Parallel Bible results for "2 Corinthians 10"

2 Corinthians 10

GNT

NIV

1 I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you - I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ
1 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away!
2 I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives.
2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.
3 It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives.
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments;
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
6 And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.
6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7 You are looking at the outward appearance of things. Are there some there who reckon themselves to belong to Christ? Well, let them think again about themselves, because we belong to Christ just as much as they do.
7 You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.
8 For I am not ashamed, even if I have boasted somewhat too much about the authority that the Lord has given us - authority to build you up, not to tear you down.
8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
9 I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters.
9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.
10 Someone will say, "Paul's letters are severe and strong, but when he is with us in person, he is weak, and his words are nothing!"
10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
11 Such a person must understand that there is no difference between what we write in our letters when we are away and what we will do when we are there with you.
11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
12 Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!
12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
13 As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you.
13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you.
14 And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ.
14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ.
15 So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set.
15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand,
16 Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.
16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory.
17 But as the scripture says, "Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done."
17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
18 For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.
18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.