2 Corinthians 11
1 I wish you could have borne with a little foolish boasting on my part. Nay, do bear with me.
[But now, because my opponents are saying that Christ sent them to you as his representatives and that he did not send me], please be patient with me, too, [while I say a] few things [that may sound as if] [IRO] [I am praising myself, like] a foolish person [would do. You have been] ([putting up with/tolerating]) [those who teach what is false; ] now then, (put up with/tolerate) me [too].
2 I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy. For I have betrothed you to Christ to present you to Him like a faithful bride to her one husband.
I really do care about [what happens to] you, just as God cares about [what happens to you. Just like a father wants his daughter to be sexually pure when he presents her to the man she will marry] [MET], I [want you to belong] to Christ [alone and to no other]. I want to present you [to him] as people who remain faithful to him [only, and who have not believed the deceitful message of those who are teaching what is false].
3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve, so your minds may be led astray from their single-heartedness and their fidelity to Christ.
However, just like [Satan, when he] cunningly [appeared as a] snake, deceived Eve [and caused her to disobey the Lord God], I am concerned that [those teachers] will cause you to think wrongly so that you will no longer [be faithful to] Christ alone.
4 If indeed some visitor is proclaiming among you another Jesus whom we did not proclaim, or if you are receiving a Spirit different from the One you have already received or a Good News different from that which you have already welcomed, your toleration is admirable!
[I say that] because some people have come among you who are teaching [their own thoughts about] Jesus. They [are saying about him] things that are [entirely] different from what I taught you. [They are urging] you to receive a [powerful] spirit who [would come to live in you], but it is not the same [Spirit] that you received [from God when you believed in Christ]. They preach [what they call] a good message, and you accept [their message, even though it is not the same as the good message about Christ that you heard from me. And] you have gladly accepted them and their message!
5 Why, I reckon myself in no respect inferior to those superlatively great Apostles.
I consider that [LIT] none of those [men, even though they think of themselves as being] [IRO] extra-special apostles, are in any way greater than I am.
6 And if in the matter of speech I am no orator, yet in knowledge I am not deficient. Nay, we have in every way made that fully evident to you.
[I admit that] I am not an eloquent speaker, but I do know [God’s message]. I have made that clear to you by everything [that I have done among you and by everything that I have taught you].
7 Is it a sin that I abased myself in order for you to be exalted, in that I proclaimed God's Good News to you without fee or reward?
[I refused to accept money] from you as pay for teaching you God’s message about Christ. (It is ridiculous for you to think that what I did was wrong!/Was that wrong?) [RHQ] [I know that by teaching you without pay], I made myself seem [IRO] unimportant to you. [But I did it] to honor you.
8 Other Churches I robbed, receiving pay from them in order to do you service.
[Some people might say that it was as though] [IRO] I was robbing other congregations because I accepted money from them in order that I might work among you.
9 And when I was with you and my resources failed, there was no one to whom I became a burden--for the brethren when they came from Macedonia fully supplied my wants--and I kept myself from being in the least a burden to you, and will do so still.
Furthermore, when I was [there] with you and had no [money to buy the things that I needed], I did not cause any [of you] ([to have difficulties by my depending on you/by asking you for money/support]), because our [(inc)] fellow believers who came from [here in] Macedonia [province] brought enough [money for me to buy everything] that I needed. So I have not caused you any difficulty at all [by asking you for money], and I never will [ask you for money] [EUP].
10 Christ knows that it is true when I say that I will not be stopped from boasting of this anywhere in Greece.
[And] as [sure as you know that] everything that Christ says is true, [you can be sure that what] I say [to you now is true. Wherever I go] there in Achaia [province], [I do not let you believers pay me for doing God’s work among you]. And no one will be able to prevent me from boasting [about that].
11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do.
No one should wrongly [RHQ] think that it is because I do not love you that [I do not take pay from you]. God knows [that you truly/really are very dear to me].
12 But I will persist in the same line of conduct in order to cut the ground from under the feet of those who desire an opportunity of getting themselves recognized as being on a level with us in the matters about which they boast.
There are [some men there among you] who would like to be able to say boastfully that they [work among you] just as I do. So, in order to make it impossible [IDM] [for them to say that], I have [refused to accept pay from you], and I will continue doing that.
13 For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ.
Those men are lying [when they say that they are] apostles. They work deceitfully. [Even though they say that they work for God, they are working only for themselves]. They try to make people think that Christ [sent them] as his apostles, [but they do not truly represent him].
14 And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light.
I am not surprised [that they act like that], because Satan himself causes people to think [that he has come] as a shining messenger [from God].
15 It is therefore no great thing for his servants also to disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their actions.
So it should not surprise [you] if these men, who [really] serve [Satan, do good things in order] to make you think they [serve God]. Some day God will [punish them] according to what they deserve because of the [evil] things that they do.
16 To return to what I was saying. Let no one suppose that I am foolish. Or if you must, at any rate make allowance for me as being foolish, in order that I, as well as they, may boast a little.
I say again: I do not want any of you to think that my [boasting about myself] is like foolish [people] boast. But even if anyone [thinks that I am boasting about myself like a foolish person boasts, listen to] what I [have to say anyway, just like you listen to those false apostles]. They really [speak] foolishly! Listen to me while I also boast a little.
