2 Corinthians

¹ From: Paul, a Commissioned One of Christ Jesus through God’s intention, and Timothy, our Family member.

To: the Community called by God that’s in Corinth, along with all those who are dedicated for sacred purposes across all of Achaia.

² May generosity and peace be yours from God our Father and our Liberating Sovereign Jesus Christ.

³ May the God and Father of our Liberating Sovereign Jesus Christ be praised—the Father of motherly tenderness and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our crushing hardships, empowering us to comfort others in all their hardships through the same comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵ Just as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, Christ’s comfort also overflows to us. ⁶ If we are oppressed, it is for the sake of your comfort and liberation, and if we are comforted, it is for the sake of your comfort while you continue to function with endurance through the same things that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is also on target, knowing that just as you are coparticipants in suffering, you are also coparticipants in comfort.

⁸ We don’t want you to be unaware, Family, in light of our crushing hardship that happened while we were in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, beyond ability, so that we were left in despair even of living. ⁹ In fact, we’ve carried the sentence of death within ourselves so that we wouldn’t be people who place our confidence in ourselves but who place our confidence in the God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ God rescued us from such deadly risks and will continue to rescue us, so we have hoped that God will rescue us still more, ¹¹ with you also working together with requests on our behalf so that God would be given thanks on our behalf by many people for the gift that came to us through many people.

¹² You see, this is what we take pride in; this is the report of what is on our minds: that with transparency and sincerity from God, we went about in the world—especially toward you—not with self-serving prudence but with God’s generosity. ¹³ We are not writing anything different to you but only what you already read and know well. Still, I hope you’ll keep it in mind until the end, ¹⁴ on the Day of the Liberating Sovereign, Jesus, just as you’ve partly come to understand us because we are your pride just as you are also ours.

¹⁵ Feeling confident about that, I intended to come to you first—so you would get a second dose of generosity— ¹⁶ to pass through you on the way to Macedonia, to come back to you from Macedonia, and to be sent on by you to Judea. ¹⁷ So, when I was intending to do this, I didn’t take it lightly, did I? Or do I set my intentions based on self-serving impulses, so that it’s both “yes, yes” and “no, no” with me? ¹⁸ But God is trustworthy because our message to you is not “yes” and “no.” ¹⁹ You see, the Son of God Jesus Christ who was announced to you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become “yes” and “no” but, with him, it became “yes.” ²⁰ All the promises of God that exist are “yes” with him. Because of that, through him it’s also amen to God, contributing to praise through us. ²¹ God is the one who firmly connects us with you and anoints us for Christ, ²² who in fact confirms us and provides the Life-breath in our hearts as a downpayment.

²³ I appeal to God as my witness—on my life—that the reason I didn’t come to Corinth again was to spare you. ²⁴ That’s because we are not masters over your commitment; instead, we are co-workers for your joy since you have stood by your commitment.

¹ I made the decision myself not to come cause pain for you again. ² After all, if I make you sad, then, other than the ones who are sad because of me, who exactly would bring me joy? ³ I wrote this letter so that when I come, I won’t have sadness from the ones who should bring me joy since I’m confident about all of you that my joy is also yours. ⁴ You see, I wrote to you through many tears, out of major hardship and anguish of heart, not to make you sad but to let you know the love I have especially for you.

⁵ If someone has caused sadness, they have not caused sadness for me, but in a sense (not to overburden them) they’ve caused sadness for you all. ⁶ This correction by the majority for such a person is plenty, ⁷ so now, instead, it would be preferable for you to be gracious and encouraging. That way the person won’t be swallowed up by overwhelming grief. ⁸ That’s why I encourage you to reaffirm your love for them.

⁹ I’m also writing for this reason: to get to know your genuineness, whether you are listening to everything. ¹⁰ To whomever you’re gracious, so am I. In fact, whatever I’ve been gracious about (if I’ve been gracious about anything), I’ve done so for your sake in Christ’s sight ¹¹ so that we won’t be manipulated by the Adversary (since we are not uninformed about their intentions).

¹² When I went to Troas for Christ’s Triumphant Message, even though a door had been opened for me by the Sovereign One, ¹³ I didn’t feel any relief in my spirit because I didn’t find my brother Titus, so I withdrew from them and left for Macedonia.

