1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Timotheus the brother, to the assembly of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
1:3 Blessed [is] God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the mercies, and God of
all comfort,
1:4 who is comforting us in all our
tribulation, for our being able to comfort those in any tribulation through
the comfort with which we are comforted ourselves by God;
1:5 because, as the sufferings of the
Christ do abound to us, so through the Christ does abound also our comfort;
1:6 and whether we be in tribulation, [it
is] for your comfort and salvation, that is wrought in the enduring of the
same sufferings that we also suffer; whether we are comforted, [it is] for
your comfort and salvation;
1:7 and our hope [is] stedfast for you,
knowing that even as you are partakers of the sufferings -- so also of the
comfort.
1:8 For we do not wish you
to be ignorant, brethren, of our tribulation that happened to us in Asia,
that we were exceedingly burdened above [our] power, so that we despaired
even of life;
1:9 but we ourselves in ourselves the
sentence of the death have had, that we may not be trusting on ourselves,
but on God, who is raising the dead,
1:10 who out of so great a death did
deliver us, and does deliver, in whom we have hoped that even yet He will
deliver;
1:11 you working together also for us by
your supplication, that the gift through many persons to us, through many
may be thankfully acknowledged for us.
1:12 For our glorying is
this: the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and sincerity of
God, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we did conduct
ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you;
1:13 for no other things do we write to
you, but what you either do read or also acknowledge, and I hope that also
unto the end you shall acknowledge,
1:14 according as also you did acknowledge
us in part, that your glory we are, even as also you [are] ours, in the day
of the Lord Jesus;
1:15 and in this confidence I was purposing
to come unto you before, that a second favour you might have,
1:16 and through you to pass to Macedonia,
and again from Macedonia to come unto you, and by you to be sent forward to
Judea.
1:17 This, therefore,
counselling, did I then use the lightness; or the things that I counsel,
according to the flesh do I counsel, that it may be with me Yes, yes, and
No, no?
1:18 and God [is] faithful, that our word
unto you became not Yes and No,
1:19 for the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
among you through us having been preached -- through me and Silvanus and
Timotheus -- did not become Yes and No, but in him it has become Yes;
1:20 for as many as [are] promises of God,
in him [are] the Yes, and in him the Amen, for glory to God through us;
1:21 and He who is confirming you with us
into Christ, and did anoint us, [is] God,
1:22 who also sealed us, and gave the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
1:23 And I for a witness
on God do call upon my soul, that sparing you, I came not yet to Corinth;
1:24 not that we are lords over your faith,
but we are workers together with your joy, for by the faith you stand.
2:1 And I decided this to
myself, not again to come in sorrow unto you,
2:2 for if I make you sorry, then who is he
who is making me glad, except he who is made sorry by me?
2:3 and I wrote to you this same thing,
that having come, I may not have sorrow from them of whom it behoved me to
have joy, having confidence in you all, that my joy is of you all,
2:4 for out of much tribulation and
pressure of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not that you might be
made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have more abundantly
toward you.
2:5 And if any one has
caused sorrow, he has not caused sorrow to me, but in part, that I may not
burden you all;
2:6 sufficient to such a one is this
punishment, that [is] by the more part,
2:7 so that, on the contrary, [it is] rather
for you to forgive and to comfort, lest by over abundant sorrow such a one
may be swallowed up;
2:8 therefore, I call upon you to confirm
love to him,
2:9 for, for this also did I write, that I
might know the proof of you, whether in regard to all things you are
obedient.
2:10 And to whom you
forgive anything -- I also; for I also, if I have forgiven anything, to
whom I have forgiven [it], because of you -- in the person of Christ -- [I
forgive it,]
2:11 that we may not be over-reached by the
Adversary, for of his devices we are not ignorant.
