New International Version NIV
New International Reader's Version NIRV
1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
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Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn't come with fancy words or great wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God's love.
2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
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I made up my mind to pay attention to only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.
3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
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When I came to you, I was weak and afraid and trembling all over.
4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
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I didn't preach my message with clever and compelling words. As I preached, the Holy Spirit showed his power.
5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
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That was so you would believe not because of human wisdom but because of God's power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
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The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the words of the wise people or rulers of this world. People like that aren't going anywhere.
7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
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No, we speak about God's secret wisdom. His wisdom has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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None of the rulers of this world understood God's wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross.
9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—
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It is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has known what God has prepared for those who love him." (Isaiah 64:4)
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
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But God has shown it to us through his Spirit. The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
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Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person's own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God's thoughts.
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
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We have not received the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
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That is what we speak about. We don't use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words of the Spirit to teach the truths of the Spirit.
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
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Some people don't have the Holy Spirit. They don't accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. Things like that are foolish to them. They can't understand them. In fact, such things can't be understood without the Spirit's help.
15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,
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Everyone who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no one can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,
16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”But we have the mind of Christ.
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"Who can ever know what is in the Lord's mind? Can anyone ever teach him?" (Isaiah 40:13) But we have the mind of Christ.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.