Parallel Bible results for "2 corinthians 10"

2 Corinthians 10

New International Version NIV

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 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 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

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 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 we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

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 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 to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.

10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”

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 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 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 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 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 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, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

New Century Version NCV

1 I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some people say that I am easy on you when I am with you and bold when I am away.

2 They think we live in a worldly way, and I plan to be very bold with them when I come. I beg you that when I come I will not need to use that same boldness with you.

3 We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights.

4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy's strong places. We destroy people's arguments

5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.

6 We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey, but first we want you to obey fully.

7 You must look at the facts before you. If you feel sure that you belong to Christ, you must remember that we belong to Christ just as you do.

8 It is true that we brag freely about the authority the Lord gave us. But this authority is to build you up, not to tear you down. So I will not be ashamed.

9 I do not want you to think I am trying to scare you with my letters.

10 Some people say, "Paul's letters are powerful and sound important, but when he is with us, he is weak. And his speaking is nothing."

11 They should know this: We are not there with you now, so we say these things in letters. But when we are there with you, we will show the same authority that we show in our letters.

12 We do not dare to compare ourselves with those who think they are very important. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing.

13 But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us, and this includes our work with you.

14 We are not bragging too much, as we would be if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ.

15 We limit our bragging to the work that is ours, not what others have done. We hope that as your faith continues to grow, you will help our work to grow much larger.

16 We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another person's area.

17 But, "If someone wants to brag, he should brag only about the Lord."

18 It is not those who say they are good who are accepted but those who the Lord thinks are good.