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Paul’s Hardships

We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us,[a] and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:6 Or by our holiness of spirit.

We do not give anyone[a] an occasion for taking an offense in anything,[b] so that no fault may be found with our ministry. But as God’s servants,[c] we have commended ourselves in every way,[d] with great endurance, in persecutions,[e] in difficulties, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots,[f] in troubles,[g] in sleepless nights, in hunger, by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit,[h] by genuine[i] love, by truthful[j] teaching,[k] by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left,[l] through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors,[m] and yet true; as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet—see!—we continue to live; as those who are scourged[n] and yet not executed; 10 as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:3 tn The word “anyone” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
  2. 2 Corinthians 6:3 tn Other interpretations of the first part of 2 Cor 6:3 are possible. The phrase could also mean, “not putting an obstacle in the way of anyone” (L&N 22.14), or “giving no one in anything a cause to sin” (L&N 88.307).
  3. 2 Corinthians 6:4 tn Or “ministers.”
  4. 2 Corinthians 6:4 tn Or “we have commended ourselves by all things.”
  5. 2 Corinthians 6:4 tn Or “in trouble and suffering.”
  6. 2 Corinthians 6:5 tn Or “rebellions” (uprisings in open defiance of civil authority).
  7. 2 Corinthians 6:5 tn Usually κόποις (kopois) has been translated as “labors” or “hard work,” but see Matt 26:10 where it means “trouble”; “distress” (L&N 22.7). In this context with so many other terms denoting suffering and difficulty, such a meaning is preferable.
  8. 2 Corinthians 6:6 tn Or “by holiness of spirit.”
  9. 2 Corinthians 6:6 tn Or “sincere.”
  10. 2 Corinthians 6:7 tn Grk “by the word of truth”; understanding ἀληθείας (alētheias) as an attributive genitive (“truthful word”).
  11. 2 Corinthians 6:7 tn Or “speech.” In this context it is more likely that λόγος (logos) refers to Paul’s message (thus “teaching”) than to his speech in general.
  12. 2 Corinthians 6:7 tn The phrase “for the right hand and for the left” possibly refers to a combination of an offensive weapon (a sword for the right hand) and a defensive weapon (a shield for the left).
  13. 2 Corinthians 6:8 tn Or “regarded as deceivers.”
  14. 2 Corinthians 6:9 tn Grk “disciplined,” but in this context probably a reference to scourging prior to execution (yet the execution is not carried out).