Good News Translation GNT
New International Version NIV
16 I repeat: no one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, just so I will have a little to boast of.
16
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.
17 Of course what I am saying now is not what the Lord would have me say; in this matter of boasting I am really talking like a fool.
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In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
18 But since there are so many who boast for merely human reasons, I will do the same.
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Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.
19 You yourselves are so wise, and so you gladly tolerate fools!
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You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!
20 You tolerate anyone who orders you around or takes advantage of you or traps you or looks down on you or slaps you in the face.
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In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face.
21 I am ashamed to admit that we were too timid to do those things! But if anyone dares to boast about something - I am talking like a fool - I will be just as daring.
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To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.
22
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.
23 Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman - but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often.
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Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
24 Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews;
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Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water.
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Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
26 In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends.
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I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.
27 There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing.
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I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
28 And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
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Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
29 When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.
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Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.
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If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus - blessed be his name forever! - knows that I am not lying.
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The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.
32 When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me.
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In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.
33 But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.
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But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.