2 Corinthians 10-13

GOD’S WORD Translation

Paul’s Authority to Speak Forcefully

10 I, Paul, make my appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I’m the one who is humble when I’m with you but forceful toward you when I’m not with you. ² I beg you that when I am with you I won’t have to deal forcefully with you. I expect I will have to because some people think that we are only guided by human motives. ³ Of course we are human, but we don’t fight like humans. ⁴ The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments ⁵ and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. ⁶ We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when you have become completely obedient.

⁷ Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident he belongs to Christ, he should take note that we also belong to Christ. ⁸ So, if I brag a little too much about the authority which the Lord gave us, I’m not ashamed. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.

⁹ I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰ I know that someone is saying that my letters are powerful and strong, but that I’m a weakling and a terrible speaker. ¹¹ The person who is saying those things should take note of this fact: When we are with you we will do the things that we wrote about in our letters when we weren’t with you.

Paul’s Reason for Bragging

¹² We wouldn’t put ourselves in the same class with or compare ourselves to those who are bold enough to make their own recommendations. Certainly, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they show how foolish they are.

¹³ How can we brag about things that no one can evaluate? Instead, we will only brag about what God has given us to do—coming to ⌞the city of Corinth⌟ where you live. ¹⁴ It’s not as though we hadn’t already been to Corinth. We’re not overstating the facts. The fact is that we were the first to arrive in Corinth with the Good News about Christ. ¹⁵ How can we brag about things done by others that can’t be evaluated?

We have confidence that as your faith grows, you will think enough of us to give us the help we need to carry out our assignment— ¹⁶ spreading the Good News in the regions far beyond you. We won’t brag about things already accomplished by someone else.

¹⁷ “Whoever brags should brag about what the Lord has done.” ¹⁸ It isn’t the person who makes his own recommendation who receives approval, but the person whom the Lord recommends.

Paul Contrasts Himself with False Apostles

11 I want you to put up with a little foolishness from me. I’m sure that you will. ² I’m as protective of you as God is. After all, you’re a virgin whom I promised in marriage to one man—Christ. ³ However, I’m afraid that as the snake deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ When someone comes to you telling about another Jesus whom we didn’t tell you about, you’re willing to put up with it. When you receive a spirit that is different from the Spirit you received earlier, you’re also willing to put up with that. When someone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you already accepted, you’re willing to put up with that too.

⁵ I don’t think I’m inferior in any way to your super-apostles. ⁶ Even though I’m not good with words, I know what I’m talking about. Timothy and I have made this clear to you in every possible way.

⁷ Did I commit a sin when I humbled myself by telling you the Good News of God free of charge so that you could become important? ⁸ I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to serve you. ⁹ When I was with you and needed something, I didn’t bother any of you for help. My friends from the province of Macedonia supplied everything I needed. I kept myself from being a financial burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do that.

¹⁰ As surely as I have Christ’s truth, my bragging will not be silenced anywhere in Greece. ¹¹ Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do love you. ¹² But I’ll go on doing what I’m doing. This will take away the opportunity of those people who want to brag because they think they’re like us. ¹³ People who brag like this are false apostles. They are dishonest workers, since they disguise themselves as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴ And no wonder, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it’s not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants who have God’s approval. In the end they will get what they deserve.

More Reasons for Paul to Brag

¹⁶ Again I say that no one should think that I’m a fool. But if you do, then take me for a fool so that I can also brag a little. ¹⁷ What I say as I start bragging is foolishness. It’s not something I would say if I were speaking for the Lord. ¹⁸ Since it’s common for people to brag, I’ll do it too. ¹⁹ You’re wise, so you’ll gladly put up with fools. ²⁰ When someone makes you slaves, consumes your wealth, seizes your property, orders you around, or slaps your faces, you put up with it. ²¹ I’m ashamed to admit it, but Timothy and I don’t have the strength to do those things to you.

Whatever other people dare to brag about, I, like a fool, can also brag about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. ²³ Are they Christ’s servants? It’s insane to say it, but I’m a far better one. I’ve done much more work, been in prison many more times, been beaten more severely, and have faced death more often. ²⁴ Five times the Jewish leaders had me beaten with 39 lashes; ²⁵ three times Roman officials had me beaten with clubs. Once people tried to stone me to death; three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a night and a day. ²⁶ Because I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve faced dangers from raging rivers, from robbers, from my own people, and from other people. I’ve faced dangers in the city, in the open country, on the sea, and from believers who turned out to be false friends. ²⁷ Because I’ve had to work so hard, I’ve often gone without sleep, been hungry and thirsty, and gone without food and without proper clothes during cold weather. ²⁸ Besides these external matters, I have the daily pressure of my anxiety about all the churches. ²⁹ When anyone is weak, I’m weak too. When anyone is caught in a trap, I’m also harmed.

