1.Korinther 2 | King James Version

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

King James Bible (1769). Public Domain. Please note the following exceptions for use and publication in the United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press

New International Reader’s Version

1 And this was the way it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I didn’t come with fancy words or human wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love.

2 My goal while I was with you was to talk about only one thing. And that was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.

3 When I came to you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling all over.

4 I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. Instead, my preaching showed the Holy Spirit’s power.

5 This was so that your faith would be based on God’s power. Your faith would not be based on human wisdom.

God’s wisdom through the Holy Spirit

6 The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the wisdom of this world. Our words are different from those of the rulers of this world. These rulers are becoming less and less powerful.

7 No, we announce God’s wisdom. His wisdom is a mystery that has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory.

8 None of the rulers of this world understood God’s wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross.

9 It is written that ‘no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has known.’ God has prepared these things for those who love him.

10 God has shown these things to us through his Spirit. The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God.

11 Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person’s own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts.

12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us.

13 That is what we speak about. We don’t use words taught us by people. We use words taught us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words taught by the Spirit to explain spiritual truths.

14 The person without the Spirit doesn’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. These things are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help.

15 The person who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no human being can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,

16 ‘Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind? Can anyone ever teach him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.

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