| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! | 1I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please 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 am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—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 fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. |
| 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. | 4You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. |
| 5I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." | 5But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. |
| 6I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. | 6I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way. |
| 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? | 7Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return? |
| 8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. | 8I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. |
| 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 didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be. |
| 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. | 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this. |
| 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! | 11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that 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. | 12But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. |
| 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. | 13These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. |
| 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. | 14But I am not surprised! 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 wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve. Paul’s Many Trials |
| 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. | 16Again I say, don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. |
| 17In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. | 17Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. |
| 18Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. | 18And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. |
| 19You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! | 19After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! |
| 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. | 20You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps 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. | 21I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. |
| 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 descendants 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 know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. |
| 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. | 24Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. |
| 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. Once I spent a whole night and a day 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. | 26I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. |
| 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. | 27I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. |
| 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. | 28Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern 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 without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? |
| 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. | 30If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. |
| 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. | 31God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. |
| 32In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. | 32When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. |
| 33But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. | 33I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him. |
| 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. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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