Their Ministry Commended

6 And ^(A)working together with Him, ^(B)we also urge you not to receive ^(C)the grace of God in vain— ² for He says,

Behold, now is “a favorable time,” behold, now is “a day of salvation”— ^3 (E)giving no reason for taking offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, ⁴ but in everything ^(F)commending ourselves as ^[a](G)servants of God, ^(H)in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in difficulties, ⁵ in ^(I)beatings, in imprisonments, in ^(J)[b]mob attacks, in labors, in sleeplessness, in ^(K)hunger, ⁶ in purity, in ^(L)knowledge, in ^(M)patience, in kindness, in the ^(N)Holy Spirit, in ^(O)genuine love, ⁷ in ^(P)the word of truth, and in ^(Q)the power of God; by ^(R)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, ⁸ by glory and ^(S)dishonor, by ^(T)evil report and good report; regarded as ^(U)deceivers and yet ^(V)true; ⁹ as unknown and yet well known, as ^(W)dying and yet behold, ^(X)we are alive; as ^[c]punished and yet not put to death, ¹⁰ as ^(Y)sorrowful yet always ^(Z)rejoicing, as ^(AA)poor yet making many rich, as ^(AB)having nothing and yet possessing ^(AC)all things.

^11 (AD)Our mouth ^[d]has spoken freely to you, you Corinthians, our ^(AE)heart is opened wide. ¹² You are not restrained ^[e]by us, but ^(AF)you are restrained in your own ^[f]affections. ¹³ Now in the same way in ^(AG)exchange—I am speaking as to ^(AH)children—open wide your hearts to us, you as well.

^14 (AI)Do not be ^[g]mismatched with ^(AJ)unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness ^(AK)share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? ¹⁵ Or what ^(AL)harmony does Christ have with ^[h]Belial, or ^[i]what does a ^(AM)believer share with an ^(AN)unbeliever? ¹⁶ Or ^(AO)what agreement does ^[j]the temple of God have with idols? For we are ^[k](AP)the temple of ^(AQ)the living God; just as God said,

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 I wish that you would ^(A)bear with me in a little ^(B)foolishness; but ^[a]indeed you are bearing with me. ² For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I ^(C)betrothed you to one husband, to ^(D)present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³ But I am afraid that, as the ^(E)serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if ^[b]one comes and preaches ^(F)another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a ^(G)different spirit which you have not received, or a ^(H)different gospel which you have not accepted, this you ^(I)tolerate ^(J)very well! ⁵ For I consider myself ^(K)not in the least inferior to the ^[c]most eminent apostles. ⁶ But even if I am ^(L)unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in ^(M)knowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^(N)made this evident to you in all things.

⁷ Or ^(O)did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(P)gospel of God to you ^(Q)without charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by ^(R)taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹ and when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^(S)not a burden to anyone; for when ^(T)the brothers came from ^(U)Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from ^(V)being a burden to you, ^[d]and will continue to do so. ^10 (W)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(X)this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^(Y)Achaia. ¹¹ Why? ^(Z)Because I do not love you? ^(AA)God knows that I do!

¹² But what I am doing I will also continue to do, ^(AB)so that I may eliminate the opportunity from those who want an opportunity to be ^[e]regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³ For such men are ^(AC)false apostles, ^(AD)deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ No wonder, for even ^(AE)Satan disguises himself as an ^(AF)angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, ^(AG)whose end will be according to their deeds.

^16 (AH)Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying, I am not saying ^[f](AI)as the Lord would, but as ^(AJ)in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸ Since ^(AK)many boast ^(AL)according to the flesh, I will boast also. ¹⁹ For you, ^(AM)being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. ²⁰ For you tolerate it if anyone ^(AN)enslaves you, if anyone ^(AO)devours you, if anyone ^(AP)takes advantage of you, if anyone ^(AQ)exalts himself, if anyone ^(AR)hits you in the face. ²¹ To my ^(AS)shame I must say that we have been ^(AT)weak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else ^(AU)is bold—I am ^(AV)speaking in foolishness—I too am bold. ²² Are they ^(AW)Hebrews? ^(AX)So am I. Are they ^(AY)Israelites? ^(AZ)So am I. Are they ^[g](BA)descendants of Abraham? ^(BB)So am I. ²³ Are they ^(BC)servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if insane—I more so; in ^(BD)far more labors, in ^(BE)far more imprisonments, ^[h](BF)beaten times without number, often in danger of ^(BG)death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews ^(BH)thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵ Three times I was ^(BI)beaten with rods, once I was ^(BJ)stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift at sea. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^(BK)countrymen, dangers from the ^(BL)Gentiles, dangers in the ^(BM)city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among ^(BN)false brothers; ²⁷ I have been in ^(BO)labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in ^(BP)hunger and thirst, often ^(BQ)without food, in cold and ^[i](BR)exposure. ²⁸ Apart from such ^[j]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^(BS)all the churches. ²⁹ Who is ^(BT)weak without my being weak? Who is ^[k]led into sin ^[l]without my intense concern?

³⁰ If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^(BU)weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(BV)He who is blessed forever, ^(BW)knows that I am not lying. ³² In ^(BX)Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^(BY)guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³ and I was let down in a basket ^(BZ)through a window ^[m]in the wall, and so escaped his hands.