BWE - II Corinthians

Chapter 1

1:1  I am Paul. I am called by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. My Christian brother Timothy and I send greetings to the church of God in the city of Corinth. We also send greetings to all of God’s people in the country of Greece.

1:2  May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you with their loving kindness and peace. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is a very, very kind Father to us. He is a God who always comforts and helps people.

1:3  Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is a very, very kind Father to us. He is a God who always comforts and helps people.

1:4  He helps us every time we have trouble. Then we are able to be strong and help other people every time they have trouble. We can do this with the same comfort that God gives us.

1:5  We have plenty of the same troubles that Christ had. But we also have plenty of comfort and help from him.

1:6  When we have trouble, it is for your sake so that you will be helped and saved. When we are comforted, this helps you. Then you will stand strong when you have the same troubles we have.

1:7  Our hope for you is strong. If you have the same trouble we have had, then you will also have the same comfort and help we have. This we know.

1:8  Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we had in the country of Asia Minor. We were not strong enough to carry such a load of trouble. It was so heavy we thought we would die.

1:9  Yes, we really felt our time had come to die. This was to make us trust, not in ourselves, but in God. He brings people back to life.

1:10  He saved us from the death that was so near, and he still saves us. We believe that God will keep on saving us.

1:11  But you must help us also. You must talk to God about us. When many people ask God to help us, then many people will thank God for the way he has blessed us.

1:12  We want to say this about ourselves. Our hearts tell us that we have lived the right way in the world, and even more so toward you. We have lived a clean and true life as God wants us to. We have not trusted in the wise things of men, but in the blessing of God.

1:13  We write you nothing but what you have been reading out to the people, and what you all know. I hope that you will really know what is right even to the end.

1:14  You already know something about us. I hope that you will come to know us fully. On the day when the Lord Jesus comes you will be proud of us. So too will we be proud of you.

1:15  Because I was sure of this, I wanted to visit you before. Then you would have had a double blessing.

1:16  I wanted to visit you and then go to Macedonia. I wanted to visit you again when I was on my way back from Macedonia. Then you would send me on my way to Judea.

1:17  That was what I wanted to do. Now then, did I act as if I did not know what I wanted? When I make my plans, do you think I make them like a man of this world? Do I say ‘Yes’ when I mean to say ‘No’?

1:18  As surely as God is true, our message to you was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ at the same time.

1:19  Silvanus and Timothy and I told you about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. His word was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ It was always ‘Yes.’

1:20  To the many promises God has made Christ can say ‘Yes’. He can make them all come true. So then, it is because of Christ that we can say, ‘Yes, it is so!’ when we praise God.

1:21  It is God who makes us stand strong with you in Christ. God has chosen us and put his mark on us.

1:22  He has put his Spirit in our hearts. This is the first part of what we are to receive, and it proves that we will receive all God has promised.

1:23  Let God take my life if what I say is not true. I did not go to Corinth because I did not want to make you sad.

1:24  We do not rule over what you believe. But we work with you to make you glad. You are strong already by believing as you do.

Chapter 2

2:1  I made up my mind that I would not go to visit you again if I had to make you sad.

2:2  For if I make you sad, who is going to make me glad? No one, but the one I made sad.

2:3  That is why I wrote the letter. I did not want to come and be made sad by those who should make me glad. I am sure that what makes me glad makes you all glad too.

2:4  When I wrote to you, I was in great trouble and my heart was very heavy. I cried with many tears. I did not want you to be sad, but I just wanted to let you know that I love you very much.

2:5  Now, about the person who made me sad. It was not only me that he made sad. It was every one of you, in a way. I say ‘in a way’ because I do not want to be too strong in what I say.

2:6  That man has been punished enough by what most of you did to him.

2:7  So now, you ought to forgive him and comfort him. If you do not, then he may be so sad he cannot bear it.

2:8  So I beg you, show your love to him again.

2:9  Here is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you to find out if you obey me in all matters.

2:10  Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. And if I have had anything to forgive, I have already forgiven it for your sakes, just as if we were standing before Christ.

2:11  I have done this so that Satan will not get ahead of us. We know his tricks.

2:12  When I reached the city of Troas to tell the good news of Christ, the door was open for me to work for the Lord.

2:13  But my mind was troubled because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to the people there and went on to the country of Macedonia.

2:14  But I thank God! He has given us Christ. And Christ leads us to victory every time. To know Christ is like a sweet smell. And God lets us carry that sweet smell of his truth everywhere.

