1 Corinthians 1:26

Think about the circumstances of your call, ¹  brothers and sisters. ²  Not many were wise by human standards, ³  not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. ⁴ 

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families.

For you see God’s design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble:

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called .

Think about the circumstances of your call, ¹  brothers and sisters. ²  Not many were wise by human standards, ³  not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”

² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

³ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

⁴ tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenh") refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.