17 What I am now saying, I do not say by the Lord's command, but as a fool in his folly might, in this reckless boasting.
About the things that I am [going to tell you], boasting confidently [about myself, surely you know that they are not the kind of things] that the Lord [Jesus] would say. Instead, [I will speak] as a foolish [person would speak].
18 Since many boast for merely human reasons, I too will boast.
Because many among you are boasting [about their own work], as unbelievers do, I will also boast [about myself and my work] [MTY, IRO].
19 Wise as you yourselves are, you find pleasure in tolerating fools.
[I am sure that you, who think that you are so wise, will accept what I say] because you gladly [accept the] false teachers and the foolish things [that they say].
20 For you tolerate it, if any one enslaves you, lives at your expense, makes off with your property, gives himself airs, or strikes you on the face.
When people [treat] you as if they were your bosses, you gladly submit [to them. You think that it is all right when others] force you to provide for their needs. You think that it is all right [when people] take control over you, when they boast about themselves, [or when they insult you by] slapping you in the face.
21 I use the language of self-disparagement, as though I were admitting our own feebleness. Yet for whatever reason any one is 'courageous' --I speak in mere folly--I also am courageous.
I agree that I was not bold enough to treat you in such ways. [Ha! Do you think that] [IRO] I should feel ashamed [because I did not do that?] So now, talking like a person who does not have any sense, I will boldly tell you [some things about myself, just like those false apostles tell you things about themselves].
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
Do [they tell you] that they are Hebrews [and can speak the Hebrew language?] Well, I can say the same thing [about myself]. Do they [tell you that they] belong [to God’s people], the nation of Israel? Well, I can say the same thing [about myself]. [Do they tell you that] they are descendants of [our great] ancestor Abraham? Well, he is my ancestor, too.
23 Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if I were out of my mind.) Much more am I His servant; serving Him more thoroughly than they by my labours, and more thoroughly also by my imprisonments, by excessively cruel floggings, and with risk of life many a time.
[Do they tell you how much] work they have done for Christ? Now I am talking like a crazy person talks [EUP]. Well, I work for Christ much more [than they do. I have been] in prison many more times [than they have. Many times I] have been beaten {[people] have beaten me} very severely [because I believe in and obey Christ]. Many times I almost died [because of serving Christ].
24 From the Jews I five times have received forty lashes all but one.
On five occasions Jewish [religious leaders] beat me 39 times with a whip.
25 Three times I have been beaten with Roman rods, once I have been stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, once for full four and twenty hours I was floating on the open sea.
On three occasions I was beaten {[Roman] officials beat me} with wooden sticks. On one occasion [a large crowd of people] threw stones at me [to kill me]. On three occasions the ship [that I was traveling on] was wrecked [and sank. On one of those occasions] I was [floating] in the water a night and a day [before I was rescued].
26 I have served Him by frequent travelling, amid dangers in crossing rivers, dangers from robbers; dangers from my own countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles; dangers in the city, dangers in the Desert, dangers by sea, dangers from spies in our midst;
As I have often traveled to other places, [I have often risked losing my life. For example], sometimes I have been in danger [crossing] rivers. [I have been] in danger [traveling in places] where there were bandits. [At times I have been in] danger among people of my own nation, [the Jews], and [at other times I been in] danger among those who are not Jews. [I have been] in danger in cities, and I have been in dangerous situations in barren areas. I have been in dangerous situations [when I was traveling in ships]. [I have been in] danger among people who falsely [claim to be] fellow believers.
27 with labour and toil, with many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, in frequent fastings, in cold, and with insufficient clothing.
I have worked very hard [DOU] [to earn] ([a living/what I need]), and often I did not sleep. At times I was hungry and thirsty, and at times I did not have enough time to eat. Sometimes I was cold [because] I did not have enough clothes [to wear].
28 And besides other things, which I pass over, there is that which presses on me daily--my anxiety for all the Churches.
In addition to all that, I am constantly and deeply concerned about all the congregations [that I have helped to begin].
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led astray into sin, and I am not aflame with indignation?
[Every time that I hear about fellow believers] [RHQ] who are not strong [spiritually], I sympathize with them [and try to help them. Every time that I learn about a fellow believer] [RHQ] who causes [another believer] to do something wrong, that makes me very angry.
30 If boast I must, it shall be of things which display my weakness.
Because [it seems that] it is necessary for me to [continue] boasting [about myself], I will boast about things that [caused some people to think of me] as being weak.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--He who is blessed throughout the Ages--knows that I am speaking the truth. (aiōn g165)
God, who is the Father of our [(inc)] Lord Jesus, and who is the one [whom we should] praise forever, knows that I am not lying [about this]. (aiōn g165)
32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the gates of the city in order to apprehend me,
[One time when I was] in Damascus [city], the governor whom King Aretas [had appointed] to rule [part of his area, told his soldiers] to guard [the gates of] the city so that they could seize me [if I tried to leave the city].
33 but through an opening in the wall I was let down in a basket, and so escaped his hands.
But [my friends] helped me to escape [by] putting me in a large basket and lowering me [to the ground by a rope] through an opening in the [city] wall. [That was really humiliating]!
