2 Corinthians 11:27

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Legacy Standard Bible
I have been in labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing.

Simplified Cowboy Version
I have ridden the rough string and the rough trails. Most of the time I got little sleep. Many times I had no food or water. I've been in bad cold weather without a coat.

Bible in Basic English
In hard work and weariness, in frequent watchings, going without food and drink, cold and in need of clothing.

Darby Translation
in labour and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Christian Standard Bible®
labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.

World English Bible
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
In labour and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Weymouth's New Testament
with labour and toil, with many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, in frequent fastings, in cold, and with insufficient clothing.

King James Version (1611)
In wearinesse and painfulnesse, in watchings often, in hunger & thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakednes.

Literal Translation
in hardship and toil, often in watchings, in hunger and thirst, often in fastings, in cold and nakedness,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in laboure & trauayle, in moch watchinges, in honger and thyrst, in moch fastinges in colde and nakednesse:

Mace New Testament (1729)
expos'd to toil, to fatigue, to frequent watchings, to hunger and thirst, to frequent fastings, to cold and penury.

Amplified Bible
in labor and hardship, often unable to sleep, in hunger and thirst, often [driven to] fasting [for lack of food], in cold and exposure [without adequate clothing].

American Standard Version
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

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

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
in laboure and travayle in watchynge often in honger in thirst in fastynges often in colde and in nakednes.

Update Bible Version
[in] labor and travail, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasts often, in cold and nakedness.

Webster's Bible Translation
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Young's Literal Translation
in laboriousness and painfulness, in watchings many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold and nakedness;

New Century Version
I have done hard and tiring work, and many times I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty, and many times I have been without food. I have been cold and without clothes.

New English Translation
in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing.

Berean Standard Bible
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

Contemporary English Version
I have worked and struggled and spent many sleepless nights. I have gone hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat. I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm.

Complete Jewish Bible
I have toiled and endured hardship, often not had enough sleep, been hungry and thirsty, frequently gone without food, been cold and naked.

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

Geneva Bible (1587)
In wearinesse and painefulnesse, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in colde and in nakednesse.

George Lamsa Translation
In toil and weariness, in sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, through much fasting, in cold and nakedness.

Hebrew Names Version
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.

International Standard Version
in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, through many periods of fasting, through coldness and nakedness.Acts 20:31; 1 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:5;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
in labour and weariness, in much watching, in hunger and thirst, in much fasting, in cold and in nakedness;

Murdock Translation
In toil and weariness, in much watching, in hunger and thirst, in much fasting, in cold and nakedness:

New King James Version
in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--

New Living Translation
I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

New Life Bible
I have worked hard and have been tired and have had pain. I have gone many times without sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. I have gone without food and clothes. I have been out in the cold.

English Revised Version
[in] labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

New Revised Standard
in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
in toil and hardship, in watchings, oft, in hunger and thirst, in fasting, oft, in cold and nakedness: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness:

King James Version
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Lexham English Bible
with toil and hardship, often in sleepless nights, with hunger and thirst, often going hungry, in cold and poorly clothed.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
In labour & trauayle, in watchinges often, in hunger and thirst, in fastinges often, in colde and nakednesse,

Easy-to-Read Version
I have done hard and tiring work, and many times I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have been without food. I have been cold and without clothes.

New American Standard Bible
I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Good News Translation
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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
in many wakyngis, in hungur, in thirst, in many fastyngis, in coold and nakidnesse.

Contextual Overview

²²Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) ²³I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. ²⁸And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. ³⁰If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

weariness: 2 Corinthians 11:23, 2 Corinthians 6:5, Acts 20:5-11, Acts 20:34, Acts 20:35, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:8

in watchings: Acts 20:31

in hunger: Jeremiah 38:9, 1 Corinthians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 4:12, Philippians 4:12

fastings: 2 Corinthians 6:5, Acts 13:2, Acts 13:3, Acts 14:23, 1 Corinthians 7:5

nakedness: Romans 8:35, Romans 8:36, Hebrews 11:37, James 2:15, James 2:16

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 17:42 - disdained 1 Kings 13:14 - sitting 1 Kings 17:10 - Fetch me Psalms 109:24 - knees Matthew 6:16 - when Matthew 9:15 - and then Matthew 11:8 - A man Matthew 17:21 - but Mark 2:20 - and Mark 9:29 - fasting Luke 5:35 - and Luke 6:21 - ye that hunger Luke 16:21 - desiring Acts 28:2 - because 1 Corinthians 9:27 - I keep 2 Corinthians 6:4 - necessities Philippians 4:11 - in respect 2 Timothy 4:13 - cloak

Cross-References

Genesis 11:1
At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.

Genesis 11:29
Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram's wife was Sarai; Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.

Genesis 11:31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

Genesis 12:4
So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound. Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In weariness and painfulness,.... Through long journeys and frequent preaching; or "in labour and trouble"; or in troublesome labour, for all labour is not so; as hunting, hawking, c. though laborious, yet delightful but the labours of the apostle were painful and troublesome to the flesh, though he had much inward spiritual delight and pleasure in them:

in watchings often; being sometimes engaged at midnight, either in preaching, or praying, or staging psalms, and sometimes obliged to work early and late with his own hands to supply his necessities:

in hunger and thirst; as when at sea, or in wilderness places, or where no notice was taken of him for preaching the Gospel; he doing that freely without asking the assistance of any, which in some places would have been prejudicial to his designs, and the spread of the Gospel:

in fastings often; voluntary ones, which he engaged in, not as meritorious works, but to keep under his body, and as proper to attend the work of prayer at certain times:

in cold and nakedness; when travelling in the winter season, and but poorly clothed to keep him from the inclemencies of the weather; and having no certain dwelling place to retire unto and abide in, during any severe season there might be, and wanting the comforts of life to support him under such inconveniences.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In weariness - Resulting from traveling, exposure, labor, and want. The word κόπος kopos (from κόπτω koptō, “to beat, to cut”) means, properly, “wailing and grief,” accompanied with beating the breast. Hence, the word means “toil, labor, wearisome effort.”

And painfulness - This word (μόχθος mochthos) is a stronger term than the former. It implies painful effort; labor producing sorrow, and in the New Testament is uniformly connected with the word rendered “weariness” (1 Thess, 2 Corinthians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8), rendered in both those places “travail.”

In watchings often - In loss of sleep, arising from abundant toils and from danger; see the note on 2 Corinthians 6:5.

In hunger and thirst - From traveling among strangers, and being dependent on them and on his own personal labors; see the note, 1 Corinthians 4:11.

In fastings often - Either voluntary or involuntary; see the note on 2 Corinthians 6:5.

In cold and nakedness - see the note, 1 Corinthians 4:11.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 27. In weariness and painfulness — Tribulations of this kind were his constant companions. Lord Lyttleton and others have made useful reflections on this verse: "How hard was it for a man of a genteel and liberal education, as St. Paul was, to bear such rigours, and to wander about like a vagabond, hungry and almost naked, yet coming into the presence of persons of high life, and speaking in large and various assemblies on matters of the utmost importance!" Had not St. Paul been deeply convinced of the truth and absolute certainty of the Christian religion, he could not have continued to expose himself to such hardships.