2:12 And having come to
Troas for the good news of the Christ, and a door to me having been opened
in the Lord,
2:13 I have not had rest to my spirit, on
my not finding Titus my brother, but having taken leave of them, I went
forth to Macedonia;
2:14 and to God [are] thanks, who at all
times is leading us in triumph in the Christ, and the fragrance of His
knowledge He is manifesting through us in every place,
2:15 because of Christ a sweet fragrance we
are to God, in those being saved, and in those being lost;
2:16 to the one, indeed, a fragrance of
death to death, and to the other, a fragrance of life to life; and for
these things who is sufficient?
2:17 for we are not as the many,
adulterating the word of God, but as of sincerity -- but as of God; in the
presence of God, in Christ we do speak.
3:1 Do we begin again to
recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation
unto you, or from you?
3:2 our letter you are, having been written
in our hearts, known and read by all men,
3:3 manifested that you are a letter of
Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God, not in the tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the
heart,
3:4 and such trust we have through the
Christ toward God,
3:5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves
to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency [is] of God,
3:6 who also made us sufficient [to be]
ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter
does kill, and the spirit does make alive.
3:7 and if the ministration
of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the
sons of Israel were not able to look stedfastly to the face of Moses,
because of the glory of his face -- which was being made useless,
3:8 how shall the ministration of the
Spirit not be more in glory?
3:9 for if the ministration of the
condemnation [is] glory, much more does the ministration of the
righteousness abound in glory;
3:10 for also even that which has been
glorious, has not been glorious -- in this respect, because of the superior
glory;
3:11 for if that which is being made
useless [is] through glory, much more that which is remaining [is] in
glory.
3:12 Having, then, such
hope, we use much freedom of speech,
3:13 and [are] not as Moses, who was
putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to
look to the end of that which is being made useless,
3:14 but their minds were hardened, for
unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant does remain
unwithdrawn -- which in Christ is being made useless --
3:15 but till to-day, when Moses is read, a
vail upon their heart does lie,
3:16 and whenever they may turn unto the
Lord, the vail is taken away.
3:17 And the Lord is the
Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty;
3:18 and we all, with unvailed face, the
glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being
transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
4:1 Because of this,
having this ministration, according as we did receive kindness, we do not
faint,
4:2 but did renounce for ourselves the
hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor deceitfully using
the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth recommending
ourselves unto every conscience of men, before God;
4:3 and if also our good news is vailed, in
those perishing it is vailed,
4:4 in whom the god of this age did blind
the minds of the unbelieving, that there does not shine forth to them the
enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image
of God;
4:5 for not ourselves do we preach, but
Christ Jesus -- Lord, and ourselves your servants because of Jesus;
4:6 because [it is] God who said, Out of
darkness light [is] to shine, who did shine in our hearts, for the
enlightening of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ.
4:7 And we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of
God, and not of us;
4:8 on every side being in tribulation, but
not straitened; perplexed, but not in despair;
4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; cast
down, but not destroyed;
4:10 at all times the dying of the Lord
Jesus bearing about in the body, that the life also of Jesus in our body
may be manifested,
4:11 for always are we who are living
delivered up to death because of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be
manifested in our dying flesh,
4:12 so that, the death indeed in us does
work, and the life in you.
4:13 And having the same
spirit of the faith, according to that which has been written, `I believed,
therefore I did speak;' we also do believe, therefore also do we speak;
4:14 knowing that He who did raise up the
Lord Jesus, us also through Jesus shall raise up, and shall present with
you,
4:15 for the all things [are] because of
you, that the grace having been multiplied, because of the thanksgiving of
the more, may abound to the glory of God;
4:16 therefore, we faint not, but if also
our outward man does decay, yet the inward is renewed day by day;
4:17 for the momentary light matter of our
tribulation, more and more exceedingly an age-during weight of glory does
work out for us --
4:18 we not looking to the things seen, but
to the things not seen; for the things seen [are] temporary, but the things
not seen [are] age-during.
