2 Corinthians 11:31

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
God knows that I am not lying. He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, and he is to be praised forever.

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

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
The God and father of oure lorde Iesus Christ which is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lye not

Hebrew Names Version
The God and Father of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don't lie.

New American Standard Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

New Century Version
God knows I am not lying. He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is to be praised forever.

Update Bible Version
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for evermore knows that I do not lie.

Webster's Bible Translation
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

English Standard Version
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

World English Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don't lie.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not.

Weymouth's New Testament
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--He who is blessed throughout the Ages--knows that I am speaking the truth.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
God and the fadir of oure Lord Jhesu Crist, that is blessid in to worldis, woot that Y lie not.

English Revised Version
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Berean Standard Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.

Contemporary English Version
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, knows I am not lying. And God is to be praised forever!

Amplified Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed and to be praised forevermore, knows that I am not lying.

American Standard Version
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lie not.

Bible in Basic English
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise for ever, is witness that the things which I say are true.

Complete Jewish Bible
God the Father of the Lord Yeshua — blessed be he forever — knows that I am not lying!

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

International Standard Version
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:5;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
Aloha, the Father of our Lord Jeshu Meshiha, the Blessed for ever and ever, knoweth that I lie not.

Murdock Translation
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, blessed for ever and ever, he knoweth that I lie not.

King James Version (1611)
The God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, which is blessed for euermore, knoweth that I lie not.

New Living Translation
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.

New Life Bible
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be honored and thanked forever. He knows I am telling the truth.

New Revised Standard
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The God, euen the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christ, which is blessed for euermore, knoweth that I lie not.

George Lamsa Translation
The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever and ever, knows that I do not lie.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus, knoweth - He who is blessed unto the ages - that I am not speaking falsely:

Douay-Rheims Bible
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The God and father of our Lorde Iesus Christe, which is blessed for euermore, knoweth that I lye not.

Good News Translation
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus—blessed be his name forever!—knows that I am not lying.

Christian Standard Bible®
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.

King James Version
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Lexham English Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

Literal Translation
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows, the One being blessed to the ages, that I am not lying.

Young's Literal Translation
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- who is blessed to the ages -- hath known that I do not lie! --

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
God ye father of oure LORDE Iesus Christ, which is blessed for euer, knoweth that I lye not.

Mace New Testament (1729)
the ever-blessed God, and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, knows that I speak truth.

New English Translation
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.

New King James Version
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

Simplified Cowboy Version
God knows I'm telling the truth. He's Jesus's daddy and the only one worthy of praise.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

Legacy Standard Bible
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

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

God: 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:23, John 10:30, John 20:17, Romans 1:9, Romans 9:1, Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 3:14, Galatians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Colossians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 1 Peter 1:3

which: Nehemiah 9:5, Psalms 41:13, Romans 1:25, Romans 9:5, 1 Timothy 1:11, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Timothy 6:16

knoweth: 2 Corinthians 11:10

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 26:13 - I have not Joshua 22:22 - he knoweth Judges 11:10 - The Lord Job 16:19 - my witness Proverbs 25:14 - boasteth John 8:14 - yet Romans 15:6 - the Romans 15:18 - I will 2 Corinthians 1:18 - as 2 Corinthians 12:6 - I will 2 Corinthians 12:19 - we speak Galatians 1:20 - behold 1 Thessalonians 2:10 - witnesses 1 Timothy 2:7 - I speak Hebrews 1:9 - thy God 2 Peter 1:17 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 11:3
They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.

Genesis 11:4
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."

Genesis 11:5
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.

Genesis 11:26
When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

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.

Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."

Genesis 24:10
The servant took ten of his master's camels and, loaded with gifts from his master, traveled to Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. Outside the city, he made the camels kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women came to draw water. He prayed, "O God , God of my master Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town come out to get water, let the girl to whom I say, ‘Lower your jug and give me a drink,' and who answers, ‘Drink, and let me also water your camels'—let her be the woman you have picked out for your servant Isaac. Then I'll know that you're working graciously behind the scenes for my master."

Genesis 24:15
It so happened that the words were barely out of his mouth when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel whose mother was Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with a water jug on her shoulder. The girl was stunningly beautiful, a pure virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. The servant ran to meet her and said, "Please, can I have a sip of water from your jug?"

Hebrews 11:8
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,.... These words are in the form of an oath, and are a solemn appeal to God, that knows all things, for the truth of the whole that he had declared in the foregoing verses, and of the remarkable deliverance related in the following. "God", says he, who is the searcher of hearts, and an omniscient being, to whom all things are open and manifest,

knoweth that I lie not; in anyone single instance he had mentioned, nor in what he was about to declare; which because it was a fact done by a stratagem, and a good while ago, and which was not known to the Corinthians, and of which perhaps at that time he could not produce any witnesses; therefore calls God to testify the truth of it, whom he describes as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"; God is his "God" as Mediator, and head of the elect, to whom as to them he is a covenant God; and as man, being his Creator, supporter, and the object of his faith, hope, love, and worship; and his "Father" as God, and the Son of God, by supernatural generation, being the only begotten of him, in a way ineffable and inexpressible: "and who is blessed for evermore"; in himself, and Son, and Spirit, and is the source of all happiness to his creatures.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The God and Father ... - Paul was accustomed to make solemn appeals to God for the truth of what he said, especially when it was likely to be called in question; see 2 Corinthians 11:10; compare Romans 9:1. The solemn appeal which he here makes to God is made in view of what he had just said of his sufferings, not of what follows - for there was nothing in the occurrence at Damascus that demanded so solemn an appeal to God. The reason of this asseveration is probably that the transactions to which he had referred were known to but few, and perhaps not all of them to even his best friends; that his trials and calamities had been so numerous and extraordinary that his enemies would say that they were improbable, and that all this had been the mere fruit of exaggeration; and as he had no witnesses to appeal to for the truth of what he said, he makes a solemn appeal to the ever-blessed God. This appeal is made with great reverence. It is not rash, or bold, and is by no means irreverent or profane. He appeals to God as the Father of the Redeemer whom he so much venerated and loved, and as himself blessed for evermore. If all appeals to God were made on as important occasions as this, and with the same profound veneration and reverence, such appeals would never be improper, and we should never be shocked as we are often now when people appeal to God. This passage proves that an appeal to God on great occasions is not improper; it proves also that it should be done with profound veneration.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 31. The God and Father of our Lord — Here is a very solemn asseveration; an appeal to the ever blessed God for the truth of what he asserts. It is something similar to his asseveration or oath in ver. 10 of this chapter; 2 Corinthians 11:10 see also Romans 9:5, and Galatians 1:20. And from these and several other places we learn that the apostle thought it right thus to confirm his assertions on these particular occasions. But here is nothing to countenance profane swearing, or taking the name of God in vain, as many do in exclamations, when surprised, or on hearing something unexpected, c. and as others do who, conscious of their own falsity, endeavour to gain credit by appeals to God for the truth of what they say. St. Paul's appeal to God is in the same spirit as his most earnest prayer. This solemn appeal the apostle makes in reference to what he mentions in the following verses. This was a fact not yet generally known.