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.

For my own part, Brothers, when I came to you, it was with no display of eloquence or philosophy that I came to tell the hidden purpose 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 had determined that, while with you, I would know nothing but 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.

Indeed, when I came among you, I was weak, and full of fears, and in great anxiety.

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 Proclamation were not delivered in the persuasive language of philosophy, but were accompanied by the manifestation of spiritual 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.

so that your faith should be based, not on the philosophy of man, 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)

Yet there is a philosophy that we teach to those whose faith is matured, but it is not the philosophy of to-day, nor that of the leaders of to-day — men whose downfall is at hand. (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 a divine philosophy that we teach, one concerned with the hidden purpose of God — that long-hidden philosophy which God, before time began, destined for 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)

This philosophy is not known to any of the leaders of to-day; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified our glorified Lord. (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.

It is what Scripture speaks of as — ‘What eye never saw, nor ear ever heard, what never entered the mind of man — even all that 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 to us God revealed it through his Spirit; for the Spirit fathoms all things, even the inmost depths of God’s being.

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 is there who knows what a man is, except the man’s own spirit within him? So, also, no one comprehends what God is, 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 as for us, it is not the Spirit of the World that we have received, but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may realize the blessings given to us by him.

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]).

And we speak of these gifts, not in language taught by human philosophy, but in language taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things in spiritual words.

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 merely intellectual man rejects the teaching of the Spirit of God; for to him it is mere folly; he cannot grasp it, because it is to be understood only by spiritual insight.

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 man with spiritual insight is able to understand everything, although he himself is understood 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 has so comprehended the mind of the Lord as to be able to instruct him?’ We, however, have the very mind of Christ.