English Standard Version ESV
New Living Translation NLT
1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!--
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Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ—though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away.
2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.
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Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
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We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
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We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
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We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
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And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.
7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.
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Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do.
8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.
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I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority.
9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters.
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I’m not trying to frighten you by my letters.
10 For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account."
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For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!”
11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.
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Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.
12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
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Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!
13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you.
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We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you.
14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.
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We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.
15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged,
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Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended.
16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence.
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Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory.
17 "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
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As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD .”
18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
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When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.