1 Corinthians 1:17

15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.

16 Yes, I also baptized the household of ^aStephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^anot with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the¹ message of the cross is ^afoolishness to ^bthose who are perishing, but to us ^cwho are being saved it is the ^dpower of God.

19 For it is written:
^a“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

20 ^aWhere is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the¹ disputer of this age? ^bHas not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Verse Comparison: 1 Corinthians 1:17

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American Standard Version
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

Amplified® Bible
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).

Contemporary English Version
Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

Darby English Version
For Christ has not sent me to baptise, but to preach glad tidings; not in wisdom of word, that the cross of the Christ may not be made vain.

Good News Bible
Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the Good News, and to tell it without using the language of human wisdom, in order to make sure that Christ's death on the cross is not robbed of its power.

International Standard Version
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

King James Version
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

New American Standard Bible
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

New International Version
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

New King James Version
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become void.

Young's Literal Translation
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but -- to proclaim good news; not in wisdom of discourse, that the cross of the Christ may not be made of none effect;

New English Translation
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.¹

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