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The Second Letter to the Corinthians 11

11 Next, I hope that you will be patient with me as I say a few things that I consider foolish. I know that you are patient with me! 2 I will say foolish things because I am protective of you as God is protective of you. In fact, when I told you the good news, I was like a father who promised to give you to a man as his wife. Just like this father wants his daughter to be with only this one man, so I want you to trust only in the Messiah. 3 However, I fear that someone will trick you, just as Satan cleverly tricked Eve, the first woman. I fear that such a person will ruin how you think in ways that are completely loyal to the Messiah. 4 I fear for you because I know that people visit you and tell you about Jesus, but it is not the same Jesus we told you about. Others offer you a spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit that we offered to you. Others proclaim good news to you, but it is not the same good news that you first believed. Despite that, you are very patient when people tell you about these things.

5 I want you to believe what we first told you because I think that the Messiah acts through me as much as through those who say that they represent him the best. 6 Although I have not learned how to speak very well, despite that, I have learned to know what is true. I show you that this is true whenever I say or do anything.

7 You know that I did not sin against you when I did not ask you to pay me for proclaiming to you the good news from God. By doing that, I made myself less important to make you more important. 8 In fact, I received money from other groups of believers. I accepted their money so that I could serve you. 9 Further, when I was with you, I did not have everything that I needed. However, I did not bother any of you by asking for money. I could do that because our fellow believers who traveled with me from Macedonia province gave me everything that I needed. Indeed, in every situation, I did not and never will bother you by asking for money for myself. 10 No one who lives in any part of Achaia province will be able to keep me from saying great things about how I did not bother you. What I am saying is as true as if the Messiah were saying it. 11 My reason for not bothering you is not that I do not care for you. God can testify that I do care for you.

12 Rather, here is my reason for why I will continue not to bother you. That way, I can prevent anyone from being able to say such great things about themselves as we say about ourselves. I know that some people want to do this. 13 Those people are not really those whom the Messiah sent to represent him. They deceive people with what they do, and they can only pretend to represent the Messiah. 14 That should not surprise us. The devil also pretends to be a glorious spiritual being. 15 So then, we should expect those who serve him also to pretend to help people become righteous. God will eventually give them what they deserve in proportion to what they have done.

16 I repeat what I said earlier: I do not want anyone to think that I am foolish. However, if you do think that I am foolish, you should at least allow me to act in foolish ways. That way, I too can say a few great things about myself. 17 What I am about to say is not how I speak when I am representing the Lord Jesus. Rather, I am about to speak foolishly as I prove that I can say great things about myself. 18 Many other people say great things about themselves in merely human ways. So, I too will say great things about myself. 19 I know that you will listen to me, because you consider yourselves to be wise people, so you are happy to be patient with other people who act foolishly. 20 In fact, you are patient when people treat you badly. They may force you to obey them. They may use up what you have. They may cheat you. They may say they are better than you. They may insult you. However, you are still patient with them. 21 If that is the right way for powerful people to treat you, then I admit that how we acted when we were with you shames us and proves that we are weak. On the other hand, whatever other people dare to do, I too can dare to do. Of course, I say these things only because I am acting foolishly. 22 Those people say they are Jews who speak Hebrew, but I also am a Jew and speak Hebrew. They say they are Israelites, but I also am an Israelite. They say they are descendants of Abraham, but I also am a descendant of Abraham. 23 They say they serve the Messiah, but I serve the Messiah even more. Of course, I am talking like a crazy person. However, I have worked harder than they have. People have put me in jail more than them. People have struck me very many times. I have almost died many times. 24 Five different times Jewish leaders had someone strike me the maximum number of times: 39. 25 Three different times leaders had someone repeatedly hit me with a stick. One time people threw stones at me to kill me. Three different times the ship I was sailing in sank. I have survived for 24 hours in the middle of the ocean. 26 I travel frequently. I go through dangerous places, including rivers, towns, deserts, and oceans. There are always people who could hurt me, including thieves, Jewish people, non-Jewish people, and people who pretend to be fellow believers. 27 I work very hard. I frequently do not sleep much. I do not have enough to eat or drink. I frequently go hungry. I sometimes freeze and do not have enough clothing. 28 Besides everything else that I could mention, I anxiously think daily about all the groups of believers. 29 When a fellow believer is feeble, I am feeble. When someone causes a fellow believer to sin, I become very angry.

30 Since I need to say great things about myself, I intend to say great things about how feeble I am. 31 We all will forever honor the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. He can testify that what I am saying is true.

32 When I was in Damascus city, the local ruler who served King Aretas had soldiers looking for me in the city to capture me. 33 However, fellow believers helped me get away from the local ruler. They put me in a large basket, attached it to a rope, and let it down through an opening in the city wall.

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