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Acts 5

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ so that no one would say that you were baptized into my name.

² Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.

³ For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be[2] made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].

⁴ For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God's grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.

⁵ For it is written and forever remains written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers], And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify."

⁶ Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world's wisdom?

⁷ For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the[3] foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior].

⁸ For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy,

⁹ but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense],

¹⁰ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

¹¹ [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].

¹² Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth.

¹³ But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty].

¹⁴ God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are,

¹⁵ so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God.

¹⁶ But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],

¹⁷ so then, as it is written [in Scripture], "He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord."

¹⁸ And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the[1] testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do];

¹⁹ for I made the decision to[2] know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection].

²⁰ I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling.

²¹ And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom [using clever rhetoric], but [they were delivered] in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit [operating through me] and of [His] power [stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them],

²² so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on the power of God.

²³ Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually mature [believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding]; but [it is a higher] wisdom not [the wisdom] of this present age nor of the rulers and leaders of this age, who are passing away;

²⁴ but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

²⁵ None of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

²⁶ but just as it is written [in Scripture], "Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed]."

²⁷ For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding].

²⁸ For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man's spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

²⁹ Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God.

³⁰ We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words [for those being guided by the Holy Spirit].

³¹ But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters].

³² But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer's spiritual nature].

³³ For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].

³⁴ However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to[1] worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ!

³⁵ I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready.

³⁶ You are still[2] worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not[3] unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?

³⁷ For when one of you says, "I am [a disciple] of Paul," and another, "I am [a disciple] of Apollos," are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?

³⁸ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task.

³⁹ I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth.

⁴⁰ So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.

⁴¹ He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

⁴² For we are God's fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God's cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God's building.

#	AMP
1	so that no one would say that you were baptized into my name.
2	Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.
3	For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be[2] made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].
4	For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God's grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.
5	For it is written and forever remains written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers], And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify."
6	Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world's wisdom?
7	For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the[3] foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior].
8	For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy,
9	but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense],
10	but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
11	[This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].
12	Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth.
13	But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty].
14	God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are,
15	so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God.
16	But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],
17	so then, as it is written [in Scripture], "He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord."
18	And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the[1] testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do];
19	for I made the decision to[2] know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection].
20	I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling.
21	And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom [using clever rhetoric], but [they were delivered] in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit [operating through me] and of [His] power [stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them],
22	so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on the power of God.
23	Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually mature [believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding]; but [it is a higher] wisdom not [the wisdom] of this present age nor of the rulers and leaders of this age, who are passing away;
24	but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
25	None of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
26	but just as it is written [in Scripture], "Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed]."
27	For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding].
28	For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man's spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
29	Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God.
30	We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words [for those being guided by the Holy Spirit].
31	But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters].
32	But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer's spiritual nature].
33	For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].
34	However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to[1] worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ!
35	I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready.
36	You are still[2] worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not[3] unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?
37	For when one of you says, "I am [a disciple] of Paul," and another, "I am [a disciple] of Apollos," are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?
38	What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task.
39	I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth.
40	So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.
41	He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
42	For we are God's fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God's cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God's building.

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