11:1  I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me.

11:2  For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you {as} a pure virgin.

11:3  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity {of devotion} to Christ.

11:4  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear {this} beautifully.

11:5  For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles.

11:6  But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not {so} in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made {this} evident to you in all things.

11:7  Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?

11:8  I robbed other churches by taking wages {from them} to serve you;

11:9  and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.

11:10  As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

11:11  Why? Because I do not love you? God knows {I do!}

11:12  But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

11:13  For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

11:14  No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

11:15  Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

11:16  Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if {you do,} receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.

11:17  What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

11:18  Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.

11:19  For you, being {so} wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.

11:20  For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.

11:21  To {my} shame I {must} say that we have been weak {by comparison.} But in whatever respect anyone {else} is bold--I speak in foolishness--I am just as bold myself.

11:22  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

11:23  Are they servants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.

11:24  Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine {lashes.}

11:25  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

11:26  {I have been} on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from {my} countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;

11:27  {I have been} in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

11:28  Apart from {such} external things, there is the daily pressure on me {of} concern for all the churches.

11:29  Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

11:30  If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.

11:31  The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

11:32  In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,

11:33  and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and {so} escaped his hands.