1 Corinthians 2
2
Paul’s Message of Wisdom
1When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,#2:1a Greek brothers. I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.#2:1b Greek God’s mystery; other manuscripts read God’s testimony. 2For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God#2:7 Greek But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery.—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”#2:9 Isa 64:4.
10But#2:10 Some manuscripts read For. it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.#2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people. 14But people who aren’t spiritual#2:14 Or who don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life. can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”#2:16 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
Currently Selected:
1 Corinthians 2: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
1 Corinthians 2
2
1Brothers 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. 2I decided that while I was with you I didn't want to concentrate on anything except Jesus Christ, and that he was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness, fearful and trembling. 4I 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. 5That way your trust in God wouldn't rely on human wisdom but on the power of God.
6However, 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. 7On the contrary we explain God's wisdom in terms of a revealed mystery#2:7. When the word mystery is used in the New Testament it is normally referring to a revealed mystery—particularly in reference to God becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ. that was previously hidden which God planned for our glory before the creation of the worlds.
8None of the rulers of this world understood anything about this—for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But 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.”#2:9. From Isaiah 64 and Isaiah 65. 10But God has revealed this to us through the Spirit, because the Spirit delves into the depths of God. 11Who knows anyone's thoughts except the actual person?#2:11. Literally, “who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him?” In the same way no one knows God's thoughts except the Spirit of God. 12For we have received the Spirit from God, not the spirit of this world, so that we could understand what God so generously gave us. 13That'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. 14Of 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. 15People who are spiritual investigate everything, but are not placed under investigation themselves.#2:15. “Investigate/investigation”—the same word is used in the original, and can also mean to examine or to judge. It is also related to the word translated “examined” in verse 14. English does not capture the subtlety of the original. 16For “who understands the Lord's mind, and would think to instruct him?”#2:16. Quoting Isaiah 40:13. But we do have Christ's mind!
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com