1 W hen I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

As for myself, brethren, when I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery and secret of God in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;

2 F or I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.

3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

And I was in ( passed into a state of) weakness and fear (dread) and great trembling '> after I had come] among you.

4 M y speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the Spirit and power '> a proof by the Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them],

5 t hat your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God.

6 W e speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing.

Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away.

7 B ut we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory,

But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden and now revealed to us by God— which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification.

8 w hich none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.

None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 B ut as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”

But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him '> who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].

10 B ut to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God '> divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny].

11 F or who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit.

For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man’s thoughts except the man’s own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

12 B ut we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.

Now we have not received the spirit the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts bestowed on us by God.

13 W hich things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.

And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language.

14 N ow the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

15 B ut he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one.

But the spiritual man tries all things '> examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one.

16 “ For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.

For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.