¹⁴ Thanks be to God, who always leads us in a triumphal procession in connection with Christ and makes the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ clearly perceptible everywhere through us. ¹⁵ That’s because we are the sweet aroma of Christ for God among those who are being liberated and those who are being lost. ¹⁶ For some we’re a fragrance that comes from death to death, but for others we’re a fragrance from life to life—and who is fit for these things? ¹⁷ You see, we are not like the many people who sell God’s message for a profit, but we speak in connection with Christ in God’s sight as people of sincerity—as people from God.

¹ Are we starting over with introducing ourselves and our legitimacy all over again? We don’t need, as some do, letters of recommendation for you or from you, do we? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all people. ³ You’re making it clearly visible that you are Christ’s letter, cared for by us, not written with ink but with the Life-breath of the God-who-is-alive, not on stone tablets but on tablets made of hearts of flesh.

⁴ We have that kind of confidence in God through Christ. ⁵ It’s not because we are fit in and of ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves; rather, our fitness is from God, ⁶ who also made us fit to be servants of a new covenant, not based on a written document but in the Life-breath, for the document kills, but the Life-breath gives life.

⁷ If the service of Death, in documents engraved on stones, happened with renown—so much so that the children of Israel were not able to focus their attention on Moses’ face because of the temporary radiant renown on his face— ⁸ then how much more will the service of the Life-breath come with renown? ⁹ You see, if radiant renown came with the service that led to judgment against people, the service of justness overflows with renown even more. ¹⁰ In fact, in comparison, what had been renowned is no longer renowned because of the renown that goes further. ¹¹ You see, if what is temporary came with radiant renown, how much more does what lasts come with renown!

¹² Therefore, having that kind of hope, we make use of it with much confidence, ¹³ not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t focus their attention on the end of what was temporary. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, their minds were numbed since, to this very day, the same veil remains over the reading of the old covenant, not unveiled because it is made temporary with Christ. ¹⁵ Still, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ Nevertheless, whenever someone turns back to The One Who Is, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ The One Who Is is the Life-breath, and where the Life-breath of The One Who Is is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ We who reflect the radiant renown of The One Who Is with unveiled faces are all transformed into the same image from renown to renown, just as it comes from The One Who Is, the Life-breath.

¹ Because of this, being assigned this service just as we have received compassion, we are not exhausted to the point of giving up, ² but we gave up shameful, hidden things, not walking in underhanded ways or corrupting God’s message. Instead, we walk in a way that makes the truth clearly visible, presenting ourselves for everyone’s awareness in God’s sight. ³ In fact, if our triumphant message is veiled, then it is veiled for those who are lost, ⁴ among whom the god of this Age has blinded the minds of those who do not trust it, for them not to see the light of the Triumphant Message of the radiant renown of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ You see, we are not announcing ourselves as Sovereign but Jesus Christ, and we present ourselves as enslaved to you through Jesus ⁶ because the God who said, “May light shine out of the darkness,” is the one who shined on our hearts with the light of the knowledge of God’s renown on the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷ We hold this treasured possession in earthenware containers so that power that goes further is from God, not from us. ⁸ In everything, we are hemmed in on every side but not crushed, left empty-handed but not hopeless, ⁹ pursued but not deserted, thrown down but not undone, ¹⁰ and always carrying Jesus’ execution in our body so that Jesus’ life may also be made visible in our body. ¹¹ We who are alive are consistently handed over for death for the sake of Jesus so that the life of Jesus is also made visible in the substance of our bodies, which is subject to Death. ¹² Therefore, Death is at work in us, but Life is at work in you. ¹³ Having the same Life-breath of faithfulness as what was written—“I was faithful; therefore, I spoke”—we are also faithful; therefore, we also speak. ¹⁴ We speak knowing that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise you up along with Jesus and will present us along with you. ¹⁵ You see, everything is for your sake, so that the generosity that increases through the many will make gratitude overflow for God’s renown.

¹⁶ Therefore, we are not exhausted to the point of giving up; instead, even if our outer person is broken down, our inner person is renewed day after day. ¹⁷ You see, with each momentary and light experience of oppression we have, it accomplishes for us an agelong weightiness of renown that goes further than further— ¹⁸ since we are not focusing on things that are visible but on things that are invisible. After all, things that are visible are temporary, but things that are invisible are agelong.

