2 Corinthians 11
New International Version
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I hope you will put up with(A) me in a little foolishness.(B) Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband,(C) to Christ, so that I might present you(D) as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,(E) your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,(F) or if you receive a different spirit(G) from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel(H) from the one you accepted, you put up with it(I) easily enough.
5 I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”[a](J) 6 I may indeed be untrained as a speaker,(K) but I do have knowledge.(L) We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. 7 Was it a sin(M) for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God(N) to you free of charge?(O) 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them(P) so as to serve you. 9 And 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.(Q) I have kept myself from being a burden to you(R) in any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me,(S) nobody in the regions of Achaia(T) will stop this boasting(U) of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows(V) I do!(W)
12 And 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. 13 For such people are false apostles,(X) deceitful(Y) workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.(Z) 14 And no wonder, for Satan(AA) himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.(AB)
Paul Boasts About His Sufferings
16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.(AC) But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would,(AD) but as a fool.(AE) 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does,(AF) I too will boast.(AG) 19 You gladly put up with(AH) fools since you are so wise!(AI) 20 In fact, you even put up with(AJ) anyone who enslaves you(AK) or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak(AL) for that!
Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.(AM) 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I.(AN) Are they Israelites? So am I.(AO) Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.(AP) 23 Are they servants of Christ?(AQ) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,(AR) been in prison more frequently,(AS) been flogged more severely,(AT) and been exposed to death again and again.(AU) 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes(AV) minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods,(AW) once I was pelted with stones,(AX) three times I was shipwrecked,(AY) I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews,(AZ) in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,(BA) in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.(BB) 27 I have labored and toiled(BC) and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;(BD) I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.(BE) 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?(BF) Who is led into sin,(BG) and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast(BH) of the things that show my weakness.(BI) 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever,(BJ) knows(BK) that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.(BL) 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.(BM)
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 11:5 Or to the most eminent apostles
2 Corinthians 3
New International Version
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves(A) again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation(B) to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.(C) 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,(D) not on tablets of stone(E) but on tablets of human hearts.(F)
4 Such confidence(G) we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves(H) to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.(I) 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant(J)—not of the letter(K) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(L)
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry that brought death,(M) which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,(N) transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation(O) was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!(P) 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope,(Q) we are very bold.(R) 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face(S) to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull,(T) for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant(U) is read.(V) It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,(W) the veil is taken away.(X) 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,(Y) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(Z) 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a](AA) the Lord’s glory,(AB) are being transformed into his image(AC) with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or reflect
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