| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1Think of us as servants of the Messiah and as servant managers entrusted with God's secrets. | 1This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. |
| 2Now it is required of servant managers that each one should prove to be trustworthy. | 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. |
| 3It is a very small thing to me that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I don't even evaluate myself. | 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. |
| 4For my conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who examines me. | 4For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. |
| 5Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God. | 5Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. |
| 6Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say. Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another. | 6I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. |
| 7For who makes you superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it? | 7For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? |
| 8You already have all you want! You have already become rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you! | 8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! |
| 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at. | 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. |
| 10We are fools for the Messiah's sake, but you are wise in the Messiah. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. | 10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. |
| 11We are hungry, thirsty, dressed in rags, brutally treated, and homeless, right up to the present. | 11To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, |
| 12We wear ourselves out from working with our own hands. When insulted, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. | 12and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; |
| 13When slandered, we answer with kind words. Even now we have become the filth of the world, the scum of the universe. | 13when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. |
| 14I'm not writing this to make you feel ashamed, but to warn you as my dear children. | 14I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. |
| 15You may have 10,000 mentors who work for the Messiah, but not many fathers. For in the Messiah Jesus I became your father through the gospel. | 15For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. |
| 16So I urge you to imitate me. | 16I urge you, then, be imitators of me. |
| 17That's why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church. | 17That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. |
| 18Some of you have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to evaluate you. | 18Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. |
| 19But I will come to you soon if it's the Lord's will. Then I'll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have, | 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. |
| 20for the kingdom of God isn't just talk, but also power. | 20For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. |
| 21Which do you prefer? Should I come to you with a stick, or with love and a gentle spirit? | 21What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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