1 Corinthians 2

1 And I, having come unto you, brethren, came — not in superiority of discourse or wisdom — declaring 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 decided not to know any thing among you, except 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, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you;

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 was not in persuasive words of human 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 may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

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

6 And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age — of those becoming useless, (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 the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to 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 no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified; (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 hath been written, 'What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and upon the heart of man came not up, what God did prepare for those loving 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 to us did God reveal [them] through His Spirit, for the Spirit all things doth search, 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 the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, 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 And we the spirit of the world did not receive, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us,

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 things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, with spiritual things spiritual things comparing,

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 and the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know [them], because spiritually they are 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 and he who is spiritual, doth discern indeed all things, and he himself is by no one discerned;

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

16 for who did know the mind of the Lord that he shall instruct Him? and we — 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.