¹ You see, we’ve come to understand that if our earthly home, the tent, is destroyed, we have a permanent structure from God, an agelong home in the heavens not made by hands. ² While in this one, we groan with longing to clothe ourselves with our home that is from the heavens, ³ assuming, of course, that we won’t be found naked after having been clothed. ⁴ You see, it’s those who are in the tent who groan, being weighed down, which doesn’t mean we want to take clothing off but to put clothing on so that what is subject to Death may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ The one who did the work to make you ready for this very thing is God, who gave us the downpayment of the Life-breath.

⁶ Therefore, we are always being filled with courage and always understand that while we are in our homeland—in the body—we are also out of our homeland—away from the Liberating Sovereign. ⁷ You see, we walk by trust, not by sight. ⁸ We are filled with courage and would rather leave our homeland—be out of the body—and be in our homeland—with the Liberating Sovereign. ⁹ That’s why, in fact, whether in our homeland or out of our homeland, we are motivated to please him. ¹⁰ After all, it’s essential for us all to be displayed at the place where Christ assesses what we do so that each person may receive back the things they did with their body, whether generous or corrupt.

¹¹ Therefore, since we have come to understand the respect of The One Who Is, we try to win people over, but it’s for God that we have been displayed. ¹² We are not trying to present ourselves and our legitimacy to you all over again but are giving you a reason to be proud on our behalf, so that you may have it for those who take pride in social status and not in the heart. ¹³ You see, if we’re irrational, it’s for God; if we behave sensibly, it's for you. ¹⁴ The love of Christ has a firm grip on us who have reached the conviction that one died for all, and, therefore, all died. ¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who live may live no longer for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised.

¹⁶ So then, from now on, we don’t understand anyone according to self-serving interests. Even though we have understood Christ according to self-serving interests, we don’t know him that way anymore. ¹⁷ So then, if anyone is connected with Christ, they are the New Creation! The original things passed away and—look!—new things have come to be. ¹⁸ All things are from God who reconciled us with themself through Christ and entrusted the service of reconciliation to us. ¹⁹ It’s like this: It was God who was reconciling the world to themself by means of Christ, not counting their shortfalls against them, and placing among us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, the one who calls people aside to God through us. We plead on behalf of Christ, “Be reconciled to God!” ²¹ God turned the one who did not know deviation into deviation for our sake so that we would become the justness of God in connection with him.

¹ Being fellow workers, we also plead with you not to let your acceptance of the generosity of God be for nothing. ² After all, it says, “At a welcome time, I listened to you, and on the Day of Liberation I came to your aid.”

Look! Now is a welcome time!
Look! Now is the Day of Liberation!

³ We are not ones to give anyone cause for offense about anything, so that the service of reconciliation won’t be given a disgraceful reputation. ⁴ Instead, we present ourselves as God’s servants in everything—with immense endurance, during oppression, during catastrophes, while hemmed in, ⁵ during beatings, during imprisonments, during uprisings, during vigilant sleeplessness, during hunger— ⁶ with dedication to sacred purposes, with understanding, with patience, with active kindness, with the Sacred Life-breath, with genuine love, ⁷ with the message of the truth, with God’s power, through the tools of justice for the right hand and the left hand, ⁸ through praise and dishonor, through foul reputation and good reputation, regarded as ones who mislead and ones who are truthful, ⁹ as unknown and as well known, as ones who are dying and—look!—we are alive, as whipped and not killed, ¹⁰ as given cause for grief but always rejoicing, as experiencing poverty but enriching many, as having nothing and possessing everything.

¹¹ Our mouths have been opened to you, Corinthians; our hearts have been opened wide. ¹² You are not hemmed in by us, but you are hemming in your own motherly love. ¹³ Now, in repaying the same—I say it as to my children—let your own hearts be opened wide.

¹⁴ Don’t be yoked in a mismatched pairing with unfaithful people. After all, what is shared between alignment and disregard for Torah? Or what is there in common between light and darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony is there between Christ and the Corruptor? Or what role for a faithful person is there with an unfaithful person? ¹⁶ What agreement is there for the temple of God with idols? After all, we are the temple of the God-who-is-alive, just as God said:

“I will reside and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be my people.”

¹⁷ Therefore,

“Get out from among them,

be distinct,

and don’t cling to anything unclean,”

says The One Who Is,

“And I will welcome you gladly”;

¹⁸⁠“I will be as a father to you,

and you will be as sons and daughters to me,”

says The One Who Is the Sustainer of All.

