1 Corinthians 3:20
1 Corinthians 3:2020And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
Cited for the limits of human wisdom against Jehovah's — a theme the Watchtower applies to worldly philosophy and to Christendom's theologians. Because the NWT prints "Jehovah" here, the verse reads as straightforwardly about the Father.
The context is worth more than the verse in isolation. Paul is addressing a congregation that had split into factions behind rival teachers — I belong to Paul, I to Apollos, I to Cephas — and this quotation is part of his demolition of that whole way of thinking. His conclusion a few verses later is that no one should boast in men, because all things are yours and you belong to Christ. That is a useful passage to sit in with someone whose spiritual confidence rests on an institution's authority. Paul's answer to factional loyalty is not a better faction; it is that the believer belongs directly to Christ. It pairs naturally with — were you baptised in the name of Paul? — which is the same argument in question form. Compare , .
The NWT prints "Jehovah knows that the reasonings of the wise men are futile," where the Greek of 1 Corinthians has kyrios. Paul is quoting , where the Hebrew does carry the divine name, so the substitution has a reasonable basis here. It is worth being aware of the practice generally: across the New Testament the NWT prints "Jehovah" in places where the Greek reads "Lord," and the English gives the reader no way to tell which verses those are.