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2 Corinthians 11

Paul Defends His Apostleship

1

I wish that you would  abear with me in a little  bfoolishness; but  1indeed you are bearing with me.

2

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I  abetrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might  bpresent you as a pure virgin.

3

But I am afraid that, as the  aserpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

4

For if  1one comes and preaches  aanother Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a  bdifferent spirit which you have not received, or a  cdifferent gospel which you have not accepted, you  dbear this  ebeautifully.

5

For I consider myself  anot in the least inferior to the  1most eminent apostles.

6

But even if I am  aunskilled in speech, yet I am not so in  bknowledge; in fact, in every way we have  cmade this evident to you in all things.

7

Or  adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the  bgospel of God to you  cwithout charge?

8

I robbed other churches by  ataking wages from them to serve you;

9

and when I was present with you and was in need, I was  anot a burden to anyone; for when  bthe brethren came from  cMacedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from  abeing a burden to you,  1and will continue to do so.

10

 aAs the truth of Christ is in me,  bthis boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of  cAchaia.

11

Why?  aBecause I do not love you?  bGod knows I do!

12

But what I am doing I will continue to do,  aso that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be  1regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

13

For such men are  afalse apostles,  bdeceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

14

No wonder, for even  aSatan disguises himself as an  bangel of light.

15

Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness,  awhose end will be according to their deeds.

16

 aAgain I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.

17

What I am saying, I am not saying  1 aas the Lord would, but as  bin foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

18

Since  amany boast  baccording to the flesh, I will boast also.

19

For you,  abeing so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.

20

For you tolerate it if anyone  aenslaves you, anyone  bdevours you, anyone  ctakes advantage of you, anyone  dexalts himself, anyone  ehits you in the face.

21

To my  ashame I must say that we have been  bweak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else  cis bold--I  dspeak in foolishness--I am just as bold myself.

22

Are they  aHebrews?  bSo am I. Are they  cIsraelites?  cSo am I. Are they  1 ddescendants of Abraham?  eSo am I.

23

Are they  aservants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so; in  1 bfar more labors, in  1 cfar more imprisonments,  2 dbeaten times without number, often in  edanger of death.

24

Five times I received from the Jews  athirty-nine lashes.

25

Three times I was  abeaten with rods, once I was  bstoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

26

I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my  acountrymen, dangers from the  bGentiles, dangers in the  ccity, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among  dfalse brethren;

27

I have been in  alabor and hardship,  1through many sleepless nights, in  bhunger and thirst, often  cwithout food, in cold and  2 dexposure.

28

Apart from such  1external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for  aall the churches.

29

Who is  aweak without my being weak? Who is  1led into sin  2without my intense concern?

30

If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my  aweakness.

31

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus,  aHe who is blessed forever,  bknows that I am not lying.

32

In  aDamascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was  bguarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,

33

and I was let down in a basket  athrough a window  1in the wall, and so escaped his hands.



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:24:25 2007)

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