5:1 For we have known that
if our earthly house of the tabernacle may be thrown down, a building from
God we have, an house not made with hands -- age-during -- in the heavens,
5:2 for also in this we groan, with our
dwelling that is from heaven earnestly desiring to clothe ourselves,
5:3 if so be that, having clothed
ourselves, we shall not be found naked,
5:4 for we also who are in the tabernacle
do groan, being burdened, seeing we wish not to unclothe ourselves, but to
clothe ourselves, that the mortal may be swallowed up of the life.
5:5 And He who did work us
to this self-same thing [is] God, who also did give to us the earnest of
the Spirit;
5:6 having courage, then, at all times, and
knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the
Lord, --
5:7 for through faith we walk, not through
sight --
5:8 we have courage, and are well pleased
rather to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the
Lord.
5:9 Therefore also we are
ambitious, whether at home or away from home, to be well pleasing to him,
5:10 for all of us it behoves to be
manifested before the tribunal of the Christ, that each one may receive the
things [done] through the body, in reference to the things that he did,
whether good or evil;
5:11 having known, therefore, the fear of
the Lord, we persuade men, and to God we are manifested, and I hope also in
your consciences to have been manifested;
5:12 for not again ourselves do we
recommend to you, but we are giving occasion to you of glorifying in our
behalf, that you may have [something] in reference to those glorifying in
face and not in heart;
5:13 for whether we were beside ourselves,
[it was] to God; whether we be of sound mind -- [it is] to you,
5:14 for the love of the Christ does
constrain us, having judged thus: that if one for all died, then the whole
died,
5:15 and for all he died, that those
living, no more to themselves may live, but to him who died for them, and
was raised again.
5:16 So that we henceforth
have known no one according to the flesh, and even if we have known Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know him no more;
5:17 so that if any one [is] in Christ --
[he is] a new creature; the old things did pass away, lo, become new have
the all things.
5:18 And the all things
[are] of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and did
give to us the ministration of the reconciliation,
5:19 how that God was in Christ -- a world
reconciling to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses; and having
put in us the word of the reconciliation,
5:20 in behalf of Christ, then, we are
ambassadors, as if God were calling through us, we beseech, in behalf of
Christ, `Be you reconciled to God;'
5:21 for him who did not know sin, in our
behalf He did make sin, that we may become the righteousness of God in him.
6:1 And working together
also we call upon [you] that you receive not in vain the grace of God --
6:2 for He says, `In an acceptable time I
did hear you, and in a day of salvation I did help you, lo, now [is] a
well-accepted time; lo, now, a day of salvation,' --
6:3 in nothing giving any cause of offence,
that the ministration may be not blamed,
6:4 but in everything recommending
ourselves as God's ministrants; in much patience, in tribulations, in
necessities, in distresses,
6:5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in
insurrections, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,
6:6 in pureness, in knowledge, in
long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,
6:7 in the word of truth, in the power of
God, through the armour of the righteousness, on the right and on the left,
6:8 through glory and dishonour, through
evil report and good report, as leading astray, and true;
6:9 as unknown, and recognized; as dying,
and lo, we live; as chastened, and not put to death;
6:10 as sorrowful, and always rejoicing; as
poor, and making many rich; as having nothing, and possessing all things.
6:11 Our mouth has been
open unto you, O Corinthians, our heart has been enlarged!
6:12 you are not
straitened in us, and you are straitened in your [own] bowels,
6:13 and [as] a recompense of the same
kind, (as to children I say [it],) be you enlarged -- also you!
6:14 Become not yoked with
others -- unbelievers, for what partaking [is there] to righteousness and
lawlessness?
6:15 and what fellowship to light with
darkness? and what concord to Christ with Belial? or what part to a
believer with an unbeliever?
6:16 and what agreement to the sanctuary of
God with idols? for you are a sanctuary of the living God, according as God
said -- `I will dwell in them, and will walk among [them], and I will be
their God, and they shall be My people,
6:17 therefore, come you forth out of the
midst of them, and be separated, says the Lord, and an unclean thing do not
touch, and I -- I will receive you,
6:18 and I will be to you for a Father, and
you -- you shall be to Me for sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.'
