Font Size
2 Corinthians 10
Young's Literal Translation
2 Corinthians 10
Young's Literal Translation
10 And I, Paul, myself, do call upon you -- through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ -- who in presence, indeed [am] humble among you, and being absent, have courage toward you,
2 and I beseech [you], that, being present, I may not have courage, with the confidence with which I reckon to be bold against certain reckoning us as walking according to the flesh;
3 for walking in the flesh, not according to the flesh do we war,
4 for the weapons of our warfare [are] not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds,
5 reasonings bringing down, and every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,
6 and being in readiness to avenge every disobedience, whenever your obedience may be fulfilled.
7 The things in presence do ye see? if any one hath trusted in himself to be Christ's, this let him reckon again from himself, that according as he is Christ's, so also we [are] Christ's;
8 for even if also anything more abundantly I shall boast concerning our authority, that the Lord gave us for building up, and not for casting you down, I shall not be ashamed;
9 that I may not seem as if I would terrify you through the letters,
10 `because the letters indeed -- saith one -- [are] weighty and strong, and the bodily presence weak, and the speech despicable.'
11 This one -- let him reckon thus: that such as we are in word, through letters, being absent, such also, being present, [we are] in deed.
12 For we do not make bold to rank or to compare ourselves with certain of those commending themselves, but they, among themselves measuring themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not wise,
13 and we in regard to the unmeasured things will not boast ourselves, but after the measure of the line that the God of measure did appoint to us -- to reach even unto you;
14 for not as not reaching to you do we stretch ourselves overmuch, for even unto you did we come in the good news of the Christ,
15 not boasting of the things not measured, in other men's labours, and having hope -- your faith increasing -- in you to be enlarged, according to our line -- into abundance,
16 in the [places] beyond you to proclaim good news, not in another's line in regard to the things made ready, to boast;
17 and he who is boasting -- in the Lord let him boast;
18 for not he who is commending himself is approved, but he whom the Lord doth commend.
2 Corinthians 10
World English Bible
2 Corinthians 10
World English Bible
10 Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience is made full.
7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that even as he is Christ’s, so we also are Christ’s. 8 For even if I boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for casting you down, I will not be ashamed, 9 that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters. 10 For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present.
12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you. 14 For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ, 15 not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence, 16 so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done. 17 But “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”(A) 18 For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
2 Corinthians 10
New International Version
2 Corinthians 10
New International Version
Paul’s Defense of His Ministry
10 By the humility and gentleness(A) of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul,(B) who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold(C) as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.(D) 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.(E) 4 The weapons we fight with(F) are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power(G) to demolish strongholds.(H) 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,(I) and we take captive every thought to make it obedient(J) to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.(K)
7 You are judging by appearances.[a](L) If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ,(M) they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.(N) 8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us(O) for building you up rather than tearing you down,(P) I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive(Q) and his speaking amounts to nothing.”(R) 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.(S) When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us,(T) a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you(U) with the gospel of Christ.(V) 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits(W) by boasting of work done by others.(X) Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow,(Y) our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel(Z) in the regions beyond you.(AA) For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b](AB) 18 For it is not the one who commends himself(AC) who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.(AD)
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 10:7 Or Look at the obvious facts
- 2 Corinthians 10:17 Jer. 9:24
World English Bible (WEB)
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
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.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.