1 Corinthians 2 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I told you the truth of God. But I did not use fancy words or great wisdom.

² I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.

³ When I came to you, I was weak and shook with fear.

⁴ My teaching and my speaking were not with wise words that persuade people. But the proof of my teaching was the power that the Spirit {\cf2\super [13]} gives.

⁵ I did this so that your faith would be in God’s power, not in the wisdom of a man.

⁶ We teach wisdom to people that are mature. But this wisdom we teach is not from this world. It is not the wisdom of the rulers of this world. Those rulers are losing their power.

⁷ But we speak God’s secret wisdom. This wisdom has been hidden \{from people\}. God planned this wisdom for our glory. He planned it before the world began.

⁸ None of the rulers of this world understood this wisdom. If they had understood it, then they would not have killed our glorious Lord on a cross.

⁹ But like the Scriptures {\cf2\super [14]} say,

¹⁰ But God has shown us these things through the Spirit. {\cf2\super [15]}

¹¹ It is like this: No person knows the thoughts that another person has. Only that person’s spirit that lives inside him knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God. Only the Spirit of God knows those thoughts.

¹² We did not receive the spirit of the world. But we received the Spirit that is from God. We received this Spirit so that we can know the things that God has given us.

¹³ When we speak these things, we don’t use words taught to us by the wisdom that men have. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use spiritual words to explain spiritual things.

¹⁴ A person that is not spiritual does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks that those things are foolish. That person cannot understand the things of the Spirit, because those things can only be judged spiritually.

¹⁵ But the spiritual person is able to make judgments about all things. Other people cannot judge that person. \{The Scriptures {\cf2\super [16]} say,\}

¹⁶ “Who knows the mind of the Lord?\par Who can tell the Lord what to do?”\par \i (Isaiah 40:13)\i0 \par