¹ Therefore, loved ones, since we have these promises, may we cleanse ourselves from everything that stains the body and the breath, becoming fully designated for sacred purposes with the respect of The One Who Is.

² Make room for us. We have wronged no one; we have violated no one; we have exploited no one. ³ I’m not saying this to condemn you. After all, I have told you before that you are in our hearts so that we live and die together. ⁴ I have great confidence in you, I take great pride in you, I’m filled with encouragement, and I’m overwhelmed with joy despite all our suffering.

⁵ You see, when we went to Macedonia, our bodies had no relief at all but were hard pressed in every way: conflicts on the outside and fears within. ⁶ However, God—who encourages those who despair—encouraged us with the arrival of Titus. ⁷ And not only with his arrival but also with how he was encouraged by you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your passion on my behalf, so that it gave me even more joy. ⁸ That’s because even if I caused you grief with my letter, I don’t regret it (even though I used to regret it because I do see that the letter caused you grief, even if for an hour). ⁹ Now, I rejoice, not because you were grieved but because you were grieved with the result that you transformed your mind. You see, you were grieved while grounded in God, so that you wouldn’t be harmed because of us.

¹⁰ You see, grief while grounded in God brings about transformation of the mind, resulting in liberation without regret, but world system’s kind of grief brings about death. ¹¹ Look at how much motivation this very thing—being grieved while grounded in God—has brought about in you, as well as accountability and just anger and respect and deep longing and passionate dedication and enacting justice. In everything you showed yourselves to be devoted through your actions. ¹² So then, even though I wrote to you, it was neither for the sake of the one who acted unjustly nor the one who was treated unjustly; instead, it was for the sake of making it clear to you how motivated you are on our behalf in God’s view. ¹³ That’s why we are encouraged.

On top of our encouragement, we rejoiced even more abundantly at Titus’ joy because his very breath was refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ That’s because if I bragged to him on your behalf, I have not been disgraced, but just like everything we said to you was true, so our bragging to Titus about you has also turned out to be true. ¹⁵ His motherly love overflows for you even more when he remembers the faithful response from all of you, like how you welcomed him with respect and seriousness. ¹⁶ I rejoice because I am confident in you.

¹ Family, we want you to know about the generosity of God that was given through the Called Communities in Macedonia. ² During a severe test of oppression, the abundance of their joy—even in the depth of their poverty—overflowed in the wealth of their openhanded giving. ³ I attest that they gave in line with what they could—and beyond what they could—and did so voluntarily. ⁴ They were pleading with us earnestly for the joy of shared participation in serving those who are designated for sacred purposes. ⁵ It wasn’t that we were expecting it, but they gave themselves first to the Liberating Sovereign and to us as God desired. ⁶ It led us to encourage Titus to complete what he started and foster the same generosity among you. ⁷ So then, as you grow in every way—in faithfulness, in speech, in knowledge, in wholehearted motivation, and in your love for us—may you also grow in this generosity.

⁸ I’m not saying this as a command, but rather, I’m evaluating the genuineness of your love in light of other people’s eagerness. ⁹ You’re familiar with the generosity of our Liberating Sovereign Jesus Christ, that while he was wealthy, he became poor for your sakes so that you could be wealthy with him. ¹⁰ I’ll share what I think about this since it benefits you: Last year, you already started this, not only wanting it but actually doing it. ¹¹ Now, complete the action so that the accomplishment is proportionate to the eagerness of your desire to act and proportionate to what you have. ¹² You see, if the eagerness is present, what’s acceptable is based on what someone has, not based on what they don’t have. ¹³ I’m not saying this so that it would be a relief for others and a burden for you but out of concern for what is equitable. ¹⁴ Right now, your abundance goes toward what they lack. That way, it may also happen that their abundance goes toward what you lack, so that it may become equitable. ¹⁵ As it is written, “The one who gathered much did not have excess, and the one who gathered little did not lack.”

