11:1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but ①indeed you are bearing with me.
▷ ①Or do indeed bear with me
11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
11:4 For if ①one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate very well!
▷ ①Lit the one who comes preaches
11:5 For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the ①most eminent apostles.
▷ ①Or super-apostles
11:6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
11:7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
11:8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;
11:9 and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brothers came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, ①and will continue to do so.
▷ ①Lit and I will keep
11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.
11:11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do!
11:12 But what I am doing I will also continue to do, so that I may eliminate the opportunity from those who want an opportunity to be ①regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.
▷ ①Lit found
11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
11:14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
11:15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
11:16 Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.
11:17 What I am saying, I am not saying ①as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
▷ ①Lit in accordance with the Lord
11:18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
11:19 For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.
11:20 For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, if anyone devours you, if anyone takes advantage of you, if anyone exalts himself, if anyone hits you in the face.
11:21 To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold—I am speaking in foolishness—I too am bold.
11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they ①descendants of Abraham? So am I.
▷ ①Lit seed
11:23 Are they servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, ①beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
▷ ①Lit exceedingly in blows
11:24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift at sea.
11:26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers;
11:27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and ①exposure.
▷ ①Lit nakedness; i.e., lack of clothing
11:28 Apart from such ①external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
▷ ①Or the things unmentioned
11:29 Who is weak without my being weak? Who is ①led into sin ②without my intense concern?
▷ ①Lit made to stumble ②Lit and I do not burn
11:30 If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.
11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
11:32 In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,
11:33 and I was let down in a basket through a window ①in the wall, and so escaped his hands.
▷ ①Lit through