For the wisdom of this world is not as clear as Good News Bible‘s rendering “what this world considers to be wisdom.” Paul’s point is that the “world’s wisdom” is not “real wisdom.” This first clause may also be rendered as “what people of this world (or, humans) consider to be wisdom.” For Paul, wisdom and folly always have to do with people, so this clause could even be translated as “what the people of the world call wisdom, God calls folly.”

On folly, see comment on “fool,” verse 18.

On it is written, see comments on 1.19, where the same phrase is used. The quotation in this verse is from Job 5.13, though its language (catches and craftiness) is stronger than that of the Septuagint and does not agree exactly with the Hebrew text.

An alternative translation model for this final clause is:
• “God uses the cleverness of wise people as a trap to catch them.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .