2 Ndị Kọrint 10
1 Ma mụ onwe m bụ Pọl, ji ịdị nwayọọ na obi umeala nke Kraịst na-arịọ unu. Mụ, onye na-adị umeala mgbe mụ na unu nọ nʼihu nʼihu, ma na-enwe mkwuwa okwu nʼebe unu nọ mgbe m na-anọghị nʼetiti unu.
Now I myself, Paul, appeal to you in a gentle and humble way, like Christ [would. Certain people among you have falsely accused me by saying], “When [Paul] is with you, he is humble [and speaks gently] to you, but when he is away from you, [in the letters he writes to you] he threatens [to punish] you.” [Those people claim that I do not have authority over you as an apostle].
2 Arịọ m unu, ka m ghara inwe obi ike mgbe m bịarutere dịka o kwesiri nʼebe ụfọdụ ndị nọ, site na iguzogide ndị ahụ na-eche na anyị na-eme ihe dị ka ndị ụwa si eme ya.
I strongly plead with you, “[Please do not listen to people who say things like that!]” [I strongly plead with you not to listen to them], so that when I am there [with you] I will not [need to] speak severely [to you] in the same severe way as I [plan to] speak to those people who think that I behave like people who are not believers.
3 Ọ bụ ezie na anyị na-ebi dịka mmadụ, ma anyị adịghị ebu agha dịka usoro anụ ahụ si dị.
[Remember that] although I am [human like everyone else] in the world, I do not fight [against those who oppose me] in the way that people who are not believers fight those who oppose them.
4 Nʼihi na ngwa agha anyị ji ebu agha, abụghị ngwa agha nke mmadụ nkịtị nke ụwa, kama ha nwere ike nke mmụọ ịla ebe niile e wusiri ike nʼiyi.
[I will tell you what I mean by that: Just like soldiers use] various weapons [to fight their enemies] [MET], [I] ([fight against/oppose]) [those who] oppose God’s message, but I do it in a different way. I do not [use human arguments and clever/sweet talk], like unbelievers do. Instead, [I fight against my opponents] with the powerful means that God [has given me]. With that power [I destroy their arguments against God’s message and against me, just like soldiers destroy] [MET] the fortresses [of their enemies].
5 Anyị na-ala ịrụ ụka niile na okwu ụgha niile nʼiyi, nke na-egbochiri ụmụ mmadụ ụzọ e si amata Chineke, na-eme ka echiche niile hulata isi nʼokpuru Kraịst.
[Specifically], I show that the [human] arguments that they use to deceive [people are completely wrong]. When they [proudly say things that] keep other people from knowing God, [I show them that they are completely wrong. I also enable people to] change their ways of thinking so that they think about everything as Christ [wants them to think].
6 Anyị nọ na njikere ịta erubeghị isi niile ahụhụ, mgbe irube isi gị zuruoke.
I am also ready to discipline everyone [among you] who has not obeyed [the things that Christ taught. I will do this] as soon as you [who truly want to obey Christ show me that] you are [going to] obey him completely.
7 Unu na-ele anya nʼihe ndị dị unu nʼihu. Ọ bụrụ na ọ bụ ihe doro anya nye onye ọbụla na ha bụ nke Kraịst, ha matakwa na onwe ha, na otu ahụ ha bụ nke Kraịst na anyị onwe anyị bụkwa nke ya.
[I want you to understand what is] happening among you. There are certain [people there who are telling you that] they know for sure that they are Christ’s [representatives and that I am not]. Those people should realize that I [represent] Christ as much as they do.
8 Ugbu a, ọ bụrụ na m anya isi banyere ikike ahụ Onyenwe anyị nyere m nʼebe unu nọ, ike ahụ o nyere m iji wulie unu elu, ọ bụghị iji wedaa unu ala, ihere agaghị eme m nʼihi nke a.
[I say that] because the authority that the Lord gave me [as his apostle] is to help you to become mature believers, not to cause you to stop [trusting in Christ]. So even if I were to boast a little more than I have [already done] (OR, proudly talk a little more than I have [already talked] about the authority the Lord gave me [as his apostle]), [no one would be able to make me] ashamed [by proving that Jesus has not given me that authority].
9 Achọghị ka ọ dịka m a ga-asị na m sitere nʼakwụkwọ ozi m na-emenye unu egwu.
I do not intend to make you afraid of me by the letters that I [write to you].