7:1 Having, then, these
promises, beloved, may we cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh
and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God;
7:2 receive us; no one did we wrong; no one
did we waste; no one did we defraud;
7:3 not to condemn you do I say [it], for I
have said before that in our hearts you are to die with and to live with;
7:4 great [is] my freedom of speech unto
you, great my glory on your behalf; I have been filled with the comfort, I
overabound with the joy on all our tribulation,
7:5 for also we, having come to Macedonia,
no relaxation has our flesh had, but on every side we are in tribulation,
without [are] fightings, within -- fears;
7:6 but He who is comforting the cast-down
-- God -- He did comfort us in the presence of Titus;
7:7 and not only in his presence, but also
in the comfort with which he was comforted over you, declaring to us your
longing desire, your lamentation, your zeal for me, so that the more I did
rejoice,
7:8 because even if I made you sorry in the
letter, I do not repent -- if even I did repent -- for I perceive that the
letter, even if for an hour, did make you sorry.
7:9 I now do rejoice, not
that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to reformation, for
you were made sorry toward God, that in nothing you might receive damage
from us;
7:10 for the sorrow toward God reformation
to salvation not to be repented of does work, and the sorrow of the world
does work death,
7:11 for, lo, this same thing -- your being
made sorry toward God -- how much diligence it does work in you! but
defence, but displeasure, but fear, but longing desire, but zeal, but
revenge; in every thing you did approve yourselves to be pure in the
matter.
7:12 If, then, I also
wrote to you -- not for his cause who did wrong, nor for his cause who did
suffer wrong, but for our diligence in your behalf being manifested unto
you before God --
7:13 because of this we have been comforted
in your comfort, and more abundantly the more did we rejoice in the joy of
Titus, that his spirit has been refreshed from you all;
7:14 because if anything to him in your
behalf I have boasted, I was not put to shame; but as all things in truth
we did speak to you, so also our boasting before Titus became truth,
7:15 and his tender affection is more
abundantly toward you, remembering the obedience of you all, how with fear
and trembling you did receive him;
7:16 I rejoice, therefore, that in
everything I have courage in you.
8:1 And we make known to
you, brethren, the grace of God, that has been given in the assemblies of
Macedonia,
8:2 because in much trial of tribulation
the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, did abound to the
riches of their liberality;
8:3 because, according to [their] power, I
testify, and above [their] power, they were willing of themselves,
8:4 with much entreaty calling on us to
receive the favour and the fellowship of the ministration to the saints,
8:5 and not according as we expected, but
themselves they did give first to the Lord, and to us, through the will of
God,
8:6 so that we exhorted Titus, that,
according as he did begin before, so also he may finish to you also this
favour,
8:7 but even as in every thing you do
abound, in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all diligence, and in your
love to us, that also in this grace you may abound;
8:8 not according to command do I speak,
but because of the diligence of others, and of your love proving the
genuineness,
8:9 for you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that because of you he became poor -- being rich, that you by
that poverty may become rich.
8:10 And an opinion in
this do I give: for this to you [is] expedient, who not only to do, but
also to will, did begin before -- a year ago,
8:11 and now also finish doing [it], that
even as [there is] the readiness of the will, so also the finishing, out of
that which you have,
8:12 for if the willing mind is present,
according to that which any one may have it is well-accepted, not according
to that which he has not;
8:13 for not that for others release, and
you pressured, [do I speak,]
8:14 but by equality, at the present time
your abundance -- for their want, that also their abundance may be for your
want, that there may be equality,
8:15 according as it has been written, `He
who [did gather] much, had nothing over; and he who [did gather] little,
had no lack.'
