| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 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 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! |
| 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. | 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. |
| 3For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, | 3Of course, we are living in the world, but we do not wage war in a world-like way. |
| 4for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments | 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 |
| 5and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. | 5and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah. |
| 6We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. | 6Once your obedience is complete, we will be ready to reprimand every type of disobedience. |
| 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 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 9I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters, | 9I do not want you to think that I am trying to frighten you with 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 someone is saying, "His letters are impressive and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible." |
| 11Let such a person consider this: What we say by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present. | 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! |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 what cannot be evaluated. Instead, we will stay within the field that God assigned us, so as to reach even 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. | 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. |
| 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, | 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. |
| 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 can preach the gospel in the regions far beyond you without boasting about things already accomplished by someone else. |
| 17But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. | 17"The person who boasts should boast in the Lord." |
| 18For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends. | 18It is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person whom the Lord commends. |
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