1. Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come preaching God’s secret with fancy words or a show of human 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. So when I came to you, I was weak and fearful and trembling.
4. My teaching and preaching were not with words of human wisdom that persuade people but with proof of the power that the Spirit gives.
5. This was so that your faith would be in God’s power and not in human wisdom.
6. However, I speak a wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this world or from the rulers of this world, who are losing their power.
7. I speak God’s secret wisdom, which he has kept hidden. Before the world began, God planned this wisdom for our glory.
8. None of the rulers of this world understood it. If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.