Paul’s Message by the Spirit’s Power 1 UDB When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not make beautiful speeches, nor did I repeat to you the things that wise men said. I told you the hidden truths about God. BSB BSB: When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
2 UDB I decided not to talk to you about anything other than Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. BSB BSB: For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
3 UDB You know how weak I was when I was with you. You know that fear filled my heart, and that you saw me trembling in terror. BSB BSB: I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
4 UDB But you heard my message, and you know that when I spoke to you I did not give carefully planned speeches. Instead, the Spirit of God showed you that I was speaking the truth because of the power of the miracles he did through me. BSB BSB: My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
5 UDB I taught this way so you might trust in God because of his power and not because of anything having to do with human wisdom. BSB BSB: so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Spiritual Wisdom (Ephesians 1:15–23)
6 UDB Now it is to those who trust fully in Christ that we speak. You now have wisdom, and that wisdom has nothing to do with the kings and governors in this life, all of whom will soon pass away. BSB BSB: Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
7 UDB No, we proclaim wisdom that God has kept hidden until now; that wisdom is the wise things God decided to do before he created the world, and he decided to do those things so that he and other beings would someday honor us. BSB BSB: No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.
8 UDB None of those who rule this world knew about God's wise plans. If they had understood them, they never would have nailed the Lord, the one who is so very great, to the cross. BSB BSB: None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 UDB But it is written: "The things that no one has seen, that no one has heard, and that no one could imagine— these are what God has prepared for those who love him." BSB BSB: Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 UDB These are the very things that God has shown us by the Spirit. For the Spirit sees everything and he knows everything. He even knows the deepest hidden secrets that only God himself knows about. BSB BSB: But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 UDB No one except the spirit of the person knows what he is thinking. In the same way, no one knows the hidden things of God except the Spirit of God. BSB BSB: For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 UDB The Spirit that God gave us is not a spirit that comes from this world. We received the Spirit who comes from God. This Spirit helps us understand all the gifts God freely gives to us. BSB BSB: We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13 UDB We teach these lessons that people schooled in the wisdom of this world cannot understand. These lessons are taught only by the Spirit of God. He helps us understand what these lessons mean. BSB BSB: And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14 UDB The one who does not know God cannot accept these spiritual lessons. To him they sound like the lessons of fools. Even if he wanted to accept them, he would be unable to, because only people who have the wisdom that comes from God can understand these things. BSB BSB: The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 UDB The one who knows God evaluates all matters, but God will not accept other people's evaluation of him. BSB BSB: The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.
16 UDB As one of our prophets wrote: "It is impossible for anyone to know all that is in the mind of the Lord. No one is able to teach God." But we can know the very thoughts of Christ. BSB BSB: “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.