8:16 And thanks to God,
who is putting the same diligence for you in the heart of Titus,
8:17 because indeed the exhortation he
accepted, and being more diligent, of his own accord he went forth unto
you,
8:18 and we sent with him the brother,
whose praise in the good news [is] through all the assemblies,
8:19 and not only so, but who was also
appointed by vote by the assemblies, our fellow-traveller, with this favour
that is ministered by us, unto the glory of the same Lord, and your willing
mind;
8:20 avoiding this, lest any one may blame
us in this abundance that is ministered by us,
8:21 providing right things, not only
before the Lord, but also before men;
8:22 and we sent with them our brother,
whom we proved in many things many times being diligent, and now much more
diligent, by the great confidence that is toward you,
8:23 whether -- about Titus -- my partner
and towards you fellow-worker, whether -- our brethren, apostles of
assemblies -- glory of Christ;
8:24 the shewing therefore of your love,
and of our boasting on your behalf, to them shew you, even in the face of
the assemblies.
9:1 For, indeed,
concerning the ministration that [is] for the saints, it is superfluous for
me to write to you,
9:2 for I have known your readiness of
mind, which in your behalf I boast of to Macedonians, that Achaia has been
prepared a year ago, and the zeal of you did stir up the more part,
9:3 and I sent the brethren, that our
boasting on your behalf may not be made vain in this respect; that,
according as I said, you may be ready,
9:4 lest if Macedonians may come with me,
and find you unprepared, we -- we may be put to shame (that we say not --
you) in this same confidence of boasting.
9:5 Necessary, therefore,
I thought [it] to exhort the brethren, that they may go before to you, and
may make up before your formerly announced blessing, that this be ready, as
a blessing, and not as covetousness.
9:6 And this: He who is
sowing sparingly, sparingly also shall reap; and he who is sowing in
blessings, in blessings also shall reap;
9:7 each one, according as he does purpose
in heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for a cheerful giver does
God love,
9:8 and God [is] able all grace to cause to
abound to you, that in every thing always all sufficiency having, you may
abound to every good work,
9:9 (according as it has been written, `He
dispersed abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness does remain to the
age,')
9:10 and may He who is supplying seed to
the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed sown, and
increase the fruits of your righteousness,
9:11 in every thing being enriched to all
liberality, which does work through us thanksgiving to God,
9:12 because the ministration of this
service not only is supplying the wants of the saints, but is also
abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
9:13 through the proof of this ministration
glorifying God for the subjection of your confession to the good news of
the Christ, and [for] the liberality of the fellowship to them and to all,
9:14 and by their supplication in your
behalf, longing after you because of the exceeding grace of God upon you;
9:15 thanks also to God for His unspeakable
gift!
10:1 And I, Paul, myself,
do call upon you -- through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ --
who in presence, indeed [am] humble among you, and being absent, have
courage toward you,
10:2 and I beseech [you], that, being
present, I may not have courage, with the confidence with which I reckon to
be bold against certain reckoning us as walking according to the flesh;
10:3 for walking in the flesh, not
according to the flesh do we war,
10:4 for the weapons of our warfare [are]
not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds,
10:5 reasonings bringing down, and every
high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,
10:6 and being in readiness to avenge every
disobedience, whenever your obedience may be fulfilled.
10:7 The things in presence
do you see? if any one has trusted in himself to be Christ's, this let him
reckon again from himself, that according as he is Christ's, so also we
[are] Christ's;
10:8 for even if also anything more
abundantly I shall boast concerning our authority, that the Lord gave us
for building up, and not for casting you down, I shall not be ashamed;
10:9 that I may not seem as if I would
terrify you through the letters,
10:10 `because the letters indeed -- says
one -- [are] weighty and strong, and the bodily presence weak, and the
speech despicable.'
10:11 This one -- let him
reckon thus: that such as we are in word, through letters, being absent,
such also, being present, [we are] in deed.
