Parallel Bible results for "2 corinthians 11"

2 Corinthians 11

English Standard Version ESV

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!

2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge?

8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.

9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

12 And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not with the Lord's authority but as a fool.

18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.

19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!

20 For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.

21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast of that.

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.

23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;

26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;

27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,

33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment.

2 The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much - this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband.

3 And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

4 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached - different spirit, different message - you put up with him quite nicely.

5 But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are.

6 It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

7 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me?

8 It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride.

9 Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the Christians from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it.

10 With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think.

11 It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do.

12 I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us.

13 They're a sorry bunch - pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers - posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core.

14 And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light.

15 So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Many a Long and Lonely Night

16 Let me come back to where I started - and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little.

17 I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ.

18 Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days.

19 Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along.

20 You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down - even slap your face!

21 I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

22 Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match.

23 Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.)

24 I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes,

25 beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day.

26 In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers.

27 I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28 And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches.

29 When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30 If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus.

31 The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying.

32 Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me?

33 I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.