2:15  We are like a sweet smell to God. It is the smell of Christ we have. We have this sweet smell among the people who are saved and among those who are lost.

2:16  To some it smells like death and brings death to those who are lost. To others it smells like life and it brings life to those who are saved. Who is good enough for such things?

2:17  We are not like some people. They tell God’s message to make money. But we tell it with a true heart just as God told it to us. We tell it as if we stood before God. And we tell it with Christ’s help.

Chapter 3

3:1  Do you think we are starting again to tell how good we are? Do we need letters to tell about us, as some teachers do? We do not need letters to you or from you to praise us.

3:2  You yourselves are our letter. This letter has been written in our hearts. All people can read it and understand it.

3:3  All can see that you are a letter from Christ written by us. It is not written in ink, but it is written in the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on pieces of rock, but on the hearts of people.

3:4  We can say this because we trust in God. And we trust in God because of Christ.

3:5  We are not good enough to think we can do anything ourselves. But God makes us able to do it.

3:6  God has made a new start with people. He has given us a new way back to God. It is not a written law. The Spirit gives it to us. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

3:7  The old law that brought death was written on pieces of rock. There was a very bright light when God gave it to the people. The people of Israel could not look at Moses because his face was so bright. And even as they saw it, the light on his face was going away.

3:8  Now bringing the law was bright and wonderful. Will not bringing the Spirit be far more bright and wonderful?

3:9  Bringing the law was a wonderful thing even though it brought death. So bringing the good news that people can be put right with God is much more wonderful.

3:10  The law was so bright and wonderful at first but has no light now. There is something else that is so much more bright and wonderful.

3:11  The one which does not stay alive for ever came first in a great light. Does not the one which does stay alive have a much brighter light?

3:12  Because we believe this, we do not fear.

3:13  We are not like Moses. He put a cloth over his face so that the people of Israel would not see that the light from God was dying.

3:14  But their minds were made dull. Even today, when the old law of God is read, it is as if a cloth still covers it. It is Christ who takes the cloth away.

3:15  Yes, even today, when the books of Moses are read, it is as if a cloth covers their hearts and minds.

3:16  But when a man turns to the Lord, the cloth is taken away.

3:17  Now the Lord is the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, people are set free.

3:18  All of us have no cloth over our faces. People can see that we have some of the bright and wonderful light that the Lord has. And we are becoming brighter and brighter, more and more like him. It is the Lord, the Spirit, who does this.

Chapter 4

4:1  God in his kindness gave us this work. So we do not give up.

4:2  We never do wrong things nor do things in secret. We do not fool people nor change God’s message. No, we tell people the truth openly. We let every person judge us for himself. We know that God sees all we do.

4:3  If the good news which we tell is not clear to some people, it is because they are lost. They do not believe.

4:4  The god of this world has covered their minds so they cannot see. They cannot see with their minds the light of the good news of Christ. They cannot see how bright and wonderful Christ is. He is just like God himself.

4:5  We do not talk about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus our Lord. And we are your slaves for Jesus’ sake.

4:6  God said, ‘Let light shine in the darkness.’ And he has let light shine in our hearts too. He gave us light that shows how bright and wonderful God is. We see this light when we look at the face of Christ.

4:7  This is something of great value within us, but we are like pots made of earth and clay. This power is greater than any other power. But it comes from God, not from us.

4:8  We have much trouble, but we do not give up. We are in hard places, but help always comes.

4:9  People trouble us, but God is always with us. We are beaten, but we are not killed.

4:10  We always feel as if our body is dying, just as Jesus died. Then the life of Jesus also can be seen in our body.

4:11  While we live we are always ready to die for Jesus. And so the life of Jesus is also seen in our bodies which will die.

4:12  So then, while death is at work in us, life is at work at the same time.

4:13  We believe the same way as the one who wrote, ‘I believed, and so I talked.’ We also believe, and so we talk to you.

4:14  We know this. God raised up the Lord Jesus, and he will raise us up also with Jesus. He will bring us all to stand together before God.

4:15  All this is happening for you so that the blessings of God will reach more people. Then more people will thank God. And this will make God’s name greater.

4:16  So we do not give up. Our body gets weak, but our heart gets new strength day after day.

4:17  The load of trouble we carry now is a little heavy. But this trouble is getting something great and wonderful ready for us which will last for ever.

