The following is from the Lockman Foundation's Amplified Bible and logically formatted. If you want the logically indented format of the below, send a request to my e-mail account at for.sharing.truth@googlemail.com .
1 Corinthians 1
17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize
but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel),
and that not with verbal eloquence,
lest the cross of Christ should be
deprived of force {and}
emptied of its power {and}
rendered vain
(fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).
18 For the story {and} message of the cross is sheer absurdity
{and} folly to those who are perishing
{and} on their way to perdition,
but to us who are being saved
it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.
19 For it is written,
"I will baffle {and} render useless {and} destroy
the learning of the learned {and}
the philosophy of the philosophers and
the cleverness of the clever {and}
the discernment of the discerning;
I will frustrate {and} nullify [them] {and} bring [them] to nothing."
20 Where is the wise man (the philosopher)?
Where is the scribe (the scholar)?
Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater)
of this present time {and} age?
Has not God shown up the nonsense {and} the folly of this world's wisdom?
21 For when the world with all its Earthly wisdom
failed to perceive {and} recognize {and} know God
by means of its own philosophy,
God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching
[Salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him],
to save those who believed
(who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him).
22 For while Jews [demandingly] ask for signs {and} miracles
and Greeks pursue philosophy {and} wisdom,
23 we preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified,
[preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal
{and} an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap],
and to the Gentiles
it is absurd {and} utterly unphilosophical nonsense.
24 But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile),
Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.
25 [This is] because
the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men,
and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men.
26 For [simply] consider your own call, brethren;
not many [of you were considered to be] wise
according to human estimates {and} standards,
not many influential {and} powerful, not many of high {and} noble birth.
27 For God selected (deliberately chose)
what in the world is foolish
to put the wise to shame,
and what the world calls weak
to put the strong to shame.
28 And God also selected (deliberately chose)
what in the world is
lowborn {and} insignificant
and branded
{and} treated with contempt,
even the things that are nothing,
that He might depose {and} bring to nothing the things that are,
29 so that no mortal man
should [have pretense for glorying and] boast
in the presence of God.
30 But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus,
Whom God made our Wisdom from God,
[revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of Salvation
previously hidden, manifesting itself as]
our Righteousness
[thus making us upright
and putting us in right standing with God],
and our Consecration [making us pure and holy],
and our Redemption
[providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].
31 So then, as it is written, 'Let him who boasts {and} proudly rejoices
{and} glories, boast {and} proudly rejoice {and} glory in the Lord.'
1 Corinthians 2
1 As for myself, brethren, when I came to you,
I did not come proclaiming to you
the testimony {and} evidence {or mystery and secret} of God
[concerning what He has done through Christ
for the Salvation of men and women]
in lofty words of eloquence
or human philosophy {and} wisdom;
2 for I resolved
to know nothing
(to be acquainted with nothing,
to make a display of the knowledge of nothing,
and to be conscious of nothing) among you
except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.
3 And I was in (passed into a state of) weakness and fear (dread)
and great trembling [after I had come] among you.
4 And my language and my message were not set forth
in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom,
but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power,
5 so that your faith might not rest
in the wisdom of men (human philosophy),
but in the power of God.
6 Yet when we are among the full-grown
(spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding),
we do impart a [higher] wisdom
(the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden);
but it is indeed not a wisdom of
this present age {or} of this world
nor of the leaders {and} rulers of this age,
who are being brought to nothing {and} are doomed to pass away.
7 But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God
once hidden [from the human understanding]
and now revealed to us by God--
[that wisdom] which God devised {and} decreed
before the ages
for our glorification
[to lift us into the glory of His presence].
8 None of the rulers of this age {or} world
perceived {and} recognized {and} understood this,
for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, on the contrary,
as the Scripture says,
'What eye has not seen and ear has not heard
and has not entered into the heart of man,
[all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready)
for those who love Him
[who hold Him in affectionate reverence,
promptly obeying Him
and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
10 Yet to us God has unveiled {and} revealed them by {and} through His Spirit,
for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently,
exploring {and} examining everything
even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God
[the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].
11 For what person perceives (knows and understands)
what passes through a man's thoughts
except the man's own spirit within him?
Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world,
but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God,
[given to us] that we might
realize {and} comprehend {and} appreciate the gifts
[of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly]
bestowed on us by God.
13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the [Holy] Spirit,
combining {and} interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language
[to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept {or} welcome
{or} admit into his heart
the gifts {and} teachings {and} revelations of the Spirit of God,
for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him;
and he is incapable of knowing them
[of progressively recognizing, understanding,
and becoming better acquainted with them]
because they are spiritually discerned
{and} estimated {and} appreciated.
15 But the spiritual man tries all things
[he examines, investigates, inquires into,
questions, and discerns all things],
yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one
[he can read the meaning of everything,
but no one can properly discern
{or} appraise {or} get an insight into him].
16 For who has known {or} understood the mind
(the counsels and purposes) of the Lord
so as to guide {and} instruct Him {and} give Him knowledge?
But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah)
{and} do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.
