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. 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. 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. 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! For I consider myself (K)not in the least inferior to the [c]most eminent apostles. 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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:1 Or do indeed bear with me
  2. 2 Corinthians 11:4 Lit the one who comes preaches
  3. 2 Corinthians 11:5 Or super-apostles

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 I wish that you would put up with me in something a little foolish[a]—but indeed you are putting up with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be led astray from the sincerity and the purity of devotion to Christ. For if the one who comes proclaims another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you put up with it well enough! For I consider myself in no way to be inferior to the preeminent apostles.[b] But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; certainly in everything we have made this clear to you in every way.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:1 Literally “a little something of foolishness”
  2. 2 Corinthians 11:5 Some interpreters take this to refer to the original apostles in Jerusalem; others take Paul to be referring sarcastically to his opponents in Corinth.

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! 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. 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. 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.

I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”[a](J) 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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:5 Or to the most eminent apostles