1 And I, when I came to you, brothers,*2:1 Or brothers and sisters*ver. 4, 13;[2 Cor. 1:12]; See ch. 1:17did not come proclaiming to you *See Rom. 16:25the testimony*2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret) of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except *Gal. 6:14Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And *Acts 18:1,6,12I was with you *2 Cor. 11:30;12:5,9;13:4,9;Gal. 4:13in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of *ch. 4:20;Rom. 15:13,19;1 Thess. 1:5;2 Pet. 1:16the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men*2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women but *2 Cor. 4:7;6:7;[Zech. 4:6;2 Cor. 10:4;12:9]in the power of God.

6 Yet among *Phil. 3:15;[ch. 3:1] the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not *[James 3:15] a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, *ch. 1:28who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, *Rom. 16:25,26;Eph. 3:5,9;Col. 1:26;2 Tim. 1:9which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of *Acts 13:27;See Luke 24:20the rulers of this age understood this, for *See Acts 3:17if they had, they would not have crucified *James 2:1;[Ps. 24:7-10;Acts 7:2]the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

*[Isa. 64:4] "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has *See Matt. 25:34prepared *James 1:12for those who love him"—

10 these things *Matt. 16:17;Gal. 1:12,16;Eph. 3:3,5;See John 14:26God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even *[Rev. 2:24]the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts *Prov. 20:27except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now *Rom. 8:15we have received not *[1 John 4:4]the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this *ver. 1, 4;See ch. 1:17in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, *2 Cor. 10:12interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.*2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are *ch. 1:18folly to him, and *Rom. 8:7he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The *ch. 3:1;14:37;Gal. 6:1;[Prov. 28:5]spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 *Cited from Isa. 40:13;See Rom. 11:34"For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But *[John 15:15]we have the mind of Christ.