| English Standard Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— | 1Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away. |
| 2I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. | 2I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh. |
| 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. | 3For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. |
| 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. | 4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. |
| 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, | 5We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. |
| 6being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. | 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete. |
| 7Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. | 7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does. |
| 8For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. | 8For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed. |
| 9I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. | 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters. |
| 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” | 10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.” |
| 11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. | 11Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present. |
| 12Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. | 12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance. |
| 13But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. | 13We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you. |
| 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. | 14We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ. |
| 15We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, | 15Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well, |
| 16so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. | 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. Then we will not be boasting in the work already done in another man’s territory. |
| 17“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” | 17Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” |
| 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. | 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. |
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