2 Corinthians 11 - Galatians 3

English Standard Version

Paul and the False Apostles

11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! ² For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since ^(A)I betrothed you to one husband, ^(B)to present you ^(C)as a pure virgin to Christ. ³ But I am afraid that ^(D)as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts ^(E)will be led astray from a ^(F)sincere and ^(G)pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes and ^(H)proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept ^(I)a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. ⁵ Indeed, I consider that ^(J)I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. ^6 (K)Even if I am unskilled in speaking, ^(L)I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way ^(M)we have made this plain to you in all things.

⁷ Or ^(N)did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because ^(O)I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and was ^(P)in need, ^(Q)I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia ^(R)supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain ^(S)from burdening you in any way. ^10 (T)As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine ^(U)will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? ^(V)Because I do not love you? ^(W)God knows I do!

¹² And what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(X)in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are ^(Y)false apostles, ^(Z)deceitful workmen, ^(AA)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as ^(AB)an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as ^(AC)servants of righteousness. ^(AD)Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I repeat, ^(AE)let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying ^(AF)with this boastful confidence, ^(AG)I say not as the Lord would^[a] but as a fool. ¹⁸ Since ^(AH)many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly bear with fools, ^(AI)being wise yourselves! ²⁰ For you bear it if someone ^(AJ)makes slaves of you, or ^(AK)devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or ^(AL)strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, ^(AM)we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²² Are they Hebrews? ^(AN)So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they ^(AO)servants of Christ? ^(AP)I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, ^(AQ)far more imprisonments, ^(AR)with countless beatings, and ^(AS)often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the ^(AT)forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was ^(AU)beaten with rods. ^(AV)Once I was stoned. Three times I ^(AW)was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, ^(AX)danger from my own people, ^(AY)danger from Gentiles, ^(AZ)danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ^27 (BA)in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, ^(BB)in hunger and thirst, often without food,^[b] in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for ^(BC)all the churches. ^29 (BD)Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

^30 (BE)If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ^31 (BF)The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(BG)he who is blessed forever, ^(BH)knows that I am not lying. ³² At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas ^(BI)was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, ^33 (BJ)but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

Paul's Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^(BK)revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(BL)in Christ who fourteen years ago was ^(BM)caught up to ^(BN)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(BO)God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into ^(BP)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(BQ)God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, ^(BR)except of my weaknesses— ⁶ though if I should wish to boast, ^(BS)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So ^(BT)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^{[c] (BU)}a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^(BV)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ^8 (BW)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, ^(BX)“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(BY)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^(BZ)the power of Christ may rest upon me. ^10 (CA)For the sake of Christ, then, ^(CB)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^(CC)when I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (CD)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(CE)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(CF)even though I am nothing. ^12 (CG)The signs of a true apostle were performed among you ^(CH)with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³ For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that ^(CI)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(CJ)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(CK)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(CL)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(CM)parents for their children. ^15 (CN)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(CO)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(CP)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(CQ)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (CR)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(CS)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(CT)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(CU)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(CV)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹ I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(CW)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(CX)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

Final Warnings

13 ^(CY)This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established ^(CZ)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ^2 (DA)I warned ^(DB)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that ^(DC)if I come again I will not spare them— ³ since you seek proof that Christ ^(DD)is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but ^(DE)is powerful among you. ⁴ For ^(DF)he was crucified in weakness, but ^(DG)lives by the power of God. For ^(DH)we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you ^(DI)we will live with him by the power of God.

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. ^(DJ)Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that ^(DK)Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷ But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad when ^(DL)we are weak and you are strong. Your ^(DM)restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come ^(DN)I may not have to be ^(DO)severe in my use of ^(DP)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Final Greetings

¹¹ Finally, brothers,^[d] rejoice. ^(DQ)Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^{[e] (DR)}agree with one another, ^(DS)live in peace; and the God of love and ^(DT)peace will be with you. ^12 (DU)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (DV)All the saints greet you.

