| New International Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" toward you when away! | 1Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent. |
| 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. | 2I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving according to the flesh. |
| 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. | 3For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, |
| 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. | 4since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments |
| 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. | 5and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. |
| 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. | 6And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete. |
| 7You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. | 7Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. |
| 8So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. | 8For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame. |
| 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. | 9I don't want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters. |
| 10For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." | 10For it is said, "His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing." |
| 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. | 11Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present. |
| 12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. | 12For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding. |
| 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. | 13We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to 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 with the gospel of Christ. | 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. |
| 15Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, | 15We are not boasting beyond measure about other people's labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged, |
| 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else's territory. | 16so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else's area of ministry. |
| 17But, "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." | 17So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. |
| 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. | 18For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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