Chronological Plan

¹Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent.

²I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving according to the flesh.

³For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh,

⁴since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments

⁵and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

⁶And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

⁷Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

⁸For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

⁹I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters.

¹⁰For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.”

¹¹Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present.

¹²For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵We are not boasting beyond measure about other people’s labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

¹⁷So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

¹⁸For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

¹I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me!

²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband — to present a pure virgin to Christ.

³But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

⁴For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!

⁵Now I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

⁶Even if I am untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have in every way made that clear to you in everything.

⁷Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you.

⁹When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.

¹⁰As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

¹¹Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows I do!

¹²But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about.

¹³For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

¹⁵So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.

¹⁶I repeat: Let no one consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool so that I can also boast a little.

¹⁷What I am saying in this matter of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but as it were, foolishly.

¹⁸Since many boast according to the flesh, I will also boast.

¹⁹For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools!

²⁰In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone is arrogant toward you, if someone slaps you in the face.

²¹I say this to our shame: We have been too weak for that! But in whatever anyone dares to boast — I am talking foolishly — I also dare:

²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the descendants of Abraham? So am I.

²³Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman — I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.

²⁴Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.

²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.

²⁶On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers;

²⁷toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing.

²⁸Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.

²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

³⁰If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses.

³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.

³²In Damascus, a ruler under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me.

³³So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.

¹Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

²I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows.

³I know that this man — whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows —

⁴was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.

⁵I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

⁶For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,

⁷especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

⁸Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me.

⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

¹⁰So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

¹²The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles.

¹³So in what way are you worse off than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹⁵I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

¹⁶Now granted, I did not burden you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit!

¹⁷Did I take advantage of you by any of those I sent you?

¹⁸I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

²⁰For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

²¹I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient,

³since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you.

⁴For he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by God’s power.

⁵Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless you fail the test.

⁶And I hope you will recognize that we ourselves do not fail the test.

⁷But we pray to God that you do nothing wrong — not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear to fail.

⁸For we can’t do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

⁹We rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray that you become fully mature.

¹⁰This is why I am writing these things while absent, so that when I am there I may not have to deal harshly with you, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

¹¹Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.

¹³The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.