2 Corinthians 11-13; Galatians 1

1I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that.

2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.

5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

6Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.

7Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

8I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.

9And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.

10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

12But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

16I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

17In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.

18Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.

19For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise.

20In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.

21To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.

22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

23Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.

24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.

26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,

27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

28Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.

32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.

33But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.

1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.

3And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows—

4was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were inexpressible, things that man is not permitted to tell.

5I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses.

6Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me,

7or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

9But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

10That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

11I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

12The marks of a true apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance.

13In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

14See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

15And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?

16Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery.

17Did I exploit you by anyone I sent you?

18I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus exploit you in any way? Did we not walk in the same Spirit and follow in the same footsteps?

19Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.

20For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

21I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

1This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

2I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,

3since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful among you.

4For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. For we are also weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him concerning you.

5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test?

6And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.

7Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not that we will appear to have stood the test, but that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed.

8For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

9In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.

10This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

11Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

12Greet one another with a holy kiss.

13All the saints send you greetings.

14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

1Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—

2and all the brothers with me, To the churches of Galatia:

3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

5to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

6I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!

9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.

12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

16to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

19But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

20I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.

21Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

23They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

24And they glorified God because of me.