1 Corinthians 2

1 I, therefore, brethren, when I came unto you, came, not with excellency of discourse or wisdom, declaring unto you the mystery of God;

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 For I had not determined to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, —and, him, as one who had been crucified!

for I had determined that, while with you, I would know nothing but Jesus Christ — and him crucified!

3 I, therefore in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, came to be with you,

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

4 And, my discourse, and what I proclaimed, were not in suasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of Spirit and power:

My Message and my Proclamation were not delivered in the persuasive language of philosophy, but were accompanied by the manifestation of spiritual power,

5 In order that, your faith, might not be in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power.

so that your faith should be based, not on the philosophy of man, but on the power of God.

6 Wisdom, however, we do speak, among the full-grown, —wisdom, indeed, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are to come to nought; (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 But we speak, God’s, wisdom, in a sacred secret, that hidden [wisdom], which God marked out beforehand, before the ages, for our glory, — (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 Which, none of the rulers of this age had come to know, for, had they known, not, in that case, the Lord of the glory, would they have crucified! (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, even as it is written—The things which eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and upon the heart of man have not come up, —whatsoever things God hath prepared for them that 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 Unto us, in fact, hath God revealed through the Spirit; for, the Spirit, into all things, maketh search, yea! the deep things of God.

Yet to us God revealed it through his Spirit; for the Spirit fathoms all things, even the inmost depths of God’s being.

11 For who of men knoweth the things of a man, —save the spirit of the man that is in him? thus, even the things of God, hath no one come to know, save the Spirit of God.

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 But, as for us, —not the spirit of the world, have we received, but the Spirit which is of God, —that we might know the things which, by God, have been given in favour unto 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 Which we also speak—not in words taught of human wisdom, but in such as are taught of [the] Spirit, by spiritual words, spiritual things, explaining.

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 But, a man of the soul, doth not welcome the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, and he cannot get to know them, because, spiritually, are they examined;

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 But, the man of the spirit, on the one hand, examineth all things, but, on the other, he himself, by no one, is examined.

But the man with spiritual insight is able to understand everything, although he himself is understood by no one.

16 For who hath come to know the mind of the Lord, that shall instruct him? But, we, have, the mind of Christ.

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.