1 Corinthians 2

1 And I, when I came to you, brethren, came not in excellency of word, or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God.

And as for myself, brethren, when I came to you, it was not with surpassing power of eloquence or earthly wisdom that I came, announcing to you that which God had commanded me to bear witness to.

2 For I did not judge [it well] to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

For I determined to be utterly ignorant, when among you, of everything except of Jesus Christ, and of Him as having been crucified.

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

And so far as I myself was concerned, I came to you in conscious feebleness and in fear and in deep anxiety.

4 and my word and my preaching, not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of [the] Spirit and of power;

And my language and the Message that I proclaimed were not adorned with persuasive words of earthly wisdom, but depended upon truths which the Spirit taught and mightily carried home;

5 that your faith might not stand in men's wisdom, but in God's power.

so that your trust might rest not on the wisdom of man but on the power of God.

6 But we speak wisdom among the perfect; but wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought. (aiōn g165)

Yet when we are among mature believers we do speak words of wisdom; a wisdom not belonging, however, to the present age nor to the leaders of the present age who are soon to pass away. (aiōn g165)

7 But we speak God's wisdom in [a] mystery, that hidden [wisdom] which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory: (aiōn g165)

But in dealing with truths hitherto kept secret we speak of God's wisdom--that hidden wisdom which, before the world began, God pre-destined, so that it should result in glory to us; (aiōn g165)

8 which none of the princes of this age knew, (for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; ) (aiōn g165)

a wisdom which not one of the leaders of the present age possesses, for if they had possessed it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. (aiōn g165)

9 but according as it is written, Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him,

But--to use the words of Scripture--we speak of things which eye has not seen nor ear heard, and which have never entered the heart of man: all that God has in readiness for them that love Him.

10 but God has revealed to us by [his] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

For us, however, God has drawn aside the veil through the teaching of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, including the depths of the divine nature.

11 For who of men hath known the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? thus also the things of God knows no one except the Spirit of God.

For, among human beings, who knows a man's inner thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? In the same way, also, only God's Spirit is acquainted with God's inner thoughts.

12 But we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which [is] of God, that we may know the things which have been freely given to us of God:

But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes forth from God, that we may know the blessings that have been so freely given to us by God.

13 which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual [things] by spiritual [means].

Of these we speak--not in language which man's wisdom teaches us, but in that which the Spirit teaches--adapting, as we do, spiritual words to spiritual truths.

14 But [the] natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know [them] because they are spiritually discerned;

The unspiritual man rejects the things of the Spirit of God, and cannot attain to the knowledge of them, because they are spiritually judged.

15 but the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one.

But the spiritual man judges of everything, although he is himself judged by no one.

16 For who has known the mind of [the] Lord, who shall instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

For who has penetrated the mind of the Lord, and will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.