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1 Corinthians 2:1-11
Contemporary English Version
1 Corinthians 2:1-11
Contemporary English Version
Telling about Christ and the Cross
2 Friends, when I came and told you the mystery[a] that God had shared with us, I didn't use big words or try to sound wise. 2 In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.
3 (A) At first, I was weak and trembling with fear. 4 When I talked with you or preached, I didn't try to prove anything by sounding wise. I simply let God's Spirit show his power. 5 That way you would have faith because of God's power and not because of human wisdom.
6 We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn't the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear. 7 We speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began. 8 (B) The rulers of this world didn't know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross. 9 (C) But it is just as the Scriptures say,
“What God has planned
for people who love him
is more than eyes have seen
or ears have heard.
It has never even
entered our minds!”
10 God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God. 11 You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2.1 mystery: Some manuscripts have “testimony.”
1 Corinthians 2:1-11
New International Version
1 Corinthians 2:1-11
New International Version
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.(B) 3 I came to you(C) in weakness(D) with great fear and trembling.(E) 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,(G) 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(H)
God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,(I) but not the wisdom of this age(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.(K) 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery(L) that has been hidden(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(O) 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—(P)
10 these are the things God has revealed(Q) to us by his Spirit.(R)
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts(S) except their own spirit(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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