4:18  We are not looking at things that can be seen, but at things that cannot be seen. The things which can be seen last only a little while. But the things which cannot be seen last for ever.

Chapter 5

5:1  Our body is the house in which our spirit lives here on earth. When that house is destroyed, then God will give us another house. That house is not made by man’s hand. But God made it. It will last for ever in heaven.

5:2  While we are in the house we have now, we are always crying and wanting to have our house from heaven.

5:3  When we have moved into it, then we are sure that we will never be left without a house.

5:4  While we are in this house, we cry and are troubled. It is not that we want to move out of this house, but we want to move into the other one. Then this body which will die will be changed into one which will live.

5:5  God is the one who has made us ready for this change. He has already given us the Spirit. This is the first part of what we are to receive, and it proves that we will get more.

5:6  So we always feel sure. While we live in our bodies we are not in our house with the Lord. We know that.

5:7  We do not see these things, but we believe them.

5:8  We feel sure that we will want to leave this body and go to live with the Lord.

5:9  So it does not matter if we are living here or go to live there. Wherever we are we want to please the Lord.

5:10  We must all stand before Christ to be judged. Then we will receive pay. If we have done well, our pay will be good. If we have not done well, our pay will not be good.

5:11  We know that the Lord must be feared, so we try to get people to believe. God knows what we are and what we do. And we hope that in your hearts you, too, know.

5:12  No, we are not praising ourselves again. But we are telling you this so that you may really be proud of us. Then you will be ready to answer people who are proud of themselves. They are proud of the things which can be seen. But in their hearts they have nothing to be proud of.

5:13  If we are crazy, it is for God’s sake. If we are right in our minds, it is for your sakes.

5:14  The love of Christ makes us do what we do to win men. We believe that one man died for all people. it is as if we all died with him.

5:15  He died for all, so that those who live would not live to please themselves. But they should live to please him who gave his life for them and rose again from death.

5:16  So then we no longer know people by what we see on the outside. There was a time when we knew Christ that way, but now we do not know him that way any longer.

5:17  So, if any man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. His old life has gone. You see, he has begun a new life.

5:18  But it is God who has done all this. He sent Christ to make peace with us and to bring us back to himself. Now he has given us the work of bringing other people back to God.

5:19  God was in Christ. He brought the world back to himself. He forgave them for the wrong things they had done. And he gave us the message that will bring people back to himself.

5:20  So we are messengers for Christ. God is using us to call people. So we are standing here for Christ and begging people, ‘Come back to God!’

5:21  Christ did no wrong thing. But for our sake God put the blame for our wrong ways on Christ. So now God sees us as good, because we are in Christ.

Chapter 6

6:1  We work with God. So we beg you, do not take God’s blessing and get nothing from it.

6:2  Because God has said. ‘I heard you call at the right time. And I helped you in the day when I saved you.’ See, now is the right time. Now is the day to be saved.

6:3  We put nothing in anyone’s way. So no one can say our work is bad.

6:4  In every way we try to show that we are good servants of God. We do not give up when there is much trouble, and things go wrong, and things are hard.

6:5  We are being beaten and put in prison. We are being knocked around. We work hard. We are awake at night and we go hungry.

6:6  We help you with our knowledge and by living a clean life, with the help of the Spirit. We are patient and kind. We help you by the Holy Spirit. We have shown true love.

6:7  We have told you the truth with the power of God. These are the right things to use in our fight, and we have used them with both hands.

6:8  Some people respect us and some do not. Some give us a good name and some a bad name. Some people say we fool people and yet we tell the truth.

6:9  Many people do not know us, and yet many people know us very well. We almost die and yet we live. People give us much trouble but they do not kill us. We are very sad and yet always glad.

6:10  We are poor, but we make many people rich. We have nothing, but really we have everything.

6:11  We talk plainly to you people in Corinth. We love you with all our hearts.

6:12  We have not stopped loving you, but you do not love us.

6:13  I say this as to my own children. You should love us with all your hearts.

6:14  Do not join your lives with those who do not believe. You and they are not equal. How can people who do right, work with those who do not obey God? How can light and darkness be in the same place?

6:15  How can Christ agree with Belial, the devil? How can a person who believes work with a person who does not believe?

6:16  Is there anything equal about a house of God and a house of idols? We are a house of the living God. God has said, ‘I will live in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.’

