| New International Version | English Standard Version |
| 1I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! | 1I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! |
| 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. | 2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. |
| 3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. | 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. |
| 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. | 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. |
| 5I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." | 5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. |
| 6I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. | 6Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. |
| 7Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? | 7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? |
| 8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. | 8I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. |
| 9And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. | 9And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. |
| 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. | 10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. |
| 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! | 11And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! |
| 12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. | 12And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. |
| 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. | 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. |
| 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. | 14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. |
| 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. | 15So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. |
| 16I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. | 16I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. |
| 17In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. | 17What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. |
| 18Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. | 18Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. |
| 19You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! | 19For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! |
| 20In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. | 20For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. |
| 21To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast about. | 21To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. |
| 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. | 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. |
| 23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. | 23Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. |
| 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. | 24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. |
| 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, | 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; |
| 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. | 26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; |
| 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. | 27in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. |
| 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. | 28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. |
| 29Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? | 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? |
| 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. | 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. |
| 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. | 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. |
| 32In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. | 32At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, |
| 33But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. | 33but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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. |
|
