| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Now I, Paul, appeal to you personally by the meekness and gentleness of Christ (I who am meek when present among you, but am full of courage toward you when away!)-- | 1Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ—though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away. |
| 2now I ask that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence that (I expect) I will dare to use against some who consider us to be behaving according to human standards. | 2Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives. |
| 3For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, | 3We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
| 4for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments | 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. |
| 5and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. | 5We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. |
| 6We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. | 6And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient. |
| 7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we. | 7Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do. |
| 8For if I boast somewhat more about our authority that the Lord gave us for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of doing so. | 8I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority. |
| 9I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters, | 9I’m not trying to frighten you by my letters. |
| 10because some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak and his speech is of no account." | 10For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!” |
| 11Let such a person consider this: What we say by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present. | 11Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away. |
| 12For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. | 12Oh, 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! |
| 13But we will not boast beyond certain limits, but will confine our boasting according to the limits of the work to which God has appointed us, that reaches even as far as you. | 13We 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. |
| 14For we were not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach as far as you, because we were the first to reach as far as you with the gospel about Christ. | 14We 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. |
| 15Nor do we boast beyond certain limits in the work done by others, but we hope that as your faith continues to grow, our work may be greatly expanded among you according to our limits, | 15Nor 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. |
| 16so that we may preach the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast of work already done in another person's area. | 16Then 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. |
| 17But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. | 17As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” |
| 18For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends. | 18When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. |
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