Parallel Bible results for "2 corinthians 10"

2 Corinthians 10

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 Now I, Paul, myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ -- I, who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you --

2 I beseech you that when I am present I need not be bold with that confidence with which I have in mind to be bold against some, who think of us as though we walked according to the flesh.

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds,

5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,

6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

7 Do ye look on things according to the outward appearance? If any man trust himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority (which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction), I should not be ashamed,

9 that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

10 "For his letters," say they, "are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible."

11 Let such a one think this: that as we are in word by letters when we are absent, so will we be also in deed when we are present.

12 For we dare not number ourselves, or compare ourselves, with some who commend themselves. For in measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, they are not wise.

13 But we will not boast of things beyond our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you. For we have come as far as to you also in preaching the Gospel of Christ,

15 not boasting of things beyond our own measure, that is, of other men's labors; but having hope that, when your faith has increased, we shall be magnified in you according to our rule abundantly,

16 to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's rule, which he made ready for our hand.

17 But "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

18 For it is not he that commendeth himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

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.