10 Nʼihi na ha na-asị, “Akwụkwọ ozi ya dị arọ dịkwa ike, ma na mmadụ, ma nʼọdịdị ya na mmadụ adịghị ike, okwu ọnụ ya bụkwa ihe na-abaghị uru.”
[I say that] because some people are saying, “[When Paul writes] letters, he says severe things [in order to make you obey him], but when he is here with you, [people look at him and say] he is weak, and he certainly is not a skillful speaker.”
11 Ma ana m eme ka ndị dị otu a ghọta na ihe anyị na-ekwu site nʼakwụkwọ ozi mgbe anyị na-anọghị nʼetiti unu, ka anyị ga-eme ma anyị nọrọ nʼetiti unu.
The [people who say] such things should think carefully about this: The kind of [severe] person that [you think] me to be when you read my letters is exactly the kind of person I will be when I come. [I will do what I wrote that I would do].
12 Anyị enweghị anya ike ihazi ọnọdụ maọbụ were onwe anyị tụnyere ndị ụfọdụ na ndị ahụ nʼeto onwe ha. Ma mgbe ha na-eji onwe ha na-atụ onwe ha, werekwa onwe ha na-atụnyere onwe ha, ha adịghị ezipụta nghọta.
[Those who oppose me] tell others how good they are. [If they really were superior to me] [IRO], I would not be so bold as to say that I [was equal to them, or] to compare myself with them. [But they are not superior to me]. They make up their own standards [about what God’s servants should be like], and then they look at their own [conduct] and decide [whether or not they meet those standards. By doing that, they show that] they are foolish.
13 Ma anyị onwe anyị, adịghị anya isi banyere ihe ọbụla anyị na-enweghị ike ime. Kama anyị ga-anya isi nʼoke ọrụ ahụ Chineke kenyere anyị, ka anyị rụrụte ọ bụladị ruo nʼebe unu nọ.
But as for me, I will not boast about [working among people living in] areas outside of the areas [that God sent/assigned me to work in]. But [it is right for] me to say that [I have worked] in the areas that God assigned to me. [And since those areas] include the one where you live,
14 Nʼihi na anyị adịghị ekwu okwu karịrị ọnụ anyị mgbe anyị na-etinye anya nʼihe gbasara unu, nʼihi na ọ bụ anyị buru ụzọ bịakwute unu, ikwusara unu oziọma gbasara Kraịst.
[when I talk about working among you], I am not boasting [about working in an area where God did not give me the right to work. What those who oppose me say about my not having authority as an apostle to you might be true] if I had not already come all the way to your area. [But that is not true], because I was the one who first brought the message about Christ to you. [I came to Corinth before they did]!
15 Ọ bụghị na anyị na-ekwu na ọ bụ anyị rụrụ ọrụ niile, ya na ọrụ nke ndị ọzọ rụrụ nʼetiti unu, kama olileanya anyị bụ na okwukwe unu ga na-eto eto mgbe niile, ka ọrụ ya nʼetiti unu bụrụ nke ga-eto eto.
Also, [my opponents] boast about work that others have done [as if it were their own work]. It is improper for them to do that, but I do not do as they do. I confidently expect that as you trust more and more [in the gospel that I preach], you will more and more [agree that God has given me the right to] work [as Christ’s representative] among you.
16 Nke a ga-eme ka anyị nwee ike zisaa oziọma ahụ na mba ndị ọzọ ndị dị nʼofe ala unu, ghara iji ọrụ arụrụ nʼebe ndị ọzọ na-arụ ọrụ na-etu ọnụ.
Then I will be able to go to places beyond where you [are]. I will be able to tell the good message about Christ [to people in areas where no one has yet gone to tell that message]. And [I will be able to talk about the work I myself have done in that area], instead of boasting about work that someone else has already done [as if it were my work].
17 Ma, “Onye ọbụla na-anya isi, ya nyaa nʼime Onyenwe anyị.”
[I try to do according to what someone/Jeremiah wrote in the Scriptures], If anyone wants to boast [about something], he should boast [only] about what the Lord [God has done].
18 Nʼihi na ọ bụghị onye ji aka ya bulie onwe ya elu ka a na-anabata, kama ọ bụ onye Onyenwe anyị jiri aka ya bulie.
[You can realize, then, that] it is not those who (praise themselves/tell you what great things they have done), [as my opponents do], whom you should accept [as apostles]. Instead, you [should accept as true apostles only] those whom the Lord commends.
