1Cor 2 | NASB2020 | STEP | And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom , as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God .

1 Corinthians 2

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

1 And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I ^adid not come as someone superior in ^{▼▼Lit speech}speaking ability or ^{▼▼Or cleverness}wisdom, as I proclaimed to you ^dthe ^{▼▼One early ms mystery}testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except ^fJesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I also was with you in ^gweakness and ^hfear, and in great trembling, 4 and my ^{▼▼Lit word}message and my preaching were ^jnot in persuasive words of ^{▼▼Or cleverness}wisdom, but in demonstration of ^lthe Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not ^{▼▼Lit be}rest on the ^{▼▼Or cleverness}wisdom of mankind, but on ^othe power of God.

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are ^pmature; a wisdom, however, not of ^qthis age nor of the rulers of ^rthis age, who are ^spassing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a ^tmystery, the hidden wisdom which God ^upredestined before the ^vages to our glory; 8 the wisdom ^wwhich none of the rulers of ^xthis age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified ^ythe Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written:

“ ^zThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the human heart,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 ^{▼▼One early ms But
,} ^abFor to us God revealed them ^acthrough the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the ^addepths of God. 11 For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the ^aespirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we ^afhave not received the spirit of ^agthe world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, ^ahnot in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, ^{▼▼Or interpreting spiritual things for spiritual people}combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

14 But ^{▼▼Or an unspiritual}a ^aknatural person ^aldoes not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^amfoolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the one who is ^anspiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is ^{▼▼Or judged}discerned by no one. 16 For ^apwho has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But ^aqwe have the mind of Christ.