2 Corinthians 10
New King James Version
The Spiritual War
10 Now (A)I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—(B)who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 But I beg you (C)that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 (D)For the weapons (E)of our warfare are not [a]carnal but (F)mighty in God (G)for pulling down strongholds, 5 (H)casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 (I)and being ready to punish all disobedience when (J)your obedience is fulfilled.
Reality of Paul’s Authority
7 (K)Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? (L)If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even [b]so (M)we are Christ’s. 8 For even if I should boast somewhat more (N)about our authority, which the Lord gave [c]us for [d]edification and not for your destruction, (O)I shall not be ashamed— 9 lest I seem to terrify you by letters. 10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but (P)his bodily presence is weak, and his (Q)speech contemptible.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
Limits of Paul’s Authority
12 (R)For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 (S)We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), (T)for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; 15 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, (U)in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.
17 But (V)“he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 18 For (W)not he who commends himself is approved, but (X)whom the Lord commends.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 of the flesh
- 2 Corinthians 10:7 NU as we are.
- 2 Corinthians 10:8 NU omits us
- 2 Corinthians 10:8 building up
2 Corinthians 10
International Standard Version
Paul’s Authority to Speak Forcefully
10 Now I myself, Paul, plead with you with the gentleness and kindness of the Messiah[a]—I who am humble when I am face to face with you but forceful toward you when I am away! 2 I beg you that when I come I will not need to be courageous by daring to oppose some people who think that we are living according to the flesh. 3 Of course, we are living in the world,[b] but we do not wage war in a world-like[c] way. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not those of the world.[d] Instead, they have the power of God to demolish fortresses. We tear down arguments 5 and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah.[e] 6 Once your obedience is complete, we will be ready to reprimand every type of disobedience.
7 Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident that he belongs to the Messiah,[f] he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to the Messiah,[g] so do we. 8 So if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave us to build you up and not to tear you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
9 I do not want you to think that I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For someone is saying,[h] “His letters are impressive and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.” 11 Someone like this should take note of the following: What we say by letter when we are absent is what we will do when present!
Paul’s Reason for Boasting
12 We would not dare put ourselves in the same class with, or compare ourselves to, those who recommend themselves. Whenever they measure themselves by their own standards or compare themselves among themselves, they show how foolish they are. 13 We will not boast about what cannot be evaluated. Instead, we will stay within the field that God assigned us, so as to reach even you. 14 For it is not as though we were overstepping our limits when we came to you. We were the first to reach you with the gospel of the Messiah.[i] 15 We are not boasting about work done by others that cannot be evaluated. On the contrary, we cherish the hope that your faith may continue to grow and enlarge our sphere of action among you until it overflows. 16 Then we can preach the gospel in the regions far beyond you without boasting about things already accomplished by someone else.
17 “The person who boasts should boast in the Lord.”[j] 18 It is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person whom the Lord commends.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 10:1 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:3 Lit. flesh
- 2 Corinthians 10:3 Lit. fleshly
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 Lit. flesh
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:7 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:7 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:10 The Gk. lacks For someone is saying
- 2 Corinthians 10:14 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:17 Jer 9:24; MT source citation reads Lord
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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