1 I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me.
2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.
3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
5 But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things.
6 I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.
7 Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return?
8 I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost.
9 And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be.
10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this.
11 Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do.
12 But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours.
13 These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.
GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION
GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION
1 I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do!
2 I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.
3 I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ—in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies.
4 For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!
5 I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called “apostles” of yours!
6 Perhaps I am an amateur in speaking, but certainly not in knowledge; we have made this clear to you at all times and in all conditions.
7 I did not charge you a thing when I preached the Good News of God to you; I humbled myself in order to make you important. Was that wrong of me?
8 While I was working among you, I was paid by other churches. I was robbing them, so to speak, in order to help you.
9 And during the time I was with you I did not bother you for help when I needed money; the believers who came from Macedonia brought me everything I needed. As in the past, so in the future: I will never be a burden to you!
10 By Christ's truth in me, I promise that this boast of mine will not be silenced anywhere in all of Achaia.
11 Do I say this because I don't love you? God knows I love you!
12 I will go on doing what I am doing now, in order to keep those other “apostles” from having any reason for boasting and saying that they work in the same way that we do.
13 Those men are not true apostles—they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ.
14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!
15 So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.
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