| 章 |
| 11:1 |
I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me.
|
| 11:2 |
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you [as] a pure virgin.
|
| 11:3 |
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity [of devotion] to Christ.
|
| 11:4 |
For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear [this] beautifully.
|
| 11:5 |
For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles.
|
| 11:6 |
But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not [so] in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made [this] evident to you in all things.
|
| 11:7 |
Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
|
| 11:8 |
I robbed other churches, taking wages [from] [them] to serve you;
|
| 11:9 |
and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
|
| 11:10 |
As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.
|
| 11:11 |
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows [I do]!
|
| 11:12 |
But what I am doing, I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.
|
| 11:13 |
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
|
| 11:14 |
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
|
| 11:15 |
Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds.
|
| 11:16 |
Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if [you do], receive me even as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
|
| 11:17 |
That which I am speaking, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
|
| 11:18 |
Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
|
| 11:19 |
For you, being [so] wise, bear with the foolish gladly.
|
| 11:20 |
For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.
|
| 11:21 |
To [my] shame I [must] say that we have been weak [by comparison]. But in whatever respect anyone [else] is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am just as bold myself.
|
| 11:22 |
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
|
| 11:23 |
Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
|
| 11:24 |
Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine [lashes].
|
| 11:25 |
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
|
| 11:26 |
[I have been] on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from [my] countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
|
| 11:27 |
[I have been] in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
|
| 11:28 |
Apart from [such] external things, there is the daily pressure upon me [of] concern for all the churches.
|
| 11:29 |
Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?
|
| 11:30 |
If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.
|
| 11:31 |
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
|
| 11:32 |
In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,
|
| 11:33 |
and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and [so] escaped his hands.
|
