| English Standard Version | King James Bible |
| 1I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— | 1Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: |
| 2I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. | 2But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. |
| 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. | 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: |
| 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. | 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) |
| 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, | 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; |
| 6being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. | 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. |
| 7Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. | 7Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. |
| 8For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. | 8For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: |
| 9I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. | 9That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. |
| 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” | 10For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. |
| 11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. | 11Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. |
| 12Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. | 12For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. |
| 13But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. | 13But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. |
| 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. | 14For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: |
| 15We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, | 15Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, |
| 16so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. | 16To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. |
| 17“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” | 17But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. |
| 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. | 18For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. |
| 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. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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