2 Corinthians 11 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Paul and the False Apostles

2Co 11:1I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!

2Co 11:2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

2Co 11:3

2Co 11:3But 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.

2Co 11:4

2Co 11:4For 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.

2Co 11:5

2Co 11:5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

2Co 11:6

2Co 11:6Even 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.

2Co 11:7

2Co 11:7Or 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?

2Co 11:8

2Co 11:8I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.

2Co 11:9

2Co 11:9And 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.

2Co 11:10

2Co 11:10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

2Co 11:11

2Co 11:11And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

2Co 11:12

2Co 11:12And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.

2Co 11:13

2Co 11:13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2Co 11:14

2Co 11:14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

2Co 11:15

2Co 11:15So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle

2Co 11:16

2Co 11:16I 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.

2Co 11:17

2Co 11:17What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would[fn] but as a fool.

2Co 11:18

2Co 11:18Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.

2Co 11:19

2Co 11:19For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!

2Co 11:20

2Co 11:20For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.

2Co 11:21

2Co 11:21To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.

2Co 11:22

2Co 11:22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.

2Co 11:23

2Co 11:23Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

2Co 11:24

2Co 11:24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

2Co 11:25

2Co 11:25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;

2Co 11:26

2Co 11:26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;

2Co 11:27

2Co 11:27in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,[fn] in cold and exposure.

2Co 11:28

2Co 11:28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

2Co 11:29

2Co 11:29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

2Co 11:30

2Co 11:30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

2Co 11:31

2Co 11:31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

2Co 11:32

2Co 11:32At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,

2Co 11:33

2Co 11:33but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(11:17)

Greek not according to the Lord

(11:27)

Or often in fasting

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