Chapter 11

Promised to One Spouse. ¹ I hope that you will put up with a little of my foolishness. Please bear with me. ² For I am jealous of you with a godly jealousy, since I promised all of you to one spouse, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

³ However, I am afraid that, just as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be led astray from a singlehearted fidelity to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus^[a] than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with that readily enough!

⁵ I do not regard myself as being inferior to these “super-apostles.” ⁶ I may be untrained in the art of speaking, but the same is not true of me in regard to knowledge. In every way and in all respects, we have made this evident to you.

Paul’s Apostolate. ⁷ Did I make a mistake by preaching the gospel of God without charge, humbling myself^[b] so that you might be exalted? ⁸ I robbed other Churches, accepting support from them in order to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied my needs.

I refrained, and will continue to refrain, from burdening you in any way. ¹⁰ As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do.

¹² And I shall continue to do just as I am doing at present in order to thwart the efforts of those who are seeking the opportunity to be regarded as my equals in the aspects they boast about. ¹³ Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who masquerade as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder! Even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore, it should not be considered unusual that his servants also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will be appropriate to their deeds.

¹⁶ Paul’s Boast. I repeat: let no one take me for a fool. However, if you do, then treat me like a fool and let me boast a little. ¹⁷ In saying this, I am not speaking according to the Lord but out of foolishness in the conviction that I have something to boast about. ¹⁸ Since many boast of their human accomplishments, I will do likewise.

¹⁹ Since you are wise yourselves, you gladly put up with fools! ²⁰ For you endure it if someone makes slaves of you, or robs you of all you possess, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or slaps you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must admit that we have been too weak for that sort of thing!

But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking out of foolishness—I also dare to boast of. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham?^[c] So am I. ²³ Are they ministers of Christ?^[d] (I am talking now like a madman.) I am too, having endured far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far harsher scourgings, and far more brushes with death.

²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one.^{[e] 25} Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; once I was adrift in the open sea for a night and a day. ²⁶ I have traveled continually and faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the desert, dangers at sea, and dangers from false brethren.

²⁷ I have endured toil and hardship, and sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty, and I have often gone without food. I have been cold, and often all but naked.

²⁸ Apart from these external things, I am burdened each and every day with the anxiety of caring for all the Churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not similarly afflicted? Who is led into sinfulness, and I am not filled with indignation?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that exhibit my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus knows—he who is blessed forever—that I am telling the truth. ³² When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas^[f] assigned guards around the city of Damascus in order to arrest me. ³³ However, I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and I thereby escaped from his clutches.