Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
10
I myself, Paul, appeal to 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!—
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I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards.
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Indeed, we live as human beings,
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but we do not wage war according to human standards;
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for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,
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but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments
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and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
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We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.
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Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.
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Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
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I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters.
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For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
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Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.
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We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.
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We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you.
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For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news
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of Christ.
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We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged,
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so that we may proclaim the good news
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in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action.
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“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
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For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.
11
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!
2
I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
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But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure
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devotion to Christ.
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For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.
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I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
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I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.
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Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed God’s good news
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to you free of charge?
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I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
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And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the friends
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who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way.
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As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.
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And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
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And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about.
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For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
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And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
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So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.
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I repeat, let no one think that I am a fool; but if you do, then accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
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What I am saying in regard to this boastful confidence, I am saying not with the Lord’s authority, but as a fool;
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since many boast according to human standards,
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I will also boast.
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For you gladly put up with fools, being wise yourselves!
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For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or gives you a slap in the face.
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To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!
But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.
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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
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Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.
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Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
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Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
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on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;
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in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.
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And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
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Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant?
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If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
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The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.
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In Damascus, the governor
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under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to
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seize me,
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but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall,
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and escaped from his hands.
12
It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
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I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.
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And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—
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was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
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On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
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But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me,
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even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep
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me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.
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8
Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,
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but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power
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is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
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Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
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I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
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The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.
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How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!
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Here I am, ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, because I do not want what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.
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I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
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Let it be assumed that I did not burden you. Nevertheless (you say) since I was crafty, I took you in by deceit.
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Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you?
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I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
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Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up.
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For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
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I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you, and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.