2 Corinthians 11 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Concern for Their Faithfulness

The Danger of Being Deceived

2Co 11:1Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me.

2Co 11:2For 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.

2Co 11:3

2Co 11:3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity[fn] that is in Christ.

2Co 11:4

2Co 11:4For 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!

Paul and False Apostles

2Co 11:5

2Co 11:5For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

2Co 11:6

2Co 11:6Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested[fn] among you in all things.

2Co 11:7

2Co 11:7Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

2Co 11:8

2Co 11:8I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.

2Co 11:9

2Co 11:9And 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.

2Co 11:10

2Co 11:10As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

2Co 11:11

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

2Co 11:12

2Co 11:12But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

2Co 11:13

2Co 11:13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

2Co 11:14

2Co 11:14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

2Co 11:15

2Co 11:15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Reluctant Boasting

2Co 11:16

2Co 11:16I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.

2Co 11:17

2Co 11:17What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

2Co 11:18

2Co 11:18Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.

2Co 11:19

2Co 11:19For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!

2Co 11:20

2Co 11:20For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.

2Co 11:21

2Co 11:21To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

Suffering for Christ

2Co 11:22

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

2Co 11:23

2Co 11:23Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

2Co 11:24

2Co 11:24From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus 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 have been in the deep;

2Co 11:26

2Co 11:26in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

2Co 11:27

2Co 11:27in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—

2Co 11:28

2Co 11:28besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

2Co 11:29

2Co 11:29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

2Co 11:30

2Co 11:30If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

2Co 11:31

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

2Co 11:32

2Co 11:32In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;

2Co 11:33

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

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

NKJV Footnotes

(11:3)

NU-Text adds and purity.

(11:6)

NU-Text omits been.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.