Parallel Bible results for "2 corinthians 10"

2 Corinthians 10

Common English Bible CEB

1 I, Paul, make a personal request to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I'm shy when I'm with you, but I'm bossy when I'm away from you!

2 I beg you that when I'm with you in person, I won't have to boss you around. I'm afraid that I may have to use that kind of behavior with those people who think we live by human standards.

3 Although we live in the world, we don't fight our battles with human methods.

4 Our weapons that we fight with aren't human, but instead they are powered by God for the destruction of fortresses. They destroy arguments,

5 and every defense that is raised up to oppose the knowledge of God. They capture every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

6 Once your obedience is complete, we are ready to punish any disobedience.

7 Look at what is right in front of you! If anyone is sure about belonging to Christ, that person should think again. We belong to Christ just like that person.

8 Even if I went on to brag about our authority, I wouldn't be ashamed of it. The Lord gave us that authority to build you up and not to destroy you.

9 I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to intimidate you with my letters.

10 I know what some people are saying: "His letters are severe and powerful, but in person he is weak and his speech is worth nothing."

11 These people need to think about this—that when we are with you, our actions will show that we are the same as the words we wrote when we were away from you.

12 We won't dare to place ourselves in the same league or to compare ourselves with some of those who are promoting themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding.

13 We won't take pride in anything more than what is appropriate. Let's look at the boundaries of our work area that God has assigned to us. It's an area that includes you.

14 We aren't going out of bounds, as if our work area doesn't extend as far as you. We were the first ones to travel as far as Corinth with the gospel of Christ.

15 We don't take pride in what other people do outside of our boundaries. We hope that our work will be extended even more by you as your faith grows, until it expands fully (within the boundaries, of course).

16 We hope that our work grows even to the point of the gospel being preached in places beyond Corinth, without bragging about what has already been done in another person's work area.

17 But, the one who brags should brag in the Lord.

18 It isn't the person who promotes himself or herself who is approved but the person whom the Lord commends.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 I, Paul, make my appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I'm the one who is humble when I'm with you but forceful toward you when I'm not with you.

2 I beg you that when I am with you I won't have to deal forcefully with you. I expect I will have to because some people think that we are only guided by human motives.

3 Of course we are human, but we don't fight like humans.

4 The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people's defenses, that is, their arguments

5 and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.

6 We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when you have become completely obedient.

7 Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident he belongs to Christ, he should take note that we also belong to Christ.

8 So, if I brag a little too much about the authority which the Lord gave us, I'm not ashamed. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.

9 I don't want you to think that I'm trying to frighten you with my letters.

10 I know that someone is saying that my letters are powerful and strong, but that I'm a weakling and a terrible speaker.

11 The person who is saying those things should take note of this fact: When we are with you we will do the things that we wrote about in our letters when we weren't with you.

12 We wouldn't put ourselves in the same class with or compare ourselves to those who are bold enough to make their own recommendations. Certainly, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they show how foolish they are.

13 How can we brag about things that no one can evaluate? Instead, we will only brag about what God has given us to do--coming to [the city of Corinth] where you live.

14 It's not as though we hadn't already been to Corinth. We're not overstating the facts. The fact is that we were the first to arrive in Corinth with the Good News about Christ.

15 How can we brag about things done by others that can't be evaluated? We have confidence that as your faith grows, you will think enough of us to give us the help we need to carry out our assignment--

16 spreading the Good News in the regions far beyond you. We won't brag about things already accomplished by someone else.

17 "Whoever brags should brag about what the Lord has done."

18 It isn't the person who makes his own recommendation who receives approval, but the person whom the Lord recommends.