New King James Version

New Living Translation

1Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear 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. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste 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 fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in 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 he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

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 that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

5But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things.

6Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.

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.

7Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached 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, taking wages from them to minister to you.

8I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost.

9And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.

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, no one shall stop me from this boasting 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!

11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do.

12But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

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 are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

13These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.

14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

14But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

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 me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also 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 speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

17Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool.

18Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.

18And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too.

19For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!

19After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!

20For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on 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.

21To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

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 the seed 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 ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

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.

24From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

24Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes.

25Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

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.

26in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

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 weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—

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.

28besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep 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 made to stumble, 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 in the things which concern my infirmity.

30If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.

31The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that 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 Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring 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 basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

33I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.