1 Corinthians 1:17-19

New Testament for Everyone

¹⁷This is the point, you see: the Messiah didn’t send me to baptize; he sent me to announce the gospel! Not with words of wisdom, either, otherwise the Messiah’s cross would lose its power.

God’s folly

¹⁸The word of the cross, you see, is madness to people who are being destroyed. But to us—those who are being saved—it is God’s power. ¹⁹This is what the Bible says, after all:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the shrewdness of the clever I’ll abolish.

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1 Corinthians 1:17-19

New International Version

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize,^(A) but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom^(B) and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness^(C) to those who are perishing,^(D) but to us who are being saved^(E) it is the power of God.^(F) ¹⁹For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”^[a]^(G)

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