1 Corinthians 2
1 And Y, britheren, whanne Y cam to you, cam not in the heiynesse of word, ethir of wisdom, tellynge to you the witnessyng of Crist.
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.
2 For Y demede not me to kunne ony thing among you, but Crist Jhesu, and hym crucified.
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.
3 And Y in sikenesse, and drede, and myche trembling, was among you;
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.
4 and my word and my preching was not in suteli sturyng wordis of mannus wisdom, but in schewyng of spirit and of vertu;
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].
5 that youre feith be not in the wisdom of men, but in the vertu of God.
[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.
6 For we speken wisdom among perfit men, but not wisdom of this world, nether of princes of this world, that ben distried; (aiōn g165)
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)
7 but we speken the wisdom of God in mysterie, `which wisdom is hid; which wisdom God bifor ordeynede bifor worldis in to oure glorie, (aiōn g165)
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)
8 which noon of the princes of this world knew; for if thei hadden knowe, thei schulden neuere haue crucified the Lord of glorie. (aiōn g165)
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)
9 But as it is writun, That iye say not, ne eere herde, nether it stiede in to herte of man, what thingis God arayede to hem that louen hym;
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.
10 but God schewide to vs bi his spirit. For whi the spirit serchith alle thingis, yhe, the depe thingis of God.
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.
11 And who of men woot, what thingis ben of man, but the spirit of man that is in hym? So what thingis ben of God, no man knowith, but the spirit of God.
Only a person himself (OR, a person’s spirit) knows what he is thinking. Similarly, only God’s Spirit knows what God is thinking.
12 And we han not resseiued the spirit of this world, but the spirit that is of God, that we wite what thingis ben youun to vs of God.
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.
13 Whiche thingis we speken also, not in wise wordis of mannus wisdom, but in the doctryn of the spirit, and maken a liknesse of spiritual thingis to goostli men.
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]).
14 For a beestli man perseyueth not tho thingis that ben of the spirit of God; for it is foli to hym, and he may not vndurstonde, for it is examyned goostli.
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].
15 But a spiritual man demeth alle thingis, and he is demed of no man.
We who have God’s Spirit can judge correctly the [value of] all truths [that the Spirit reveals], but [unbelievers] cannot evaluate us correctly.
16 As it is writun, And who knew the wit of the Lord, or who tauyte hym? And we han the wit of Crist.
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.