¹⁶ Thanks be to God, who inspired the same eagerness for you in Titus’ heart. ¹⁷ Not only did he accept our request, but he also began to be eager and is going to you of his own free choice. ¹⁸ We’ve sent along with him the Family member who is praised in connection with the triumphant message throughout all the Called Communities. ¹⁹ Not only that, but this same person was appointed by the Called Communities as our traveling companion as we attend to this gift for the renown of the Liberating Sovereign himself and to satisfy our own passion. ²⁰ This was arranged so that no one would find fault with us regarding how we’re attending to this generous gift. ²¹ You see, we’re thinking ahead about being honorable not only from the Sovereign One’s viewpoint but also from people’s viewpoint. ²² We’ve also sent with them our Family member, whom we have affirmed often, who is eager in many things but right now is even more eager in light of their immense confidence in you. ²³ If anyone wants to know about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. If anyone wants to know about our Family members, they are commissioned by the Called Communities and a credit to Christ. ²⁴ Therefore, provide a demonstration for them of your love and the pride we take in you in view of the Called Communities.

¹ It’s not really necessary for me to write to you about assisting those designated for sacred purposes ² since I’ve seen your eagerness, and I brag about you to the Macedonians because Achaia has been ready since last year. Your passionate dedication is what inspired most of them. ³ Nevertheless, I’ve sent these Family members so that our bragging about you won’t be empty in this instance, so that you would be ready just as I’ve said. ⁴ If not, and Macedonians come with me and find you unready, we (not to mention you) will be humiliated by our confidence in you. ⁵ Therefore, I considered it necessary to encourage the Family members to come to you ahead of time and prepare the promised gift for it to be ready—as a freely given gift would be and not as if someone’s grasping for it.

⁶ Now here’s the thing: Whoever plants reluctantly will also harvest reluctantly, and whoever plants as a freely given gift will also harvest as a freely given gift. ⁷ Each should give as they have resolved for themselves in their heart—not out of guilt or under pressure—since God loves giving when the giver can do it happily. ⁸ God can make full generosity overflow for you so that in everything all the time, having complete fulfillment of every need, you will overflow with every generous act, ⁹ just as it is written, “They have distributed freely; they have given to the working class. Their justness stays present throughout the Age.” ¹⁰ The one who provides seed for planting and bread for eating will provide and multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your justness. ¹¹ In everything you are being made rich toward every sincerely generous act, which is produced by our gratitude to God, ¹² because the assistance produced by serving as representatives in this way is not only contributing to the fulfillment of the needs of those who are designated for sacred purposes but even overflowing because of immense gratitude toward God. ¹³ By the genuineness of this assistance, you are demonstrating God’s praiseworthiness by following through on your open acknowledgement of the triumphant message of Christ and by the sincere generosity of your communal sharing with them and with everyone. ¹⁴ They long for your well-being as their request on your behalf because of God’s generosity that goes above and beyond in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for the gift that’s beyond words.

¹ Now, I—Paul myself, who seem unimpressive when I’m with you but confident when I’m away—appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ. ² I beg you not to make me need that confidence while I’m there; however, I assume I can’t avoid it with some who assume we walk according to self-serving interests. ³ You see, though we walk in bodies, we don’t go on the march according to self-serving impulses ⁴ because the tools of our campaign are not self-serving but are empowered by God for tearing down fortresses—dismantling assumptions ⁵ and every barrier raised against the understanding of God, driving every pattern of thought toward the Christlike way of humble responsiveness ⁶ and being ready to promote justice for every refusal to respond humbly, once your humble responsiveness is brought to fullness.

⁷ You’re looking at things based on social status. If someone is convinced they are connected with Christ, they should again assume that just as they are with Christ, so are we. ⁸ Even if I brag a little too much about our right The One Who Is gave us—to build you up, not to tear you down—I won’t be made to feel ashamed of it. ⁹ I’m saying this so that it won’t seem as if I’m trying to scare you away with my letters. ¹⁰ You see, people are saying, “Even though his letters are weighty and strong, the appearance of his body is weak, and his message is treated as worthless.” ¹¹ Anyone like that should assume that the kind of people we are in words through our letters when we’re absent is exactly who we are in actions when we’re present.

¹² We wouldn’t dare count ourselves among, or compare ourselves with, some of those who present themselves as legitimate. In contrast, when people measure themselves against themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they’re missing the point. ¹³ We, on the other hand, will not brag endlessly but only within the measure of the boundary God assigned to us: specifically, reaching as far as you. ¹⁴ After all, it’s certainly not as if reaching all the way to you were overreaching for us since we did reach you with the triumphant message of Christ. ¹⁵ We don’t brag endlessly about labor done by others, but we hope that as your faithfulness grows among you, it will be expanded to overflowing beyond our boundary, ¹⁶ to bring the triumphant message to places beyond you, not to areas assigned to others so as to brag about things they already did. ¹⁷ “Whoever brags should brag about The One Who Is.” ¹⁸ You see, it’s not the one who presents themself as legitimate who is verified as genuine but the one whom The One Who Is presents as legitimate.

