Second Letter to the Corinthians 11

¹ I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course: you are tolerant towards me.

² You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy: I arranged for you to marry Christ so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband.

³ But the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and I am afraid that in the same way your ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to Christ.

⁴ Because any new-comer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you have only to receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already received, or a new gospel, different from the one you have already accepted – and you welcome it with open arms.

⁵ As far as I can tell, these arch-apostles have nothing more than I have.

⁶ I may not be a polished speechmaker, but as for knowledge, that is a different matter; surely we have made this plain, speaking on every subject in front of all of you.

⁷ Or was I wrong, lowering myself so as to lift you high, by preaching the gospel of God to you and taking no fee for it?

⁸ I was robbing other churches living on them so that I could serve you.

⁹ When I was with you and ran out of money, I was no burden to anyone; the brothers who came from Macedonia provided me with everything I wanted. I was very careful, and I always shall be, not to be a burden to you in any way,

¹⁰ and by Christ’s truth in me, this cause of boasting will never be taken from me in the regions of Achaia.

¹¹ Would I do that if I did not love you? God knows I do.

¹² I intend to go on doing what I am doing now – leaving no opportunity for those people who are looking for an opportunity to claim equality with us in what they boast of.

¹³ These people are counterfeit apostles, they are dishonest workmen disguised as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴ There is nothing unexpected about that; if Satan himself goes disguised as an angel of light, is there is no need to be surprised when his servants, too, disguise themselves as the servants of righteousness. They will come to the end that they deserve.

¹⁶ As I said before, let no one take me for a fool; but if you must, then treat me as a fool and let me do a little boasting of my own.

¹⁷ What I am going to say now is not prompted by the Lord, but said as if in a fit of folly, in the certainty that I have something to boast about.

¹⁸ So many others have been boasting of their worldly achievements, that I will boast myself.

¹⁹ You are all wise men and can cheerfully tolerate fools,

²⁰ yes, even to tolerating somebody who makes slaves of you, makes you feed him, imposes on you, orders you about and slaps you in the face.

²¹ I hope you are ashamed of us for being weak with you instead! But if anyone wants some brazen speaking – I am still talking as a fool – then I can be as brazen as any of them, and about the same things.

²² Hebrews, are they? So am I. Israelites? So am I. Descendants of Abraham? So am I.

²³ The servants of Christ? I must be mad to say this, but so am I, and more than they: more, because I have worked harder, I have been sent to prison more often, and whipped many times more, often almost to death.

²⁴ Five times I had the thirty-nine lashes from the Jews;

²⁵ three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked and once adrift in the open sea for a night and a day.

²⁶ Constantly travelling, I have been in danger from rivers and in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from pagans; in danger in the towns, in danger in the open country, danger at sea and danger from so-called brothers.

²⁷ I have worked and laboured, often without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty and often starving; I have been in the cold without clothes.

²⁸ And, to leave out much more, there is my daily preoccupation: my anxiety for all the churches.

²⁹ When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made to fall, I am tortured.

³⁰ If I am to boast, then let me boast of my own feebleness.

³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus – bless him for ever – knows that I am not lying.

³² When I was in Damascus, the ethnarch of King Aretas put guards round the city to catch me,

³³ and I had to be let down over the wall in a hamper, through a window, in order to escape.