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 when I came to you, brothers, I came not to proclaim God’s great secret purpose in fine language of philosophy;
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 determined to know nothing, while among you, but Jesus as Christ, and him a crucified Christ.
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.
In weakness and fear and great trembling came I among 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].
My message and my preaching were not in the persuasive language of philosophy, 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.
in order that your faith should rest, not on human philosophy, but on 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)
Notwithstanding, among those who are mature I do teach philosophy; though not the philosophy of the present age, nor of its rulers who are coming to nought. (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)
No, it is God’s wisdom that I utter, that hidden wisdom which God had decreed before the world began, unto 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)
None of the rulers of the present age understands it, for if they had, 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.
Nay, as it is written. Eye has not seen, Nor ear heard, Neither have entered into man’s heart The things which God has prepared For those who love 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.
Yet God has unveiled them to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit fathoms everything, even the abysmal 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 what man knows the depths of man except the man’s own inner Spirit? Even so, also, the Spirit of God knows the deeps profound 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.
But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes forth from God, that we may realize the blessings freely given us by God.
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]).
Of these high themes we speak in words not taught by human philosophy, but by the Spirit; interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men.
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].
The unspiritual man rejects the teachings of God’s Spirit; for him it is folly. He cannot understand it, for it is spiritually discerned,
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.
But the spiritual man discerns everything, yet is himself 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 what man understands the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him?