¹ If only you would put up with me in a little senselessness—actually, you already are putting up with me! ² I am passionately dedicated to you with God’s own passion, because I gave you in marriage to one man, like a daughter presented as sacred to Christ. ³ I’m afraid, though, that much like the snake tricked Eve with its underhandedness, somehow your minds will be corrupted away from sincerity and sacred dedication to Christ. ⁴ After all, if someone actually comes announcing a different Jesus from the one we announced, or you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different triumphant message than the one you accepted, you put up with that flawlessly! ⁵ I assume nothing has come up short when it comes to the “super-commissioned-ones”! ⁶ However, even if I’m an amateur in speaking, that’s not the case with knowledge. In fact, we’ve made that clear to you in every way.

⁷ Is the issue that I performed a “deviation” by lowering myself so that you would be lifted up, that I announced God’s triumphant message to you for free? ⁸ I plundered other Communities, in order to serve you, by taking payment, ⁹ but while I was present with you and coming up short, I wasn’t a burden to anyone because when the Family members from Macedonia came, they fully supplied what I needed. In every way I was careful not to let myself be a burden to you, and I will keep being careful. ¹⁰ As far as I’m concerned—as the truth of Christ is with me—this bragging will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ For what reason? Because I don’t love you? God knows.

¹² I will continue to do what I’m doing so that I can cut off any opportunity that might give those who want it an excuse for bragging that they are regarded the same as we are. ¹³ You see, people like these are false commissioned-ones, underhanded workers, who pose as Christ’s commissioned ones. ¹⁴ And no wonder, since the Adversary themself poses as a messenger of light. ¹⁵ Therefore, it’s no big thing if the Adversary’s servants also pose as servants of justice; their end will match their actions.

¹⁶ Again, I say, I wish no one thought of me as senseless. But if that’s how it is, at least welcome me as senseless so that I can brag a little bit too. ¹⁷ When I say that, I’m not speaking in accordance with the Liberating Sovereign but as if senselessly: with the same bravado. ¹⁸ Since many people brag in accordance with self-serving impulses, I’ll brag too! ¹⁹ Even though you’re sensible, you gladly put up with senseless people. ²⁰ After all, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone brings you to ruin, if someone takes from you, if someone puts themself above you, or if someone hits you in the face ²¹ (I’m ashamed to say it: we have been weak by comparison!). Anything anyone else dares to claim, I can claim it too. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. ²³ Are they Christ’s servants? (I’m speaking nonsense!) I surpass them far and away in troubles and imprisonments, beaten beyond measure, and often close to death. ²⁴ I’ve received forty lashes minus one from Jewish authorities five times. ²⁵ I’ve been beaten with switches three times. I was stoned once. I’ve endured three shipwrecks. I spent a full night and day adrift at sea. ²⁶ I’ve experienced frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from ambushes, in danger from my own people, in danger from other peoples, in danger in cities, in danger in the wilderness, in danger on the sea, in danger from false Family members, ²⁷ with trouble and hardship, with frequent sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in the cold and lacking clothing. ²⁸ Apart from everything else, there’s the crowd of people coming at me every day—the concern for all the Called Communities. ²⁹ Who is weak? Aren’t I weak? Who is tripped up? Aren’t I burning with anguish?

³⁰ If it’s necessary to brag, I will brag about the things related to my weakness. ³¹ God, the Father of our Liberating Sovereign Jesus—who is praised throughout the Age—knows I’m not lying. ³² In Damascus, the Ethnarch under King Aretas was guarding the city of the Damascenes to arrest me. ³³ But, I was let down in a basket through a window in the city wall and escaped his grasp.

