1 Corinthians 2

1 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.

Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn't try to impress you with wonderful words or great wisdom when I told you what God had to say to you.

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

I decided that while I was with you I didn't want to concentrate on anything except Jesus Christ, and that he was crucified.

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

I came to you in weakness, fearful and trembling.

4 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;

I didn't speak to you with persuasive words of wisdom to convince you. I just explained it all to you through the evidence and power of the Spirit.

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

That way your trust in God wouldn't rely on human wisdom but on the power of God.

6 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)

However, we do use words of wisdom when we speak to those who are spiritually mature, but this isn't wisdom that comes from this world, or from the rulers of this world who soon fade from the scene. (aiōn g165)

7 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)

On the contrary we explain God's wisdom in terms of a revealed mystery that was previously hidden which God planned for our glory before the creation of the worlds. (aiōn g165)

8 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)

None of the rulers of this world understood anything about this—for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (aiōn g165)

9 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.

But as Scripture says, “No one has ever seen, and no one has ever heard, and no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

10 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.

But God has revealed this to us through the Spirit, because the Spirit delves into the depths of God.

11 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.

Who knows anyone's thoughts except the actual person? In the same way no one knows God's thoughts except the Spirit of God.

12 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.

For we have received the Spirit from God, not the spirit of this world, so that we could understand what God so generously gave us.

13 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.

That's what we speak about—not using words taught by human wisdom, but what the Spirit teaches. We explain what is spiritual using spiritual terms.

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

Of course people who are not spiritual don't accept what comes from God's Spirit. It's just foolish nonsense to them, and they can't understand it, because what is spiritual has to be properly examined.

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

People who are spiritual investigate everything, but are not placed under investigation themselves.

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

For “who understands the Lord's mind, and would think to instruct him?” But we do have Christ's mind!