6:17  So the Lord says, ‘Come away from among bad people. Stay away from them. Do not touch what is not clean. And I will receive you.

6:18  I will be your father. And you shall be my sons and daughters.’ The Lord who is ruler of all says that.

Chapter 7

7:1  My dear people, since God has promised us these things, we should make ourselves clean. We should clean out everything that makes our lives or our spirits dirty. We should try to be altogether holy because we respect God with fear.

7:2  Give us a place in your hearts. We have not done wrong to anyone. We have not hurt anyone. We have not taken anything from anyone.

7:3  I do not say this to bring something against you. I have already told you that we love you very much. If we live or if we die, we will be together with you.

7:4  I really trust you. I am very proud of you. I have received much comfort. Even in all of our troubles I am very glad.

7:5  When we came to the country of Macedonia, we had no rest for our bodies. We had all kinds of trouble everywhere. There was fighting around us and our hearts were full of fear.

7:6  But God comforts those who are in trouble, and when Titus came, we were comforted.

7:7  You comforted him, and that comforted us. He told us that you wanted very much to see us. He told us that you were very sorry for what you had done. He told us that you want to stand with me. So now I am even more happy.

7:8  I know that what I wrote in my letter made you sad. But I am not sorry I wrote it. Perhaps I was sorry at first, but now I am glad I sent it. I see the letter made you sad for a while. I do not like to make you sad, but I am glad that it made you sad and made you turn from your wrong ways. You took it all as from God. So then, we did not really hurt you.

7:9  I know that what I wrote in my letter made you sad. But I am not sorry I wrote it. Perhaps I was sorry at first, but now I am glad I sent it. I see the letter made you sad for a while. I do not like to make you sad, but I am glad that it made you sad and made you turn from your wrong ways. You took it all as from God. So then, we did not really hurt you.

7:10  When we are sad the way God wants us to be, we turn from our wrong ways. Then we are saved and we can never be sorry about that. But the sorrow of the world brings death.

7:11  See what happened. When you were sad, the way God wanted you to be, then you tried to do the right thing. You wanted to free yourself from wrong. You hated what is wrong. You were afraid. You wanted very much to do what is right. You stood for the right. You punished wrong doing. In every way you showed that you did right in this matter.

7:12  So, even though I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the man who did wrong. And it was not for the sake of the man who had the wrong done to him. But I wrote so that you would see for yourselves, in the sight of God, how much we care for you.

7:13  And so we have been comforted. Besides this, we were even more happy to see how happy Titus was. All of you really made his heart glad.

7:14  I told him how proud I was of you. And really, I had nothing to be ashamed of. Everything we have said to you has been true. So also, what we told Titus about you proved true.

7:15  He loves you even more when he remembers how you all obeyed him. You feared and trembled.

7:16  I am glad that I can always trust you.

Chapter 8

8:1  My brothers, let me tell you how God has blessed the churches in Macedonia.

8:2  They are being tested by much trouble. But they are always very happy. And they are very poor. Because of these two things, they give to others as if they were rich.

8:3  I can tell you because I saw it myself. They gave as much as they could and even more than that. They did it all because they wanted to.

8:4  They begged us to let them give something to help God’s people.

8:5  And they did more than we thought they would do. First, they gave themselves to the Lord and to us, because we were doing God’s work.

8:6  That is why we asked Titus to see about your gift. He started you off in your giving. And so he is the one to see that you finish it.

8:7  We remember how well you do in everything. You do well in believing, in talking, in knowing things, in trying your best, and in the way you love us. So now, do well in giving this gift.

8:8  I am not saying that you must do it. But I want to prove how strong your love is. That is why I have told you how other people show their love.

8:9  You know how much love our Lord Jesus Christ had. He was rich, but he became poor for your sakes. Because he became poor, you can become rich.

8:10  I tell you what I think. It is best for you to finish what you started a year ago. You were the first to think of helping, and you started to give money.

8:11  So now, finish doing it. You wanted to do it, so now finish it. Give as much as you can.

8:12  If a man wants to give, he is judged by what he has to give. He is not judged by what he cannot give.

8:13  I do not want it to be easy for others and hard for you.

8:14  I want it to be equal for everyone. Right now, you have plenty and are able to help them. Another time, when they have plenty, they will help you when you need it. In that way things will be equal.

8:15  The holy writings say, ‘The person who had plenty did not have too much. And the person who did not have much, had enough.’

