2 Corinthians 11:1-13
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 11
1I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. 2For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate very well! 5For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. 6But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
7Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
8I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;
9and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brothers came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.
11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do!
King James Version
Chapter 11
1Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 5For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 6But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.
7Have I committed an offense in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
8I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
9And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 11
1I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me! 2For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!
5Now I consider myself in no way inferior to those "super-apostles."
6Even if I am untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have in every way made that clear to you in everything.
7Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you.
9When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.
11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows I do!
New Living Translation
Chapter 11
1I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 2For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband — Christ. 3But 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. 4You 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.
5But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these 'super apostles' who teach such things.
6I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.
7Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return?
8I 'robbed' other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost.
9And 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.
10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this.
11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do.
English Standard Version
Chapter 11
1I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God 's gospel to you free of charge?
8I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
9And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.
11And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
New International Version
Chapter 11
1I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3But 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. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
5I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles."
6I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
7Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.
9And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine.
11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
New King James Version
Chapter 11
1Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. 2For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
5For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.
6Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.
7Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.
9And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.
10As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows!