| International Standard Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Now I myself, Paul, plead with you with the gentleness and kindness of the Messiah —I who am humble when I am face to face with you but forceful toward you when I am 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 will not need to be courageous by daring to oppose some people who think that we are living according to the flesh. | 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. |
| 3Of course, we are living in the world, but we do not wage war in a world-like way. | 3For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, |
| 4For the weapons of our warfare are not those of the world. Instead, they have the power of God to demolish fortresses. We tear down arguments | 4since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments |
| 5and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah. | 5and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. |
| 6Once your obedience is complete, we will be ready to reprimand every type of disobedience. | 6And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete. |
| 7Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident that he belongs to the Messiah, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to the Messiah, so do we. | 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 if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave us to build you up and not to tear 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 you to think that I am 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 someone is saying, "His letters are impressive and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible." | 10For it is said, "His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing." |
| 11Someone like this should take note of the following: What we say by letter when we are absent is what we will do when 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 would not dare put ourselves in the same class with, or compare ourselves to, those who recommend themselves. Whenever they measure themselves by their own standards or compare themselves among themselves, they show how foolish they are. | 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 will not boast about what cannot be evaluated. Instead, we will stay within the field that God assigned us, so as to reach even 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. |
| 14For it is not as though we were overstepping our limits when we came to you. We were the first to reach you with the gospel of the Messiah. | 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. |
| 15We are not boasting about work done by others that cannot be evaluated. On the contrary, we cherish the hope that your faith may continue to grow and enlarge our sphere of action among you until it overflows. | 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, |
| 16Then we can preach the gospel in the regions far beyond you without boasting about things already accomplished by someone else. | 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. |
| 17"The person who boasts should boast in the Lord." | 17So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. |
| 18It is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person whom the Lord commends. | 18For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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