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OET (OET-LV) And furthermore:
The_master is_knowing the speculations of_the wise, that they_are useless.
In this section Paul told the believers in Corinth that they had not become spiritually mature. That was why they were dividing into separate groups and arguing with one another about teachers. They needed to learn about God’s plan for Christian workers and leaders. Christian workers and leaders all belong to God and are all building God’s church together.
Other possible section headings include:
Paul and all the other apostles were the Lord’s servants
All believers belong to the Lord and should remain united
Paul summarized what he had been saying in this section (3:1–3:23) by giving two warnings. First, no one should follow the wisdom of this world. Second, no one should boast about following one teacher or another. This could cause divisions in the church. God in his wisdom sent Christ to be the only leader of his people. All the teachers should agree with Christ in their teaching.
And again,
And these words are also written in the Scriptures:
And it also says this:
And again: The words that the BSB translates as And again are translated literally from the Greek. Paul quoted another verse from Scripture to support his statement in 3:19. In some languages it may be natural to follow the GNT and say explicitly:
and another scripture says (GNT)
“The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
“The Lord knows that what wise/clever people think is worthless.”
“Some people consider themselves to be wise, but the Lord knows that their plans/thoughts are of no value.”
The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile: This is a quotation from Psalm 94:11. It indicates that God is aware that people who consider themselves wise think thoughts that are ultimately foolish and useless.
the thoughts of the wise: In this context the Greek word that the BSB translates as thoughts refers to schemes/plans/reasonings. The phrase the wise refers to people who are clever according to the standards of this world.
futile: The Greek word that the BSB translates as futile means “empty, useless.” When human beings refuse God’s way of looking at things and make up their own thoughts, their thinking is useless. Other ways to translate this include
worthless (GNT)
pointless (GW)
like a puff of wind (compare NCV)
Note 1 topic: writing-quotations
καὶ πάλιν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πάλιν Κύριος γινώσκει τούς διαλογισμούς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσίν μάταιοι)
In Paul’s culture, And again is a normal way to introduce another quotation from an important text that supports the same point. In this case, Paul quotes from the Old Testament book titled “Psalms” (See: [Psalm 94:11](../psa/94/11.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could express And again with a comparable phrase that indicates that Paul is introducing another quotation from an important text. Alternate translation: [In another place in the Old Testament it can be read] or [And the book of Psalms also says]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations
Κύριος γινώσκει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς τῶν σοφῶν, ὅτι εἰσὶν μάταιοι
˓the˒_Lord ˓is˒_knowing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πάλιν Κύριος γινώσκει τούς διαλογισμούς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσίν μάταιοι)
If you cannot use this form in your language, you could translate these statements as indirect quotes instead of as direct quotes. Alternate translation: [that the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are futile]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo
γινώσκει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς τῶν σοφῶν, ὅτι εἰσὶν μάταιοι
˓is˒_knowing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πάλιν Κύριος γινώσκει τούς διαλογισμούς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσίν μάταιοι)
If the form the reasonings of the wise, that they would be redundant in your language, you could express the idea without the redundant words. Alternate translation: [knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς τῶν σοφῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πάλιν Κύριος γινώσκει τούς διαλογισμούς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσίν μάταιοι)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind reasonings, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “reason” or “plan.” Alternate translation: [the things that the wise reason] or [the things that the wise plan]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
τῶν σοφῶν
˱of˲_the wise
Paul is using the adjective wise as a noun in order to describe a group of people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this adjective with a noun phrase. Alternate translation: [of wise people] or [of those who are wise]
εἰσὶν μάταιοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πάλιν Κύριος γινώσκει τούς διαλογισμούς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσίν μάταιοι)
Alternate translation: [they will come to nothing] or [they are worthless]
3:18-20 Here Paul returns to the contrast between human wisdom and divine wisdom (see 1:18-25). Using Old Testament quotations, Paul encourages the Corinthians to be willing to appear foolish in the eyes of the world so that they may be truly wise in God’s eyes.
OET (OET-LV) And furthermore:
The_master is_knowing the speculations of_the wise, that they_are useless.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.