2 Corinthians 11
1 [But now, because my opponents are saying that Christ sent them to you as his representatives and that he did not send me], please be patient with me, too, [while I say a] few things [that may sound as if] [IRO] [I am praising myself, like] a foolish person [would do. You have been] ([putting up with/tolerating]) [those who teach what is false; ] now then, (put up with/tolerate) me [too].
I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.
2 I really do care about [what happens to] you, just as God cares about [what happens to you. Just like a father wants his daughter to be sexually pure when he presents her to the man she will marry] [MET], I [want you to belong] to Christ [alone and to no other]. I want to present you [to him] as people who remain faithful to him [only, and who have not believed the deceitful message of those who are teaching what is false].
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3 However, just like [Satan, when he] cunningly [appeared as a] snake, deceived Eve [and caused her to disobey the Lord God], I am concerned that [those teachers] will cause you to think wrongly so that you will no longer [be faithful to] Christ alone.
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 [I say that] because some people have come among you who are teaching [their own thoughts about] Jesus. They [are saying about him] things that are [entirely] different from what I taught you. [They are urging] you to receive a [powerful] spirit who [would come to live in you], but it is not the same [Spirit] that you received [from God when you believed in Christ]. They preach [what they call] a good message, and you accept [their message, even though it is not the same as the good message about Christ that you heard from me. And] you have gladly accepted them and their message!
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we didn’t preach, or if you receive a different spirit which you didn’t receive, or a different “good news” which you didn’t accept, you put up with that well enough.
5 I consider that [LIT] none of those [men, even though they think of themselves as being] [IRO] extra-special apostles, are in any way greater than I am.
For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
6 [I admit that] I am not an eloquent speaker, but I do know [God’s message]. I have made that clear to you by everything [that I have done among you and by everything that I have taught you].
But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.
7 [I refused to accept money] from you as pay for teaching you God’s message about Christ. (It is ridiculous for you to think that what I did was wrong!/Was that wrong?) [RHQ] [I know that by teaching you without pay], I made myself seem [IRO] unimportant to you. [But I did it] to honor you.
Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge?
8 [Some people might say that it was as though] [IRO] I was robbing other congregations because I accepted money from them in order that I might work among you.
I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.
9 Furthermore, when I was [there] with you and had no [money to buy the things that I needed], I did not cause any [of you] ([to have difficulties by my depending on you/by asking you for money/support]), because our [(inc)] fellow believers who came from [here in] Macedonia [province] brought enough [money for me to buy everything] that I needed. So I have not caused you any difficulty at all [by asking you for money], and I never will [ask you for money] [EUP].
When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
10 [And] as [sure as you know that] everything that Christ says is true, [you can be sure that what] I say [to you now is true. Wherever I go] there in Achaia [province], [I do not let you believers pay me for doing God’s work among you]. And no one will be able to prevent me from boasting [about that].
As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11 No one should wrongly [RHQ] think that it is because I do not love you that [I do not take pay from you]. God knows [that you truly/really are very dear to me].
Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
12 There are [some men there among you] who would like to be able to say boastfully that they [work among you] just as I do. So, in order to make it impossible [IDM] [for them to say that], I have [refused to accept pay from you], and I will continue doing that.
But what I do, that I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity, that in which they boast, they may be recognized just like us.
13 Those men are lying [when they say that they are] apostles. They work deceitfully. [Even though they say that they work for God, they are working only for themselves]. They try to make people think that Christ [sent them] as his apostles, [but they do not truly represent him].
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
14 I am not surprised [that they act like that], because Satan himself causes people to think [that he has come] as a shining messenger [from God].
And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
15 So it should not surprise [you] if these men, who [really] serve [Satan, do good things in order] to make you think they [serve God]. Some day God will [punish them] according to what they deserve because of the [evil] things that they do.
It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16 I say again: I do not want any of you to think that my [boasting about myself] is like foolish [people] boast. But even if anyone [thinks that I am boasting about myself like a foolish person boasts, listen to] what I [have to say anyway, just like you listen to those false apostles]. They really [speak] foolishly! Listen to me while I also boast a little.
