1
I wish that you would endure a small amount of my foolishness, so as to bear with me.(a)
2
For I am jealous toward you, with the jealousy of God. And I have espoused you to one husband, offering you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3
But I am afraid lest, as the serpent led astray Eve by his cleverness, so your minds might be corrupted and might fall away from the simplicity which is in Christ.
4
For if anyone arrives preaching another Christ, one whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, one whom you have not received; or another Gospel, one which you have not been given: you might permit him to guide you.
5
For I consider that I have done nothing less than the great Apostles.
6
For although I may be unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. But, in all things, we have been made manifest to you.
7
Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you would be exalted? For I preached the Gospel of God to you freely.
8
I have taken from other churches, receiving a stipend from them to the benefit of your ministry.
9
And when I was with you and in need, I was burdensome to no one. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied whatever was lacking to me. And in all things, I have kept myself, and I will keep myself, from being burdensome to you.
10
The truth of Christ is in me, and so this glorying shall not be broken away from me in the regions of Achaia.
11
Why so? Is it because I do not love you? God knows I do.
12
But what I am doing, I will continue to do, so that I may take away an opportunity from those who desire an opportunity by which they may glory, so as to be considered to be like us.
13
For false apostles, such as these deceitful workers, are presenting themselves as if they were Apostles of Christ.
14
And no wonder, for even Satan presents himself as if he were an Angel of light.
15
Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers present themselves as if they were ministers of justice, for their end shall be according to their works.
Paul’s Suffering and Service
(Colossians 1:24–29)
16
I say again. And let no one consider me to be foolish. Or, at least, accept me as if I were foolish, so that I also may glory a small amount.
17
What I am saying is not said according to God, but as if in foolishness, in this matter of glorying.
18
Since so many glory according to the flesh, I will glory also.
19
For you freely accept the foolish, though you yourselves claim to be wise.
20
For you permit it when someone guides you into servitude, even if he devours you, even if he takes from you, even if he is extolled, even if he strikes you repeatedly on the face.
21
I speak according to disgrace, as if we had been weak in this regard. In this matter, (I speak in foolishness) if anyone dares, I dare also.
22
They are Hebrews; so am I. They are Israelites; so am I. They are the offspring of Abraham; so am I.
23
They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as if I were less wise); more so am I: with many more labors, with numerous imprisonments, with wounds beyond measure, with frequent mortifications.
24
On five occasions, I received forty stripes, less one, from the Jews.
25
Three times, I was beaten with rods. One time, I was stoned. Three times, I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day, I was in the depths of the sea.
26
I have made frequent journeys, through dangerous waters, in danger of robbers, in danger from my own nation, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger in the sea, in danger from false brothers,
27
with hardships and difficulties, with much vigilance, in hunger and thirst, with frequent fasts, in cold and nakedness,
28
and, in addition to these things, which are external: there is my daily earnestness and solicitude for all the churches.(b)
29
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not being burned?
30
If it is necessary to glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weaknesses.
31
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
32
At Damascus, the governor of the nation under Aretas the king, watched over the city of the Damascenes, so as to apprehend me.
33
And, through a window, I was let down along the wall in a basket; and so I escaped his hands.
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