¹ It is, in fact, necessary to brag, so even though it’s not beneficial, I’ll continue on to visions and revelations of the Liberating Sovereign. ² I know someone connected with Christ who, fourteen years ago, was carried off in one of those ways to the third heaven (whether with or without their body, I don’t know; God knows). ³ I do know that this person (whether in the body or without the body, I don’t know; God knows) ⁴ was carried off to the Garden and heard inexpressible utterances that are not appropriate for a person to speak. ⁵ I’ll brag about someone like that, but I won’t brag about myself unless it’s related to my weaknesses. ⁶ You see, I wouldn’t be senseless if I wanted to brag because I would be speaking the truth; nevertheless, I hold back, so that no one assumes anything about me beyond what they see of me or hear from me, ⁷ especially with how extraordinary the revelations are. Therefore, so that I don’t think too highly of myself, a thorn was given to me in my body, a messenger of the Adversary, so that I don’t think too highly of myself. ⁸ I appealed to The One Who Is about this three times, that it would leave me. ⁹ God said to me, “My generosity is enough for you.” After all, power is made complete in weakness. Therefore, I will brag even more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power will take up residence in me. ¹⁰ That’s why I prefer weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and being hemmed in for the sake of Christ: because when I am weak, that’s when I’m powerful.

¹¹ I’ve become senseless; you forced me to do it. You see, I should have been presented as legitimate by you because I’ve come up short in nothing in comparison with the “super-commissioned-ones”—even if I am nothing. ¹² The evidence of a commissioned one really was produced among you with complete endurance, with evidence and even with extraordinary feats and powerful acts. ¹³ After all, how were you treated as inferior to the rest of the Called Communities other than that I myself wasn’t a burden to you? Be gracious with me for this injustice! ¹⁴ Look, I’m ready to come to you a third time; I will not be a burden to you. It’s not your things I’m after; it's you! Children don’t owe it to save up for their parents, but rather the parents do for the children. ¹⁵ Now, I will very gladly spend and be completely spent for your very beings. If I love you more, am I loved less? ¹⁶ Granted, I wasn’t a burden to you, but as underhanded as I supposedly am, I must have taken you in with trickery! ¹⁷ Have I taken advantage of you through anyone that I sent to you? ¹⁸ I encouraged Titus to go and sent our Family member along. Titus didn’t take advantage of you at all, did he? Didn’t we walk with the same Life-breath as him? Didn’t we walk in the same footsteps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all this time that we were trying to justify ourselves to you? We say this in Christ before God: Everything has been to build you up, loved ones. ²⁰ I’m afraid that somehow when I come, I won’t find you how I want you to be, and I will not be found to be how you want. I’m afraid that somehow there will be rivalry, jealousy, bouts of rage, competitive self-promotion, insults, whispers, arrogance, and instability. ²¹ I’m afraid that when I come again, God will leave me brokenhearted in your presence, and that I will grieve many who have deviated before and have not transformed their mind about the uncleanness, sexual exploitation, and unrestrained disregard for others that they practiced.

¹ I am coming to you a third time. “Every charge must be confirmed by the statements of two or three witnesses.” ² I’ve said it before when I was present with you, and I say it again now while I’m away, to those who have deviated before and to all the rest: If I come, this time I won’t hold back ³ since you’re looking for proof that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak on your behalf but is powerful among you. ⁴ In fact, he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives out of God’s power. We also are weak in conformity with him, yet we will live along with him out of God’s power on your behalf.

⁵ Test yourselves: Are you faithful in your commitment? Examine your authenticity. Or haven’t you fully understood about yourselves that Jesus Christ is among you? Unless by some chance you’re inauthentic. ⁶ But I hope you will realize that we are not inauthentic. ⁷ We pray to God for you not to do anything harmful, not so that we would be seen as authentic but so that you would do what is admirable, even if it seems like we’re inauthentic. ⁸ After all, we can’t do anything against the truth but only for the sake of truth. ⁹ You see, we rejoice when we are weak, yet you are powerful; That’s what we pray for: your complete restoration. ¹⁰ That’s why I’m writing these things while I’m away, so that—in alignment with the freedom that the Liberating Sovereign gave me for building up, not tearing down—I won’t treat you harshly when I’m there.

¹¹ Here’s what’s left to say, Family: Rejoice, be completely restored, be encouraged, hold to this very way of thinking, live peaceably, and may the God of love and peace be with you. ¹² Wish each other well with a sacred kiss. All those who are designated for sacred purposes wish you well.

¹³ May the generosity of the Liberating Sovereign Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sharing of life from the Sacred Life-breath be with you all.