³⁰ If I must brag, I will brag about the things that show how weak I am. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is praised forever, knows that I’m not lying. ³² The governor under King Aretas put guards around the city of Damascus to catch me. ³³ So I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.

Paul’s Visions and Revelations from the Lord

12 I must brag, although it doesn’t do any good. I’ll go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. ² I know a follower of Christ who was snatched away to the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don’t know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows. ³ I know that this person ⁴ was snatched away to paradise where he heard things that can’t be expressed in words, things that humans cannot put into words. I don’t know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows.^{[a] 5} I’ll brag about this person, but I won’t brag about myself unless it’s about my weaknesses.

⁶ If I ever wanted to brag, I wouldn’t be a fool. Instead, I would be telling the truth. But I’m going to spare you so that no one may think more of me than what he sees or hears about me, ⁷ especially because of the excessive number of revelations that I’ve had.

Therefore, to keep me from becoming conceited, I am forced to deal with a recurring problem. That problem, Satan’s messenger, torments me to keep me from being conceited. ⁸ I begged the Lord three times to take it away from me. ⁹ But he told me: “My kindness ^[b] is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So I will brag even more about my weaknesses in order that Christ’s power will live in me. ¹⁰ Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It’s clear that when I’m weak, I’m strong.

Paul Was Not a Burden to the Corinthians

¹¹ I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. You should have recommended me to others. Even if I’m nothing, I wasn’t inferior in any way to your super-apostles. ¹² While I was among you I patiently did the signs, wonders, and miracles which prove that I’m an apostle. ¹³ How were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I didn’t bother you for help? Forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴ I’m ready to visit you for a third time, and I won’t bother you for help. I don’t want your possessions. Instead, I want you. Children shouldn’t have to provide for their parents, but parents should provide for their children. ¹⁵ I will be very glad to spend whatever I have. I’ll even give myself for you. Do you love me less because I love you so much?

¹⁶ You agree, then, that I haven’t been a burden to you. Was I a clever person who trapped you by some trick? ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you through any of the men I sent you? ¹⁸ I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent my friend with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Didn’t we have the same motives and do things the same way?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we’re trying to defend ourselves to you? We speak as Christ’s people in God’s sight. Everything we do, dear friends, is for your benefit.

Paul’s Concern about the Corinthians’ Way of Life

²⁰ I’m afraid that I may come and find you different from what I want you to be, and that you may find me different from what you want me to be. I’m afraid that there may be rivalry, jealousy, hot tempers, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct. ²¹ I’m afraid that when I come to you again, my God may humble me. I may have to grieve over many who formerly led sinful lives and have not changed the way they think and act about the perversion, sexual sins, and promiscuity in which they have been involved.

Paul Tells the Corinthians to Prepare for His Visit

13 This is the third time that I’ll be visiting you. Every accusation must be verified by two or three witnesses. ² I already warned you when I was with you the second time, and even though I’m not there now, I’m warning you again. When I visit you again, I won’t spare you. That goes for all those who formerly led sinful lives as well as for all the others. ³ Since you want proof that Christ is speaking through me, that’s what you’ll get. Christ isn’t weak in dealing with you. Instead, he makes his power felt among you. ⁴ He was weak when he was crucified, but by God’s power he lives. We are weak with him, but by God’s power we will live for you with his help.

⁵ Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves! Don’t you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you’re failing the test? ⁶ I hope that you will realize that we haven’t failed the test. ⁷ We pray to God that you won’t do anything wrong. It’s not that we want to prove that we’ve passed the test. Rather, we want you to do whatever is right, even if we seem to have failed. ⁸ We can’t do anything against the truth but only to help the truth. ⁹ We’re glad when we are weak and you are strong. We are also praying for your improvement.

¹⁰ That’s why I’m writing this letter while I’m not with you. When I am with you I don’t want to be harsh by using the authority that the Lord gave me. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.

Farewell

¹¹ With that, brothers and sisters, I must say goodbye. Make sure that you improve. Accept my encouragement. Share the same attitude and live in peace. The God of love and peace will be with you. ¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss. All of God’s holy people greet you.^[c]

¹³ May the Lord Jesus Christ’s good will,^[d] God’s love, and the Holy Spirit’s presence be with all of you!