. It is something that people did not know about previously because [God] did not reveal it previously. But God determined before he created the world that he would greatly benefit us by his wise plan. (aiōn g165)

but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory, (aiōn g165)

8 None of those who rule this world knew that wise plan. If they had known it, they would not have nailed our wonderful Lord to the cross. (aiōn g165)

which no one of the rulers of this age knew, for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory; (aiōn g165)

9 But [we believers need to remember these words that a prophet] wrote [in the Scriptures]: Things that no one has ever seen, things that no one ever heard, things that no one ever thought could happen, those are the things that God has prepared for those who love him.

but according as it has been written: “What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and on the heart of man did not come up, what God prepared for those loving Him”;

10 God has caused his Spirit to reveal those things to us [(inc)] believers. His Spirit can do that because he knows thoroughly the meaning of all things. He even knows the things about God that are very difficult to understand.

but God revealed [them] to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God,

11 Only a person himself (OR, a person’s spirit) knows what he is thinking. Similarly, only God’s Spirit knows what God is thinking.

for who of men has known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? So also the things of God no one has known, except the Spirit of God.

12 It was not the ideas that unbelievers teach that we accepted. Instead, it was the Spirit who came from God that we received, in order that we might know the things that God has freely done for us.

And we did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us,

13 Those are the things that I tell you about. As I do that, I do not tell you things that someone [whom others thought] was [IRO] wise taught me. Instead, I tell you truths that [God’s] Spirit taught [me], and I explain those spiritual truths to people whose thinking is guided by God’s Spirit (OR, I teach spiritual [truths to] spiritual [people]).

which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things,

14 Those who are unbelievers reject the truths that [God’s] Spirit teaches us [(inc)], because they [consider those truths to be] foolish. They cannot understand them, because it is God’s Spirit who enables us to evaluate those truths correctly, [and those people do not have God’s Spirit].

and the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know [them], because they are discerned spiritually;

15 We who have God’s Spirit can judge correctly the [value of] all truths [that the Spirit reveals], but [unbelievers] cannot evaluate us correctly.

and he who is spiritual, indeed discerns all things, and he himself is discerned by no one;

16 As [one of our prophets wrote: ] No human [RHQ] has known what the Lord is thinking. No human [RHQ] is able to instruct him. But we believers are able to think about things [MTY] in the way that Christ thinks about them.

for who knew the mind of the LORD that he will instruct Him? And we have the mind of Christ.