10:12 For we do not make
bold to rank or to compare ourselves with certain of those commending
themselves, but they, among themselves measuring themselves, and comparing
themselves with themselves, are not wise,
10:13 and we in regard to the unmeasured
things will not boast ourselves, but after the measure of the line that the
God of measure did appoint to us -- to reach even unto you;
10:14 for not as not reaching to you do we
stretch ourselves overmuch, for even unto you did we come in the good news
of the Christ,
10:15 not boasting of the things not
measured, in other men's labours, and having hope -- your faith increasing
-- in you to be enlarged, according to our line -- into abundance,
10:16 in the [places] beyond you to
proclaim good news, not in another's line in regard to the things made
ready, to boast;
10:17 and he who is boasting -- in the Lord
let him boast;
10:18 for not he who is commending himself
is approved, but he whom the Lord does commend.
11:1 O that you were
bearing with me a little of the folly, but you also do bear with me:
11:2 for I am zealous for you with zeal of
God, for I did betroth you to one husband, a pure virgin, to present to
Christ,
11:3 and I fear, lest, as the serpent did
beguile Eve in his subtilty, so your minds may be corrupted from the
simplicity that [is] in the Christ;
11:4 for if, indeed, he who is coming does
preach another Jesus whom we did not preach, or another Spirit you receive
which you did not receive, or other good news which you did not accept --
well were you bearing [it],
11:5 for I reckon that I have been nothing
behind the very chiefest apostles,
11:6 and even if unlearned in word -- yet
not in knowledge, but in every thing we were made manifest in all things to
you.
11:7 The sin did I do --
myself humbling that you might be exalted, because freely the good news of
God I did proclaim to you?
11:8 other assemblies I did rob, having
taken wages, for your ministration;
11:9 and being present with you, and having
been in want, I was chargeable to no one, for my lack did the brethren
supply -- having come from Macedonia -- and in everything burdenless to you
I did keep myself, and will keep.
11:10 The truth of Christ
is in me, because this boasting shall not be stopped in regard to me in the
regions of Achaia;
11:11 therefore? because I do not love you?
God has known!
11:12 and what I do, I also will do, that I
may cut off the occasion of those wishing an occasion, that in that which
they boast they may be found according as we also;
11:13 for those such [are] false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ,
11:14 and no wonder -- for even the
Adversary does transform himself into a messenger of light;
11:15 no great thing, then, if also his
ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness --
whose end shall be according to their works.
11:16 Again I say, may no
one think me to be a fool; and if otherwise, even as a fool receive me,
that I also a little may boast.
11:17 That which I speak, I
speak not according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this the
confidence of boasting;
11:18 since many boast according to the
flesh, I also will boast:
11:19 for gladly do you bear with the fools
-- being wise,
11:20 for you bear, if any one is bringing
you under bondage, if any one does devour, if any one does take away, if
any one does exalt himself, if any one on the face does smite you;
11:21 in reference to dishonour I speak,
how that we were weak, and in whatever any one is bold -- in foolishness I
say [it] -- I also am bold.
11:22 Hebrews are they? I
also! Israelites are they? I also! seed of Abraham are they? I also!
11:23 ministrants of Christ are they? -- as
beside myself I speak -- I more; in labours more abundantly, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths many times;
11:24 from Jews five times forty [stripes]
save one I did receive;
11:25 thrice was I beaten with rods, once
was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a night and a day in the deep I
have passed;
11:26 journeyings many times, perils of
rivers, perils of robbers, perils from kindred, perils from nations, perils
in city, perils in wilderness, perils in sea, perils among false brethren;
11:27 in laboriousness and painfulness, in
watchings many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold
and nakedness;
11:28 apart from the things without -- the
crowding upon me that is daily -- the care of all the assemblies.
11:29 Who is infirm, and I
am not infirm? who is stumbled, and I am not fired;
11:30 if to boast it behoves [me], of the
things of my infirmity I will boast;
11:31 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ -- who is blessed to the ages -- has known that I do not lie! --
11:32 In Damascus the
ethnarch of Aretas the king was watching the city of the Damascenes,
wishing to seize me,
11:33 and through a window in a rope basket
I was let down, through the wall, and fled out of his hands.
12:1 To boast, really, is
not profitable for me, for I will come to visions and revelations of the
Lord.
