12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. 14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: 15 Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, 16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. 17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

13 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. 14 We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.

15 Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 17 As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.

12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; 15 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.

17 But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 18 For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

12 We do not dare to compare ourselves with those who think they are very important. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. 13 But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us, and this includes our work with you. 14 We are not bragging too much, as we would be if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. 15 We limit our bragging to the work that is ours, not what others have done. We hope that as your faith continues to grow, you will help our work to grow much larger. 16 We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another person’s area. 17 But, “If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord.” 18 It is not those who say they are good who are accepted but those the Lord thinks are good.

12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with certain of them that commend themselves: but they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13 But we will not glory beyond our measure, but according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even unto you. 14 For we stretch not ourselves overmuch, as though we reached not unto you: for we came even as far as unto you in the gospel of Christ: 15 not glorying beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors; but having hope that, as your faith groweth, we shall be magnified in you according to our province unto further abundance, 16 so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, and not to glory in another’s province in regard of things ready to our hand. 17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves; but these, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not intelligent. 13 Now we will not boast out of measure, but according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure has apportioned to us, to reach to you also. 14 For we do not, as not reaching to you, overstretch ourselves, (for we have come to you also in the glad tidings of the Christ;) 15 not boasting out of measure in other people’s labours, but having hope, your faith increasing, to be enlarged amongst you, according to our rule, yet more abundantly 16 to announce the glad tidings to that which is beyond you, not to be boasting in another’s rule of things made ready to hand. 17 But he that boasts, let him boast in the Lord. 18 For not he that commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

12 We wouldn’t put ourselves in the same class with or compare ourselves to those who are bold enough to make their own recommendations. Certainly, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they show how foolish they are. 

13 How can we brag about things that no one can evaluate? Instead, we will only brag about what God has given us to do—coming to ⸤the city of Corinth⸥ where you live. 14 It’s not as though we hadn’t already been to Corinth. We’re not overstating the facts. The fact is that we were the first to arrive in Corinth with the Good News about Christ. 15 How can we brag about things done by others that can’t be evaluated? 

We have confidence that as your faith grows, you will think enough of us to give us the help we need to carry out our assignment—16 spreading the Good News in the regions far beyond you. We won’t brag about things already accomplished by someone else. 

17 “Whoever brags should brag about what the Lord has done.” 18 It isn’t the person who makes his own recommendation who receives approval, but the person whom the Lord recommends. 

12 For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We are not bragging beyond measure about other people’s labors. But we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry. 17 So the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. 18 For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. 14 For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

12 For we do not dare to classify or to compare ourselves with some who commend themselves, but they themselves, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, do not understand. 13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but according to the measure of the assignment that God has assigned to us as a measure to reach even as far as you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, because we have reached even as far as you with the gospel of Christ, 15 not boasting beyond limits in the labors of others, but having hope that as your faith is growing to be enlarged greatly by you according to our assignment, 16 so that we may proclaim the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast in the things accomplished in the area assigned to someone else. 17 But “the one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

12 I don’t dare to compare myself with those who praise themselves. I’m not that kind of person. They measure themselves by themselves. They compare themselves with themselves. When they do that, they are not wise.

13 But I won’t brag more than I should. Instead, I will brag only about what I have done in the area God has given me. It is an area that reaches all the way to you. 14 I am not going too far in my bragging. I would be going too far if I hadn’t come to where you live. But I did get there with the good news about Christ.

15 And I won’t brag about work done by others. If I did, I would be bragging more than I should. As your faith continues to grow, I hope that my work among you will greatly increase. 16 Then I will be able to preach the good news in the areas beyond you. I don’t want to brag about work already done in someone else’s territory.

17 But, “The one who brags should brag about what the Lord has done.” 18 Those who praise themselves are not accepted. Those the Lord praises are accepted.

12 For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

13 But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ;

15 not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,

16 so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.

17 But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord.

18 For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.