Read the Bible

Paul Defends His Apostleship

¹ I wish you would ^(C1)bear with me while I indulge in a little ^(C2)foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me as you read this.² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have ^(C1)promised you to one husband, to ^(C2)present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ^(VR1)3 But I am afraid that, even as the ^(C1)serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ^(VR1)4 For you seem willing to allow it if one comes and preaches ^(C1)another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a ^(C2)different spirit from the one you received, or a ^(C3)different gospel from the one you accepted. You ^(C4)tolerate all this ^(C5)beautifully welcoming the deception.⁵ Yet I consider myself ^(C1)in no way inferior to the so-called ^(F1)super-apostles.⁶ But even if I am ^(C1)unskilled in speaking, yet I am not untrained in ^(F1)(C2)knowledge I know what I am talking about; but we have ^(C3)made this evident to you in every way, in all things.

⁷ Or ^(C1)did I perhaps sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted and honored, because I preached ^(C2)God's gospel to you ^(F1)(C3)free of charge?⁸ I robbed other churches by ^(C1)accepting more than their share of financial support for my ministry to you.⁹ And when I was with you and ran short financially, I did ^(C1)not burden any of you; for what I needed was fully supplied by ^(C2)the brothers (Silas and Timothy) who came from ^(C3)Macedonia (the church at Philippi). So I kept myself from ^(C1)being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. ^{(VR1)10 (C1)}As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(C2)my boast of independence will not be silenced in the regions of ^(C3)Achaia (southern Greece).¹¹ Why? ^(C1)Because I do not love you or wish you well, or have regard for your welfare? ^(C2)God knows that I do!

¹² But what I am doing I will keep doing, for I am determined to keep this independence ^(C1)in order to cut off the claim of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things they brag about.¹³ For such men are ^(C1)counterfeit apostles, ^(C2)deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.¹⁴ And no wonder, since ^(C1)Satan himself masquerades as an ^(C2)angel of light.¹⁵ So it is no great surprise if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, but ^(C1)their end will correspond with their deeds.

^16 (C1)I repeat then, let no one think that I am foolish; but even if you do, at least accept me as foolish, so that I too may boast a little.¹⁷ What I say in this confident boasting, I say not ^(C1)as the Lord would with His authority, but ^(C2)foolishly.¹⁸ Since ^(C1)many boast of worldly things and brag ^(C2)about human accomplishments, I will boast too.^19 (F1)For you, ^(C1)being so wise, gladly tolerate and accept the foolish like me!²⁰ For you tolerate it if anyone ^(C1)makes you his slave; or ^(C2)devours you and your possessions; or ^(C3)takes advantage of you; or acts ^(C4)presumptuously; or ^(C5)hits you in the face.

²¹ To my ^(C1)shame, I must say, we have been too ^(C2)weak in comparison to those pseudo-apostles who take advantage of you. But in whatever anyone else ^(C3)dares to boast—I ^(C4)am speaking foolishly—I also dare to boast.²² Are they ^(C1)Hebrews? ^(C2)So am I. Are they ^(C3)Israelites? ^(C3)So am I. Are they ^(C4)descendants of Abraham? ^(C5)So am I.²³ Are they self-proclaimed ^(C1)servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if I were out of my mind—I am more so for I exceed them; with ^(C2)far more labors, with ^(C3)far more imprisonments, ^(C4)beaten times without number, and often in ^(C5)danger of death.²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews ^(F1)(C1)thirty-nine lashes. ^(VR1)25 Three times I was ^(C1)beaten with rods, once I was ^(C2)stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift on the sea;²⁶ many times on journeys, exposed to danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own ^(C1)countrymen, danger from the ^(C2)Gentiles, danger in the ^(C3)city, danger in the wilderness, danger on the sea, danger among ^(C4)those posing as believers;²⁷ in ^(C1)labor and hardship, often unable to sleep, in ^(C2)hunger and thirst, often driven to ^(C3)fasting for lack of food, in cold and ^(C4)exposure without adequate clothing.²⁸ Besides those external things, there is the daily inescapable pressure of my concern for ^(C1)all the churches.²⁹ Who is ^(C1)weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Who is made to sin, and I am not on fire with sorrow and concern?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that reveal my ^(C1)weakness the things by which I am made weak in the eyes of my opponents.³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(C1)He who is blessed and to be praised forevermore, knows ^(C2)that I am not lying.³² In ^(C1)Damascus the ^(F1)governor (ethnarch) under ^(F2)King Aretas ^(C2)guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me,³³ and I was actually let down in a basket ^(C1)through a ^(F1)window in the wall, and slipped through his fingers.