8:16  I thank God that he has put the same care for you into the heart of Titus that I have.

8:17  He was glad to go when I asked him, but he is also coming to you because he himself wants to come.

8:18  We are sending another brother with him. This brother has a good name in all the churches because he tells the good news.

8:19  Not only that, but the churches have chosen him to travel with us as we take care of this gift. We are doing this so that the Lord will be praised. We want to help others.

8:20  We do not want anyone to say that we have not done the right thing. So we are taking care of this big gift in the right way.

8:21  We want to do what the Lord says is right, but also what people say is right.

8:22  And we are also sending another brother with them. We have found him to be glad to help us in many matters, many times. And now he is much more glad to help because he trusts you very much.

8:23  I want to say this. Titus is my close friend and he works with me. And about our other brothers, they have been sent by the churches. They bring praise to Christ.

8:24  Now then, prove that you love them. Prove that what we have said about you is true. Then the churches will know it.

Chapter 9

9:1  Of course, I really do not need to write to you about the money to be given to God’s people.

9:2  I know that you wanted to help. I am proud to tell the people of Macedonia about you. I tell them, ‘The people in Greece have been ready for a year.’ And what you did has made most of them want to do something too.

9:3  But I am sending these brothers so that what we have said about you will be true in this way. I want you to be really ready with the gift, just as I said you would be.

9:4  If some men from Macedonia come with me and see that you are not ready, then we will be ashamed, and you too. We will be ashamed that we were so sure.

9:5  So I thought it would be good to send these brothers to you first. They will get this gift ready which you promised. Then it will be ready like a gift, and not as if you were forced to give it.

9:6  Here is something to remember. ‘The man who plants a little bit will get only a little from it. The man who plants much will get much from it.’

9:7  Everyone should give what he wants in his heart to give. He should be glad to give it, and should not give it because he was forced to give. ‘God loves a person who gives gladly.’

9:8  God is able to give you even more blessings than you need. In all things you will always have all you need for yourselves, and you will have enough to help all others.

9:9  The holy writings say, ‘A good man gives away many things. He gives to the poor people. He will always be a good man in the sight of God.’

9:10  God is the one who gives seed to plant and bread to eat. He will give you enough to give away and will make it become more and more. Of the good things you do he will give you a big harvest.

9:11  You will become rich in every way. And then you will have enough to give plenty to all people. And many people will thank God for your gifts which we will bring them.

9:12  This gift of money will help to give God’s people what they need. It will also make many people thank God.

9:13  This gift will prove something to them. They will praise God because you obey the good news of Christ. They will praise God because you have given this gift to help them and all the others.

9:14  They will love you and talk to God about you, because God has blessed you very much.

9:15  Thank God for his gift so great that no words can ever tell it all!

Chapter 10

10:1  Now I, Paul, beg you to do something since you know that Christ was kind and gentle. You say I am weak when I am face to face with you, but when I am not with you, then I speak to you with hard words.

10:2  I beg you, do not force me to talk hard words when I come. I have made up my mind to talk hard words against some people. They think we are living for the things in this world.

10:3  Of course we are living in bodies made for this world. But we are not fighting for the things in this world.

10:4  We do not use the things of this world in our fighting, but we use the power of God. This power can break down the walls where the enemy hides.

10:5  We can break down what people think and every big idea that tries to stop people from knowing God. And we can make every thought a prisoner to obey Christ.

10:6  Only when you all obey, then we are ready to punish anyone who will not obey.

10:7  Surely you can see this. If one person is sure that he belongs to Christ, then he should see that we too belong to Christ just as he does.

10:8  The Lord gave us power to build you up, not to break you down. Maybe I talk about it too much. But I feel I am right in talking about it.

10:9  I do not want you to think that I am trying to make you afraid by my letters.

10:10  Some people say, ‘Paul’s letters make us listen. They are strong. But he himself is weak and what he says is not worth listening to.’

10:11  People like that should know this. When we come we will do what we have said in our letters.

10:12  We do not want to be like those people who praise themselves. They measure themselves by their own ideas, and look at themselves to see how good they are. When they do that, they are foolish!

10:13  We will not talk of things we did not do. No, we will only be proud of those things which God has given us to do. And he has sent us even as far as you.

10:14  We are not going farther than we should when we come to you. We were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ.

10:15  We will not be proud of other men’s work which we did not do. We hope that you will believe more strongly, so that we can do more work among you, as God gives it to us.

