Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Paul Defends His Ministry

10 I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you—I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ ² I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives. ³ It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. ⁴ The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; ⁵ we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ. ⁶ And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.

⁷ You are looking at the outward appearance of things. Are there some there who reckon themselves to belong to Christ? Well, let them think again about themselves, because we belong to Christ just as much as they do. ⁸ For I am not ashamed, even if I have boasted somewhat too much about the authority that the Lord has given us—authority to build you up, not to tear you down. ⁹ I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰ Someone will say, “Paul's letters are severe and strong, but when he is with us in person, he is weak, and his words are nothing!” ¹¹ Such a person must understand that there is no difference between what we write in our letters when we are away and what we will do when we are there with you.

¹² Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards! ¹³ As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you. ¹⁴ And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ. ¹⁵ So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set. ¹⁶ Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.

^17 (A)But as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done.” ¹⁸ For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.

Paul and the False Apostles

11 I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do! ² I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself. ^3 (B)I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ—in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies. ⁴ For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!

⁵ I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called “apostles” of yours! ⁶ Perhaps I am an amateur in speaking, but certainly not in knowledge; we have made this clear to you at all times and in all conditions.

⁷ I did not charge you a thing when I preached the Good News of God to you; I humbled myself in order to make you important. Was that wrong of me? ⁸ While I was working among you, I was paid by other churches. I was robbing them, so to speak, in order to help you. ^9 (C)And during the time I was with you I did not bother you for help when I needed money; the believers who came from Macedonia brought me everything I needed. As in the past, so in the future: I will never be a burden to you! ¹⁰ By Christ's truth in me, I promise that this boast of mine will not be silenced anywhere in all of Achaia. ¹¹ Do I say this because I don't love you? God knows I love you!

¹² I will go on doing what I am doing now, in order to keep those other “apostles” from having any reason for boasting and saying that they work in the same way that we do. ¹³ Those men are not true apostles—they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light! ¹⁵ So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.

Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I repeat: no one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, just so I will have a little to boast of. ¹⁷ Of course what I am saying now is not what the Lord would have me say; in this matter of boasting I am really talking like a fool. ¹⁸ But since there are so many who boast for merely human reasons, I will do the same. ¹⁹ You yourselves are so wise, and so you gladly tolerate fools! ²⁰ You tolerate anyone who orders you around or takes advantage of you or traps you or looks down on you or slaps you in the face. ²¹ I am ashamed to admit that we were too timid to do those things!

But if anyone dares to boast about something—I am talking like a fool—I will be just as daring. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. ^23 (D)Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman—but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. ^24 (E)Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; ^25 (F)three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. ^26 (G)In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. ²⁷ There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. ²⁸ And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus—blessed be his name forever!—knows that I am not lying. ^32 (H)When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. ³³ But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.