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. |