11 I wish you all could tolerate a bit of foolishness from me, but yes, you do tolerate me, 2 because I’m jealous of you all with godly jealousy as I had committed you to your future husband—a pure bride to present to the messiah. 3 [ref]But I’m afraid that just as the crafty serpent somehow deceived Heva (Eve), your thinking might get corrupted from its sincerity and purity in the messiah. 4 Indeed even if another Yeshua came and proclaimed something different from what we proclaimed, or if you receive another spirit that you hadn’t received already, or a good message different from what you’ve already heard, you might tolerate it.

5 I reckon that I wasn’t deficient compared to the ‘super missionaries’, 6 but even if my speaking is just ordinary, my knowledge isn’t and I’ve made everything clear to you all in every way.

7 Or did I disobey God when I humbled myself so that all of you might be elevated, because I shared the good message with you all without any personal gain? 8 I’ve ‘robbed’ other assemblies in order to support my ministry to all of you, 9 [ref]and when I was with you and needed something, I wasn’t a burden to anyone, because the believers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. Thus I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will keep doing so. 10 The messiah’s truth is in me such that my boasting in the regions of Achaia won’t be stopped. 11 Why’s that? Because I don’t love you all? God knows that I do.

12 But what I’m doing, I’ll keep on doing, so that I can deny the opportunity to those people who’re looking for an opportunity so that what they boast about, we’ll already be doing, 13 because they are false ambassadors and deceitful workers—masquerading themselves as Messiah’s missionaries, 14 and that’s no surprise because Satan himself masquerades as a messenger of light. 15 So then it’s no great surprise if his servants are masquerading as God’s servants, but their end will be the consequence of their actions.