^14 (DW)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^(DX)the love of God and ^(DY)the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^(DZ)apostle—^(EA)not from men nor through man, but ^(EB)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, ^(EC)who raised him from the dead— ² and all ^(ED)the brothers^[f] who are with me,

To ^(EE)the churches of Galatia:

^3 (EF)Grace to you and peace ^(EG)from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ^4 (EH)who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present ^(EI)evil age, according to the will of ^(EJ)our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are ^(EK)so quickly deserting ^(EL)him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to ^(EM)a different gospel— ^7 (EN)not that there is another one, but ^(EO)there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or ^(EP)an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^(EQ)let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, ^(ER)let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^(ES)to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^(ET)servant^[g] of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹ For ^(EU)I would have you know, brothers, that ^(EV)the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.^{[h] 12 (EW)}For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^(EX)through a revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³ For you have heard of ^(EY)my former life in Judaism, how ^(EZ)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^(FA)zealous was I for ^(FB)the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when he ^(FC)who had set me apart ^(FD)before I was born,^[i] and who ^(FE)called me by his grace, ¹⁶ was pleased to reveal his Son to^[j] me, in order ^(FF)that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;^{[k] 17} nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(FG)after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^(FH)the Lord's brother. ²⁰ (In what I am writing to you, ^(FI)before God, I do not lie!) ^21 (FJ)Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was still unknown in person to ^(FK)the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ² I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those ^(FL)who seemed influential) the gospel that ^(FM)I proclaim among the Gentiles, ^(FN)in order to make sure I was not running or had not ^(FO)run in vain. ³ But even Titus, who was with me, ^(FP)was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ^4 (FQ)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who ^(FR)slipped in to spy out ^(FS)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, ^(FT)so that they might bring us into slavery— ⁵ to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that ^(FU)the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ⁶ And from those ^(FV)who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(FW)God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential ^(FX)added nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, when they saw that I had been ^(FY)entrusted with ^(FZ)the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ⁸ (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James and Cephas and John, ^(GA)who seemed to be ^(GB)pillars, perceived the ^(GC)grace that was given to me, they ^(GD)gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ Only, they asked us to remember the poor, ^(GE)the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

¹¹ But ^(GF)when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him ^(GG)to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, ^(GH)he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing ^(GI)the circumcision party.^{[l] 13} And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that their ^(GJ)conduct was not in step with ^(GK)the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ^(GL)before them all, “If you, though a Jew, ^(GM)live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not ^(GN)Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that ^(GO)a person is not justified^[m] by works of the law ^(GP)but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, ^(GQ)because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found ^(GR)to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I ^(GS)died to the law, so that I might ^(GT)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(GU)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives ^(GV)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(GW)who loved me and ^(GX)gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^(GY)if righteousness^[n] were through the law, ^(GZ)then Christ died for no purpose.

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? ^(HA)It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly ^(HB)portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: ^(HC)Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^(HD)hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? ^(HE)Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by^[o] the flesh? ^4 (HF)Did you suffer^[p] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^(HG)works miracles among you do so ^(HH)by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶ just as ^(HI)Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is ^(HJ)those of faith who are ^(HK)the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^(HL)God would justify^[q] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ^(HM)“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are ^(HN)under a curse; for it is written, ^(HO)“Cursed be everyone who does not ^(HP)abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that ^(HQ)no one is justified before God by the law, for ^(HR)“The righteous shall live by faith.”^{[r] 12} But the law is not of faith, rather ^(HS)“The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ ^(HT)redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^(HU)“Cursed is everyone who is hanged ^(HV)on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^(HW)come to the Gentiles, so that ^(HX)we might receive ^(HY)the promised Spirit^[s] through faith.

The Law and the Promise

^15 (HZ)To give a human example, brothers:^{[t] (IA)}even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now ^(IB)the promises were made ^(IC)to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^(ID)“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came ^(IE)430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as ^(IF)to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^(IG)God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? ^(IH)It was added because of transgressions, ^(II)until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ^(IJ)put in place through angels ^(IK)by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now ^(IL)an intermediary implies more than one, but ^(IM)God is one.

²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ^(IN)if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture ^(IO)imprisoned everything under sin, so that ^(IP)the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given ^(IQ)to those who believe.

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^(IR)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, ^(IS)the law was our ^(IT)guardian until Christ came, ^(IU)in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus ^(IV)you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as ^(IW)were baptized ^(IX)into Christ have ^(IY)put on Christ. ^28 (IZ)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^[u] nor free, ^(JA)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(JB)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, ^(JC)heirs according to promise.