¹² We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools. ¹³ We, on the other hand, will not boast beyond our proper limit, but [will keep] within the ^[a]limits of our commission (territory, authority) which God has granted to us as a measure, which reaches and includes even you. ¹⁴ We are not overstepping the limits of our province, as if we did not [legitimately] reach to you, for we were the [very] first to come even as far as you with the good news of Christ. ¹⁵ We do not go beyond our proper limit, boasting in the work of other men, but we have the hope that as your faith [in Christ and His divine power] continues to grow, our field among you may be greatly expanded [but still within the limits of our commission], ¹⁶ so that we may preach the gospel even in the lands beyond you, but not to boast in work already accomplished in another one’s field of activity. ¹⁷ However, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”^{(A) 18} For it is not he who commends and praises himself who is approved [by God], but it is the one whom the Lord commends and praises.