12:2 I have known a man in
Christ, fourteen years ago -- whether in the body I have not known, whether
out of the body I have not known, God has known -- such an one being caught
away unto the third heaven;
12:3 and I have known such a man -- whether
in the body, whether out of the body, I have not known, God has known, --
12:4 that he was caught away to the
paradise, and heard unutterable sayings, that it is not possible for man to
speak.
12:5 Of such an one I will
boast, and of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities,
12:6 for if I may wish to boast, I shall
not be a fool, for truth I will say; but I forebear, lest any one in regard
to me may think anything above what he does see me, or does hear anything
of me;
12:7 and that by the exceeding greatness of
the revelations I might not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a
thorn in the flesh, a messenger of the Adversary, that he might buffet me,
that I might not be exalted overmuch.
12:8 Concerning this thing
thrice the Lord did I call upon, that it might depart from me,
12:9 and He said to me, `Sufficient for you
is My grace, for My power in infirmity is perfected;' most gladly,
therefore, will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of the
Christ may rest on me:
12:10 therefore I am well pleased in
infirmities, in damages, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses --
for Christ; for whenever I am infirm, then I am powerful;
12:11 I have become a fool -- boasting; you
-- you did compel me; for I ought by you to have been commended, for in
nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles -- even if I am nothing.
12:12 The signs, indeed,
of the apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds,
12:13 for what is there in which you were
inferior to the rest of the assemblies, except that I myself was not a
burden to you? forgive me this injustice!
12:14 Lo, a third time I
am ready to come unto you, and I will not be a burden to you, for I seek
not yours, but you, for the children ought not for the parents to lay up,
but the parents for the children,
12:15 and I most gladly will spend and be
entirely spent for your souls, even if, more abundantly loving you, less I
am loved.
12:16 And be it [so], I --
I did not burden you, but being crafty, with guile I did take you;
12:17 any one of those whom I have sent unto
you -- by him did I take advantage of you?
12:18 I entreated Titus, and did send with
[him] the brother; did Titus take advantage of you? in the same spirit did
we not walk? -- did we not in the same steps?
12:19 Again, think you that to you we are
making defence? before God in Christ do we speak; and the all things,
beloved, [are] for your up-building,
12:20 for I fear lest, having come, not
such as I wish I may find you, and I -- I may be found by you such as you
do not wish, lest there be strifes, envyings, wraths, revelries,
evil-speakings, whisperings, puffings up, insurrections,
12:21 lest again having come, my God may
humble me in regard to you, and I may bewail many of those having sinned
before, and not having reformed concerning the uncleanness, and whoredom,
and lasciviousness, that they did practise.
13:1 This third time do I
come unto you; on the mouth of two witnesses or three shall every saying be
established;
13:2 I have said before, and I say [it]
before, as being present, the second time, and being absent, now, do I
write to those having sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come
again, I will not spare,
13:3 since a proof you seek of the Christ
speaking in me, who to you is not infirm, but is powerful in you,
13:4 for even if he was crucified from
infirmity, yet he does live from the power of God; for we also are weak in
him, but we shall live with him from the power of God toward you.
13:5 Your ownselves try
you, if you are in the faith; your ownselves prove you; do you not know
your ownselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, if you be not in some respect
disapproved of?
13:6 and I hope that you shall know that we
-- we are not disapproved of;
13:7 and I pray before God that you do no
evil, not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is
right, and we may be as disapproved;
13:8 for we are not able to do anything
against the truth, but for the truth;
13:9 for we rejoice when we may be infirm,
and you may be powerful; and this also we pray for -- your perfection!
13:10 because of this, these things --
being absent -- I write, that being present, I may not treat [any] sharply,
according to the authority that the Lord did give me for building up, and
not for casting down.
13:11 Henceforth,
brethren, rejoice; be made perfect, be comforted, be of the same mind, be
at peace, and the God of the love and peace shall be with you;
13:12 salute one another in an holy kiss;
13:13 salute you do all the saints;
13:14 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, [is] with you
all! Amen.