though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.
For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.