³ since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful in you.^(A)

²⁰ for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.^(A)

¹² The signs of an apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.^(A)

⁸ Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.^{(A) 9} I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰ For someone says,^[a] “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.”^(B)

¹⁵ for I will give you words^[a] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.^(A)

The Rights of an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?^{(A) 2} If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.^(B)

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me.

⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,^[a] but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments^(A)

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?^{(A) 2} You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, ³ and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are human hearts.^[a](B)

¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. In fact, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.

⁶ This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;^(A)