2 Corinthians 11–13

CHAPTER 11

Paul Defends His Apostleship

¹I wish that you would ^abear with me in a little ^bfoolishness, but ¹indeed you are bearing with me.

²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I ^abetrothed you to one husband, so that I might ^bpresent you as a pure virgin to Christ.

³But I fear that, as the ^aserpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

⁴For if ¹one comes and preaches ^aanother Jesus whom we did not preach, or you receive a ^bdifferent spirit which you did not receive, or a ^cdifferent gospel which you did not accept, you ^dbear this ^ebeautifully.

⁵For I consider myself ^ain no way inferior to the ¹most-eminent apostles.

⁶But even if I am ^aunskilled in word, yet I am not so in ^bknowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^cmade this evident to you in all things.

⁷Or ^adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed the ^bgospel of God to you ^cwithout charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by ^ataking wages from them to minister to you.

⁹And when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^anot a burden to anyone; for when ^bthe brothers came from ^cMacedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept and will keep myself from ^dbeing a burden to you.

^10aAs the truth of Christ is in me, ^bthis boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^cAchaia.

¹¹Why? ^aBecause I do not love you? ^bGod knows I do!

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

¹³For such men are ^afalse apostles, ^bdeceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder, for even ^aSatan disguises himself as an ^bangel of light.

¹⁵Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, ^awhose end will be according to their deeds.

^16aAgain 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.

¹⁷What I am saying, I am not saying ^1aaccording to the Lord, but as ^bin foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

¹⁸Since ^amany boast ^baccording to the flesh, I will boast also.

¹⁹For you, ^abeing so wise, are bearing the foolish gladly.

²⁰For you bear it if anyone ^aenslaves you, anyone ^bdevours you, anyone ^ctakes advantage of you, anyone ^dexalts himself, anyone ^ehits you in the face.

²¹To my ^ashame I must say that we have been ^bweak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else ^cis daring—I ^dspeak in foolishness—I am just as daring myself.

²²Are they ^aHebrews? ^bSo am I. Are they ^cIsraelites? ^dSo am I. Are they Abraham’s ^eseed? ^fSo am I.

²³Are they ^aministers of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in ^1bfar more labors, in ^2cfar more imprisonments, in ^dbeatings without number, in frequent ^edanger of death.

²⁴Five times I received from the Jews ^aforty lashes less one.

²⁵Three times I was ^abeaten with rods, once I was ^bstoned, three times I was shipwrecked—a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

²⁶I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^acountrymen, dangers from the ^bGentiles, dangers in the ^ccity, dangers in the desolate places, dangers on the sea, dangers among ^dfalse brothers.

²⁷I have been in ^alabor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in ^bstarvation and thirst, often ^chungry, in cold and ^1dwithout enough clothing.

²⁸Apart from such ¹external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^aall the churches.

²⁹Who is ^aweak without my being weak? Who is made to stumble ¹without my burning concern?

³⁰If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^aweakness.

³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^aHe who is blessed forever, ^bknows that I am not lying.

³²In ^aDamascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^bguarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,

³³and I was let down in a basket ^athrough a window ¹in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

CHAPTER 12

A Vision of Paradise

^1aIt is necessary to boast, though it is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and ^brevelations ¹of the Lord.

²I know a man ^ain Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod knows—such a man was ^ccaught up to the ^dthird heaven.

³And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^aGod knows—

⁴was ^acaught up into ^bParadise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.

^5aOn behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in ^bweaknesses.

⁶For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^afoolish, ^bfor I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will consider me beyond what he sees in me or hears from me.

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness of the ^arevelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a ^bthorn in the flesh, a ^cmessenger of Satan to ¹torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!

⁸Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord ^athree times that it might leave me.

⁹And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^apower is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^bboast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

¹⁰Therefore ^aI am well content with weaknesses, with ¹insults, with ^bdistresses, with ^cpersecutions and ^dhardships, ^efor the sake of Christ, for ^fwhen I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

¹¹I have become ^afoolish; you yourselves compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you, for ^bin no respect was I inferior to the ¹most-eminent apostles, even if ^cI am nothing.

¹²The ^1asigns ²of a true apostle were worked out among you with all perseverance, by ³signs and wonders and ⁴miracles.

¹³For in what respect were you treated as less than the rest of the churches, except that ^aI myself did not become a burden to you? ¹Forgive me ^bthis wrong!

¹⁴Here ^afor this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^bwill not be a burden to you; for I ^cdo not seek what is yours, but ^dyou. For ^echildren ought not to save up for their parents, but ^fparents for their children.

¹⁵So I will ^amost gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. If ^bI love you more, am I to be loved less?

¹⁶But be that as it may, I ^adid not burden you myself. Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^btook you in by deceit.

^17aHave I taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you?

¹⁸I ^aencouraged ^bTitus to go, and I sent ^cthe brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Did we not walk ¹in the same ^dspirit—^ein the very same steps?

¹⁹All this time ¹you think we are defending ourselves to you. We speak in Christ ^ain the sight of God. ^bAnd all these things, ^cbeloved, are for your building up.

²⁰For I am afraid that perhaps ^awhen I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^bstrife, jealousy, ^coutbursts of anger, ^dselfish ambition, ^eslanders, ^fgossip, ^garrogance, ^hdisturbances.

²¹I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^asinned in the past and not repented of the ^bimpurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality which they have practiced.

CHAPTER 13

Examine Yourselves

^1aThis is the third time I am coming to you. ^bBy the mouth of two or three witnesses every ¹matter shall be confirmed.

²I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have ^asinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that ^bif I come again I will not ^cspare anyone,

³since you are ^aseeking proof that ^bChrist speaks in me; He is not weak toward you, but ^cmighty in you.

⁴For indeed He was ^acrucified because of weakness, yet He lives ^bbecause of the power of God. For we also are ^cweak ¹in Him, yet ^dwe will live with Him because of the power of God toward you.

^5aTest yourselves to see if you are in the faith; ^bexamine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^1cfail the test?

⁶But I hope that you will realize that we ourselves ¹do not fail the test.

⁷Now we pray to God that you do no wrong, not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may ¹appear unapproved.

⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.

⁹For we rejoice when we ourselves are ^aweak but you are strong. This we also pray for, ¹that you be ^brestored.

¹⁰For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present ^aI need not use ^bseverity, in accordance with the ^cauthority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

^11aFinally, brothers, ¹rejoice, ^2bbe restored, be comforted, ^cbe like-minded, ^dlive in peace, and ^ethe God of love and peace will be with you.

^12aGreet one another with a holy kiss.

^13aAll the ¹saints greet you.

^14aThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ^blove of God, and the ^cfellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.