CHAPTER 11
I am jealous for
you
with a godly
jealousy.
For
I promised
you
to one
husband,
to present you
as a pure
virgin
to Christ.
I 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.
For
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
way too easily.
Although
I am not a polished
speaker,
I am certainly not lacking
in knowledge.
We have made this clear
to
you
in
every way possible.
Was 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?
And
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.
As surely as the truth
of Christ
is
in
me,
this
boasting
of
mine
will not be silenced
in
the
regions
of Achaia.
But
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
they boast about.
It is not
surprising,
then,
if
his
servants
masquerade
as
servants
of righteousness.
Their
end
will correspond to
their
actions.
I 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.
In 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.
To
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.
Are they
Hebrews?
So am I.
Are they
Israelites?
So am I.
Are they
descendants
of Abraham?
So am I.
Are they
servants
of Christ?
I am speaking
like I am out of my mind,
but I am
so much more:
in
harder
labor,
in
more
imprisonments,
in
worse
beatings,
in
frequent
danger of death.
Three 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.
In 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,
in labor
and
toil
and often
without sleep,
in
hunger
and
thirst
and often
without food,
in
cold
and
exposure.
The
God
and
Father
of the
Lord
Jesus,
who
is
forever
worthy of praise,
knows
that
I am not lying.
In
Damascus,
the
governor
under
King
Aretas
secured
the
city
of the Damascenes
in order to arrest
me.