10:16  Then we hope to tell the good news in places far beyond you. We will not be proud of the work given to someone else to do–work that was done before we got there.

10:17  The holy writings say that the person who is proud should be proud only of the Lord.

10:18  A man who praises himself is not a man who is good. The man who is really good is the man whom the Lord praises.

Chapter 11

11:1  I want to say something a little bit foolish. But please listen to me!

11:2  I love you as God loves you. I see you as a woman who has not been married and I am giving you to be the wife of a husband. That husband is Christ.

11:3  But the snake fooled Eve by his trick. And I am afraid that your minds will be drawn away from a clean, pure love of Christ.

11:4  You listen to a new man when he comes to tell you about a different Jesus, which is not the one we told you about. And when you receive a spirit and a message which are not the ones you had first, then you listen too much.

11:5  But I really do not think that the chief apostles are any better than I am!

11:6  Maybe I am not a good talker, but I surely know what I am talking about! Yes, we made this plain to you in every way in all things.

11:7  Perhaps it was wrong for me to bring myself down in order to raise you up. Do you think that? Was it wrong for me to tell you the good news without pay?

11:8  I took pay from other churches. I made them poor so that I might help you.

11:9  When I was with you and needed money, I did not make any of you pay me. When the brothers came from Macedonia, they gave me what I needed. So I was not, and I will not be, any trouble to you.

11:10  Surely, the true word of Christ is in me. I will never stop being proud of this anywhere in Achaia.

11:11  Why is this? Is it because I do not love you? God knows that I love you.

11:12  And I will keep on doing what I am doing now. Some teachers are praising themselves. They say they are like us. By doing this I prove they are not like us.

11:13  Men like that are not true apostles. They work to fool people. They try to make themselves look like apostles of Christ.

11:14  I am not surprised. Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light.

11:15  So it is not strange if his workers also try to make themselves look like God’s workers who do right. They will come to an end like the work they do!

11:16  I say again, no one should think that I am foolish. But if you do, then please listen to me as if I were foolish. I also want to do a little talking about myself.

11:17  I am not talking like the Lord when I say this. It seems foolish to say so much about myself.

11:18  Many people talk about themselves in the world. So I will too.

11:19  Since you are wise, you still agree to listen to foolish people.

11:20  You listen to a man even if he makes slaves of you, even if he spends all your money, even if he catches you in a trap, even if he is proud of himself, even if he slaps you in the face.

11:21  I am ashamed, but I must say that we were too weak to be like that! Anything that others want to be proud of, I can talk about too. And yet it is really foolish to do so.

11:22  Are they Hebrew people? So am I. Are they Israel’s people? So am I. Is Abraham their father? He is mine too.

11:23  Are they workers for Christ? (I talk like one who is not in his right mind.) I am a better worker. I have worked much harder. I have been in prison more often. I have been beaten many, many times. Often I have almost died.

11:24  The Jewish leaders five times gave me thirty nine strikes with the rope.

11:25  Three times people beat me with sticks, and once they threw rocks at me. Three times I was in a boat when it broke in the sea. I have been in the water all one night and day.

11:26  I have travelled much. I have crossed bad rivers. I have gone where men might steal my things. The Jews and those who are not Jews have troubled me. I have been in hard places in the city. I have had hard times in the desert. I have had hard times on the water. I have had hard times among those who should have been my brothers and were not.

11:27  I have worked hard. I have been tired out. I have often had no sleep at night. I have been hungry and thirsty. I have often had nothing to eat. I have been cold and did not have enough clothes to wear.

11:28  Beside all other things, my heart is troubled about the churches. That is a load I carry every day.

11:29  When anyone is weak, I am weak too. When anyone is made to fall away, my heart burns within me

11:30  If I must talk about myself, I will talk about the things that show I am weak.

11:31  God knows I am not telling lies. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and he is to be praised forever.

11:32  In the city of Damascus a man ruled for king Aretas. He had the gates of the city guarded because he wanted to catch me.

11:33  But I sat in a basket. Then it was put out through a window in the wall and was let down. And so I got away from him.

Chapter 12

12:1  I must talk about myself even though it does no good. I will talk about visions and things which the Lord has shown me.

12:2  I know a Christian man. Fourteen years ago he was taken up into the place where God lives. I do not know if he was in his body when he went or not. God knows if he was.

