| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1I hope you will bear with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that. | 1I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! |
| 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. | 2For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. |
| 3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. | 3But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. |
| 4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily. | 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough! |
| 5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.” | 5For I consider myself not at all inferior to those "super-apostles." |
| 6Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible. | 6And even if I am unskilled in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way. |
| 7Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? | 7Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you free of charge? |
| 8I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you. | 8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you! |
| 9And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so. | 9When I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs. I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. |
| 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. | 10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. |
| 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! | 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! |
| 12But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast. | 12And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. |
| 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. | 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. |
| 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. | 14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. |
| 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions. | 15Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. |
| 16I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. | 16I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. |
| 17In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool. | 17What I am saying with this boastful confidence I do not say the way the Lord would. Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. |
| 18Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. | 18Since many are boasting according to human standards, I too will boast. |
| 19For you gladly tolerate fools, since you are so wise. | 19For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. |
| 20In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face. | 20For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. |
| 21To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. | 21(To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. |
| 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. | 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. |
| 23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. | 23Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. |
| 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. | 24Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. |
| 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. | 25Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. |
| 26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, | 26I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, |
| 27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure. | 27in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. |
| 28Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. | 28Apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern for all the churches. |
| 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief? | 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with indignation? |
| 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. | 30If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show my weakness. |
| 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying. | 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. |
| 32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me. | 32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me, |
| 33But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp. | 33but I was let down in a rope-basket through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands. |
|
