2 Corinthians 10

Paul’s Defense of His Ministry

10By the humility and gentleness^a of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul,^b who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! ²I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold^c as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.^{d 3}For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.^{e 4}The weapons we fight with^f are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power^g to demolish strongholds.^{h 5}We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,ⁱ and we take captive every thought to make it obedient^j to Christ. ⁶And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.^k

⁷You are judging by appearances.^al If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ,^m they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.^{n 8}So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us^o for building you up rather than tearing you down,^p I will not be ashamed of it. ⁹I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive^q and his speaking amounts to nothing.”^{r 11}Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

¹²We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.^s When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. ¹³We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us,^t a sphere that also includes you. ¹⁴We 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^u with the gospel of Christ.^{v 15}Neither do we go beyond our limits^w by boasting of work done by others.^x Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow,^y our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, ¹⁶so that we can preach the gospel^z in the regions beyond you.^a For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. ¹⁷But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^{bb 18}For it is not the one who commends himself^c who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.^d