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Paul and the False Apostles

¹I wish you would be patient with me even when I am a little foolish. But you are already patient with me. ²I am jealous for you with a jealousy that comes from God. I promised to give you to Christ. He must be your only husband. I want to give you to Christ to be his pure bridea. ³But I am afraid that your minds will be led away from your true and pure following of Christ. This could happen just as Eve was tricked by that snake with his clever lies. ⁴You seem to be quite patient with anyone who comes to you and tells you about a Jesus that is different from the Jesus we told you about. You seem very willing to accept a spirit or a message that is different from the Spiritb and messagec that you received from us.
⁵I don't think that those "super apostlesd" are any better than I am. ⁶It is true that I am not a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have shown this to you clearly in every way.
⁷I did the work of telling God's Good Newse to you without pay. I humbled myself to make you important. Do you think that was wrong? ⁸I accepted pay from other churchesf. I took their money so that I could serve you. ⁹If I needed something when I was with you, I did not trouble any of you. The brothers who came from Macedoniag gave me all that I needed. I did not allow myself to be a burden to you in any way. And I will never be a burden to you. ¹⁰No one there in Achaiah will stop me from boasting about that. I say this with the truth of Christ in me. ¹¹And why do I not burden you? Do you think it is because I don't love you? God knows that I love you.
¹²And I will continue doing what I am doing now, because I want to stop those people from having a reason to boast. They would like to say that the work they boast about is the same as ours. ¹³They are false apostles, lying workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. ¹⁴That does not surprise us, because even Satani changes himself to look like an angel of lightj. ¹⁵So it does not surprise us if Satan's servants make themselves look like servants who work for what is right. But in the end those people will get the punishment they deserve.

Paul Tells About His Sufferings ¹⁶I tell you again: No one should think that I am a fool. But if you think I am a fool, then accept me as you would accept a fool. Then I can boast a little too. ¹⁷But I am not talking the way the Lord would talk. I am boasting like a fool. ¹⁸Others are boasting about their lives in the world. So I will boast too. ¹⁹You are wise, so you will gladly be patient with fools! ²⁰I say this because you are even patient with someone who forces you to do things and uses you. You are patient with those who trick you, or think they are better than you, or hit you in the face! ²¹I am ashamed to say it, but we were too "weak" to do such things to you.
But if anyone dares to boast, I will too. (I am talking like a fool.) ²²Are those people Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelitesk? So am I. Are they from Abraham'sl family? So am I. ²³Are they serving Christ? I am serving him more. (I am crazy to talk like this.) I have worked much harder than they have. I have been in prison more often. I have been hurt more in beatings. I have been near death many times.
²⁴Five times the Jews have given me their punishment of 39 lashes with a whip. ²⁵Three different times I was beaten with rods. One time I was almost killed with rocks. Three times I was in ships that were wrecked, and one of those times I spent the night and the next day in the sea. ²⁶In my constant traveling I have been in danger from rivers, from thieves, from my own people, and from people who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, in places where no one lives, and on the sea. And I have been in danger from people who pretend to be believersm but are not.
²⁷I have done hard and tiring work, and many times I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have been without food. I have been cold and without clothes. ²⁸And there are many other problems. One of these is the care I have for all the churchesf. I worry about each group of believers every day. ²⁹I feel weak every time another person is weak. I feel deeply upset every time another person is led into sin.
³⁰If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show I am weak. ³¹God knows that I am not lying. He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, and he is to be praised forever. ³²When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas wanted to arrest me, so he put guards around the city. ³³But some friends put me in a basket. Then they put the basket through a hole in the wall and lowered me down. So I escaped from the governor.

^a11:2 bride Literally, “virgin.”
^bSpirit See “Holy Spirit.”
^cmessage See “Good News.”
^dapostle A follower of Jesus chosen to represent him in a special way. During his earthly ministry, Jesus named twelve men as apostles. They had the specific responsibility and authority to represent him and proclaim his message throughout the world. Later, he appeared to Paul and gave him a similar commission, especially to non-Jewish people. Barnabas, Paul’s missionary companion, and James, the brother of Jesus, are also called apostles, as well as several others in the New Testament. Some of these occurrences of the word, however, have the more general sense of “messenger” or “representative.”
^eGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever.
^fchurch Literally, “assembly” or “community,” the people who have been brought together as God’s family through their common faith in Jesus Christ. The word often refers to a group of believers who meet together or who live in the same area, but it is also used to mean the worldwide community of all believers in Christ.
^gMacedonia The northern part of Greece, where Thessalonica and Philippi were.
^hAchaia The region in the southern part of Greece where the ancient cities of Athens and Corinth were located.
ⁱSatan A name for the devil meaning “the enemy,” or “the accuser.”
^j11:14 angel of light Messenger from God. The devil fools people so that they think he is from God.
^k11:22 Hebrews … Israelites Other names for the Jewish people.
^lAbraham The most respected ancestor of the Jewish people. Through him God promised to make a great nation and bless all the people of the earth. Read Gen. 12:1-3.
^mbeliever Where this word is marked, it is literally “brother,” a term used by followers of Jesus Christ to refer to fellow members of God’s family.