I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that,
I am jealous for you to one husnand, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him,
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from tje one you received a different fospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those"super-apostles,"
I may not be a trained speakjer, but I do have knowledge, We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate yoy by preaching to gospel of God to you free of change?
I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as tos erve you.
And when I was with you and needed something. I was not a burden to anyone,for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied waht I needed, I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way and will continue to do so.
As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine,
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do?
And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.
For such mena re false apostles,d eceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
It us not surprising, then of his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness, Their end will be what their actions deserve.
I repeat; let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, sot aht I may do a little boasting.
In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.
You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you oir takes advantage of you orn pushes himself forward or slaps you in thef ace.
To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! What abyone else dares to boast about- I am speaking as a fool= I also dare to boast about.
Are they Henrews? So am I, Are they Israelistes? So am I.
Are they servants of Christ?(I am out of my mind to talk like this,) I am more, I have worked much harder , been in prison more severely, and been exposed to deathe again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beatuen with rods, once I was stones, tjree times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
I have been constantly on the move, I have been in danger from rivers. in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in thec ity, in danger in the country in danger at sea; and ind anger from false brothers.
I have labored sleep' I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
Beside everything else, I face daily the poressure of my concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus. who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order toa rrest me.
But I was lowered -in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.