| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | International Standard Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Think of us as servants of the Messiah and as servant managers entrusted with God's secrets. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2Now it is required of servant managers that each one should prove to be trustworthy. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3It is a very small thing to me that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I don't even evaluate myself. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4For my conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who examines me. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say. Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7For who makes you superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it? |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8You already have all you want! You have already become rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you! |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10We are fools for the Messiah's sake, but you are wise in the Messiah. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11We are hungry, thirsty, dressed in rags, brutally treated, and homeless, right up to the present. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12We wear ourselves out from working with our own hands. When insulted, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13When slandered, we answer with kind words. Even now we have become the filth of the world, the scum of the universe. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14I'm not writing this to make you feel ashamed, but to warn you as my dear children. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15You may have 10,000 mentors who work for the Messiah, but not many fathers. For in the Messiah Jesus I became your father through the gospel. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16So I urge you to imitate me. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17That's why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Some of you have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to evaluate you. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19But I will come to you soon if it's the Lord's will. Then I'll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have, |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20for the kingdom of God isn't just talk, but also power. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21Which do you prefer? Should I come to you with a stick, or with love and a gentle spirit? |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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