I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
17 About the things that I am [going to tell you], boasting confidently [about myself, surely you know that they are not the kind of things] that the Lord [Jesus] would say. Instead, [I will speak] as a foolish [person would speak].
That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
18 Because many among you are boasting [about their own work], as unbelievers do, I will also boast [about myself and my work] [MTY, IRO].
Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.
19 [I am sure that you, who think that you are so wise, will accept what I say] because you gladly [accept the] false teachers and the foolish things [that they say].
For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
20 When people [treat] you as if they were your bosses, you gladly submit [to them. You think that it is all right when others] force you to provide for their needs. You think that it is all right [when people] take control over you, when they boast about themselves, [or when they insult you by] slapping you in the face.
For you bear with a man if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, or if he strikes you on the face.
21 I agree that I was not bold enough to treat you in such ways. [Ha! Do you think that] [IRO] I should feel ashamed [because I did not do that?] So now, talking like a person who does not have any sense, I will boldly tell you [some things about myself, just like those false apostles tell you things about themselves].
To my shame, I speak as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever way anyone is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
22 Do [they tell you] that they are Hebrews [and can speak the Hebrew language?] Well, I can say the same thing [about myself]. Do they [tell you that they] belong [to God’s people], the nation of Israel? Well, I can say the same thing [about myself]. [Do they tell you that] they are descendants of [our great] ancestor Abraham? Well, he is my ancestor, too.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 [Do they tell you how much] work they have done for Christ? Now I am talking like a crazy person talks [EUP]. Well, I work for Christ much more [than they do. I have been] in prison many more times [than they have. Many times I] have been beaten {[people] have beaten me} very severely [because I believe in and obey Christ]. Many times I almost died [because of serving Christ].
Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself.) I am more so: in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, and in deaths often.
24 On five occasions Jewish [religious leaders] beat me 39 times with a whip.
Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews.
25 On three occasions I was beaten {[Roman] officials beat me} with wooden sticks. On one occasion [a large crowd of people] threw stones at me [to kill me]. On three occasions the ship [that I was traveling on] was wrecked [and sank. On one of those occasions] I was [floating] in the water a night and a day [before I was rescued].
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
26 As I have often traveled to other places, [I have often risked losing my life. For example], sometimes I have been in danger [crossing] rivers. [I have been] in danger [traveling in places] where there were bandits. [At times I have been in] danger among people of my own nation, [the Jews], and [at other times I been in] danger among those who are not Jews. [I have been] in danger in cities, and I have been in dangerous situations in barren areas. I have been in dangerous situations [when I was traveling in ships]. [I have been in] danger among people who falsely [claim to be] fellow believers.
I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
27 I have worked very hard [DOU] [to earn] ([a living/what I need]), and often I did not sleep. At times I was hungry and thirsty, and at times I did not have enough time to eat. Sometimes I was cold [because] I did not have enough clothes [to wear].
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
28 In addition to all that, I am constantly and deeply concerned about all the congregations [that I have helped to begin].
Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies.
29 [Every time that I hear about fellow believers] [RHQ] who are not strong [spiritually], I sympathize with them [and try to help them. Every time that I learn about a fellow believer] [RHQ] who causes [another believer] to do something wrong, that makes me very angry.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
30 Because [it seems that] it is necessary for me to [continue] boasting [about myself], I will boast about things that [caused some people to think of me] as being weak.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.
31 God, who is the Father of our [(inc)] Lord Jesus, and who is the one [whom we should] praise forever, knows that I am not lying [about this]. (aiōn g165)
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don’t lie. (aiōn g165)
32 [One time when I was] in Damascus [city], the governor whom King Aretas [had appointed] to rule [part of his area, told his soldiers] to guard [the gates of] the city so that they could seize me [if I tried to leave the city].
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the Damascenes’ city, desiring to arrest me.
33 But [my friends] helped me to escape [by] putting me in a large basket and lowering me [to the ground by a rope] through an opening in the [city] wall. [That was really humiliating]!
I was let down in a basket through a window by the wall, and escaped his hands.
