| 章 |
| 11:1 |
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that.
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| 11:2 |
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
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| 11:3 |
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
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| 11:4 |
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
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| 11:5 |
But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles."
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| 11:6 |
I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
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| 11:7 |
Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?
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| 11:8 |
I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.
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| 11:9 |
And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
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| 11:10 |
As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine.
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| 11:11 |
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
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| 11:12 |
And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.
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| 11:13 |
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
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| 11:14 |
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
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| 11:15 |
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
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| 11:16 |
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.
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| 11:17 |
In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
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| 11:18 |
Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.
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| 11:19 |
You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!
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| 11:20 |
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.
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| 11:21 |
To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! What anyone else dares to boast about--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast about.
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| 11:22 |
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.
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| 11:23 |
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
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| 11:24 |
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
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| 11:25 |
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
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| 11:26 |
I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
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| 11:27 |
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
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| 11:28 |
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
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| 11:29 |
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
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| 11:30 |
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
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| 11:31 |
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.
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| 11:32 |
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.
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| 11:33 |
But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
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