| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! | 1I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. |
| 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. | 2For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—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. | 3But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. |
| 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! | 4You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. |
| 5For I consider myself not at all inferior to those "super-apostles." | 5But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. |
| 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. | 6I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way. |
| 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? | 7Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return? |
| 8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you! | 8I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. |
| 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. | 9And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be. |
| 10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. | 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this. |
| 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! | 11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do. |
| 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. | 12But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. |
| 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. | 13These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. |
| 14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. | 14But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. |
| 15Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. | 15So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve. Paul’s Many Trials |
| 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. | 16Again I say, don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. |
| 17What I am saying with this boastful confidence I do not say the way the Lord would. Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. | 17Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. |
| 18Since many are boasting according to human standards, I too will boast. | 18And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. |
| 19For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. | 19After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! |
| 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. | 20You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. |
| 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. | 21I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. |
| 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 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. | 23Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. |
| 24Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. | 24Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. |
| 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. | 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. |
| 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, | 26I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. |
| 27in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. | 27I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. |
| 28Apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern for all the churches. | 28Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. |
| 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with indignation? | 29Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? |
| 30If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show my weakness. | 30If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. |
| 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. | 31God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. |
| 32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me, | 32When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. |
| 33but I was let down in a rope-basket through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands. | 33I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him. |
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