12:3  I do know this. He was taken up into the place where God lives. And again I say, I do not know if he was in his body or not. God knows if he was.

12:4  This man heard things which cannot be told. No person on earth can speak them.

12:5  I will talk about such a man. But I will not talk about myself. If I do talk, it will be about the ways I am weak.

12:6  Now if I wanted to talk about myself, I would not be foolish. I would be telling the truth. But I will not say any more. This is why: I do not want anyone to think I am better than what he sees I am, or hears me teach. I want him to judge me only by what he can see in me and by what I say.

12:7  Because the things God showed me were so wonderful, I might have become too proud of myself. But something happened and stopped that. It was like a thorn in me. It came from Satan to trouble me. It came to stop me from being too proud.

12:8  I begged the Lord three times that this trouble might leave me.

12:9  But he said to me, ‘My kindness and strength is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is strong.’ So then, I am very glad to talk about how weak I am so that the power of Christ may live in me.

12:10  So then, for the sake of Christ I am glad to be weak, to have people say wrong things about me, to be poor, to have people trouble me, and to have hard times. When I am weak, that is the time I am really strong.

12:11  Now I have been acting like one with no sense, but you have made me do it. You should have been talking about the good things I have done. The very best apostles are not one bit better than I am, even though I am nothing at all.

12:12  There are signs that show a true apostle. I did all these things when I was among you. There were signs, wonderful works, and other big works which I did. You saw the power of God, even though I was being tested.

12:13  In what way did you not receive as much as the other churches? Only this! I did not trouble you to pay me. Forgive me for the wrong I did you!

12:14  Now, I am ready to come to you for the third time. And I will not trouble you to pay me. I do not want what belongs to you, but I want you. The children should not save up for their parents, but the parents should do it for their children.

12:15  For my part, I am glad to spend what I have, and to spend myself for the sake of your souls. But it seems to me that the more I love you the less you love me!

12:16  All right then, I did not trouble you for any money. But some of you think that I have been mean and played a trick on you.

12:17  Did I send anyone to you to get something for myself? No!

12:18  I asked Titus to go and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus get anything for himself? No! Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

12:19  Am I saying all this just to you? Are we just trying to make ourselves look right to you? No, we say this before God and in Christ. And my dear people, I have done it all to make you better Christians.

12:20  I want to be pleased with you when I come. But I am afraid I will not be. And I am afraid that you will not be pleased with me. I fear that I may find quarrelling, jealousy, anger, and that I will find you are enemies to each other, that you are spoiling each other’s names, that you are telling stories about each other, that you are proud and do not obey rulers.

12:21  And I am afraid that when I come my God will make me ashamed of you. I am afraid that my heart will be very sad about you. Many have been doing wrong things for a long time. Many have not turned away from their dirty ways, their wrong use of sex, and the things they should be ashamed of.

Chapter 13

13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. The holy writings say ‘Any complaint must be proved by the words of two or three people.’

13:2  I have told you before, when I visited you the second time. And I tell you again now, while I am not there. When I come again, I will punish those who did wrong before and the others who have done wrong since.

13:3  This will be the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you. No, he shows his power among you.

13:4  It is true that he was weak when he died on a cross. But now he is alive by the power of God. We are weak as he was, but we will also be alive as he is by the power God has. You will see this.

13:5  Look at yourselves and check to see if you still believe. Test yourselves. Do you not know Jesus Christ is in you? If he is not in you, you do not pass the test.

13:6  I hope you will know that we pass the test.

13:7  We ask God to help you that you will do nothing wrong. That is not to show you that we pass the test. We want you to do what is right even if we do not pass the test.

13:8  After all, we have no power to work against what is true, but only for the truth.

13:9  We are glad to be weak, if you are made strong. And we ask God for this too, that you may become perfect.

13:10  That is why I am writing these things to you the way I am, before I reach you. Then, when I come to you, I do not want to be hard on you. I do not want to use the power which the Lord has given me. He gave it to me to help to make you better Christians, not to break you down.

13:11  Now, my brothers, in closing I say, ‘Goodbye.’ Be what you should be. Listen to what I say. Be good to each other. Agree with one another. Live in peace with one another. And the God who gives love and peace will be with you.

13:12  Greet one another with a holy kiss.

13:13  All of God’s people send greetings to you.

13:14  And to all of you I say, ‘May the kindness and blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. May God show you his love. May you all have the Holy Spirit with you.’