﻿2 Corinthians.
Chapter 11.
I wish you would bear with a little foolishness from me. Yes, bear with me! 
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 
But I fear that, just as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus whom we did not proclaim, or you receive a different spirit that you did not receive, or a different gospel that you did not accept, you bear with it readily enough! 
For I consider myself in no way inferior to those most eminent apostles. 
Even if I am untrained in speech, I am not untrained in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way and in all things. 
Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you free of charge? 
I robbed other churches by accepting support from them to serve you. 
When I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I lacked. In every way I kept myself from being a burden to you, and I will continue to do so. 
As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows. 
But I will continue doing what I do, to cut off the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to be found equal to us in what they boast about. 
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 
And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. 
So it is no great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works. 
I say again: let no one consider me a fool. But if you do, receive me even as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 
What I say in this confidence of boasting, I say not in accordance with the Lord, but as in foolishness. 
Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 
For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 
You bear with it if someone enslaves you, devours you, takes advantage of you, exalts himself, or strikes you in the face. 
To my shame I say it: we have been weak. But whatever anyone dares to claim—I am speaking in foolishness—I dare to claim as well. 
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 
Are they servants of Christ? I speak as though out of my mind: I am more so. In labors, far more; in imprisonments, far more; in beatings, beyond measure; in danger of death, often. 
Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. 
Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; I have spent a night and a day in the deep. 
On frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea, in danger among false brothers; 
in toil and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, in frequent fasting, in cold and nakedness. 
Apart from the other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. 
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn within? 
If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show my weakness. 
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 
In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of the Damascenes to arrest me, 
but I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. 
