2 Corinthians, 11

1. I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me -- not that you don't do this already.

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

2. The jealousy that I feel for you is, you see, God's own jealousy: I gave you all in marriage to a single husband, a virgin pure for presentation to Christ.

2. I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband.

3. But I am afraid that, just as the snake with his cunning seduced Eve, your minds may be led astray from single-minded devotion 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. Because any chance comer has only to preach a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you have only to receive a spirit different from the one you received, or a gospel different from the one you accepted -- and you put up with that only too willingly.

4. For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, 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 submit to it readily enough.

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

5. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles.

6. Even if there is something lacking in my public speaking, this is not the case with my knowledge, as we have openly shown to you at all times and before everyone.

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

7. Have I done wrong, then, humbling myself so that you might be raised up, by preaching the gospel of God to you for nothing?

7. Did I commit a sin in abasing myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel without cost to you?

8. I was robbing other churches, taking wages from them in order to work for you.

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

9. When I was with you and needed money, I was no burden to anybody, for the brothers from Macedonia brought me as much as I needed when they came; I have always been careful not to let myself be a burden to you in any way, and I shall continue to be so.

9. And when I was with you and was in want, I did not burden any one, for my needs were supplied by the brethren who came from Macedo'nia. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

10. And as Christ's truth is in me, this boast of mine is not going to be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

10. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Acha'ia.

11. Why should it be? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do.

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

12. I will go on acting as I do at present, to cut the ground from under the feet of those who are looking for a chance to be proved my equals in grounds for boasting.

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. These people are counterfeit apostles, dishonest workers disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

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

14. There is nothing astonishing in this; even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

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

15. It is nothing extraordinary, then, when his servants disguise themselves as the servants of uprightness. They will come to the end appropriate to what they have done.

15. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

16. To repeat: let no one take me for a fool, but if you do, then treat me as a fool, so that I, too, can do a little boasting.

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. I shall not be following the Lord's way in what I say now, but will be speaking out of foolishness in the conviction that I have something to boast about.

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

18. So many people boast on merely human grounds that I shall too.

18. since many boast of worldly things, I too will boast.)

19. I know how happy you are to put up with fools, being so wise yourselves;

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

20. and how you will still go on putting up with a man who enslaves you, eats up all you possess, keeps you under his orders and sets himself above you, or even slaps you in the face.

20. For you bear it if a man makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.

21. I say it to your shame; perhaps we have been too weak. Whatever bold claims anyone makes -- now I am talking as a fool -- I can make them too.

21. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever any one 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 descendants of Abraham? So am I.

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

23. Are they servants of Christ? I speak in utter folly -- I am too, and more than they are: I have done more work, I have been in prison more, I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death.

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 have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews;

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

25. three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a night and a day;

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

26. continually travelling, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from the gentiles, in danger in the towns and in danger in the open country, in danger at sea and in danger from people masquerading as brothers;

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 brethren;

27. I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing.

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

28. And, besides all the external things, there is, day in day out, the pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

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

29. If anyone weakens, I am weakened as well; and when anyone is made to fall, I burn in agony myself.

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

30. If I have to boast, I will boast of all the ways in which I am weak.

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

31. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus -- who is for ever to be blessed -- knows that I am not lying.

31. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie.

32. When I was in Damascus, the governor who was under King Aretas put guards round Damascus city to catch me,

32. At Damascus, the governor under King Ar'etas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me,

33. and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and that was how I escaped from his hands.

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