2 Corinthians · Catholic Public Domain Version
2 Corinthians 11 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
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- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 I wish that you would endure a small amount of my foolishness, so as to bear with me.
1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.
2 For I am jealous toward you, with the jealousy of God. And I have espoused you to one husband, offering you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3 But I am afraid lest, as the serpent led astray Eve by his cleverness, so your minds might be corrupted and might fall away from the simplicity which is in Christ.
3 But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if anyone arrives preaching another Christ, one whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, one whom you have not received; or another Gospel, one which you have not been given: you might permit him to guide you.
4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we didn’t preach, or if you receive a different spirit which you didn’t receive, or a different “good news” which you didn’t accept, you put up with that well enough.
5 For I consider that I have done nothing less than the great Apostles.
5 For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
6 For although I may be unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. But, in all things, we have been made manifest to you.
6 But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.
7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you would be exalted? For I preached the Gospel of God to you freely.
7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge?
8 I have taken from other churches, receiving a stipend from them to the benefit of your ministry.
8 I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.
9 And when I was with you and in need, I was burdensome to no one. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied whatever was lacking to me. And in all things, I have kept myself, and I will keep myself, from being burdensome to you.
9 When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
10 The truth of Christ is in me, and so this glorying shall not be broken away from me in the regions of Achaia.
10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11 Why so? Is it because I do not love you? God knows I do.
11 Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
12 But what I am doing, I will continue to do, so that I may take away an opportunity from those who desire an opportunity by which they may glory, so as to be considered to be like us.
12 But what I do, that I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity, that in which they boast, they may be recognized just like us.
13 For false apostles, such as these deceitful workers, are presenting themselves as if they were Apostles of Christ.
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan presents himself as if he were an Angel of light.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
15 Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers present themselves as if they were ministers of justice, for their end shall be according to their works.
15 It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16 I say again. And let no one consider me to be foolish. Or, at least, accept me as if I were foolish, so that I also may glory a small amount.
16 I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
17 What I am saying is not said according to God, but as if in foolishness, in this matter of glorying.
17 That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
18 Since so many glory according to the flesh, I will glory also.
18 Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.
19 For you freely accept the foolish, though you yourselves claim to be wise.
19 For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
20 For you permit it when someone guides you into servitude, even if he devours you, even if he takes from you, even if he is extolled, even if he strikes you repeatedly on the face.
20 For you bear with a man if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, or if he strikes you on the face.
21 I speak according to disgrace, as if we had been weak in this regard. In this matter, (I speak in foolishness) if anyone dares, I dare also.
21 To my shame, I speak as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever way anyone is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
22 They are Hebrews; so am I. They are Israelites; so am I. They are the offspring of Abraham; so am I.
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as if I were less wise); more so am I: with many more labors, with numerous imprisonments, with wounds beyond measure, with frequent mortifications.
23 Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself.) I am more so: in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, and in deaths often.
24 On five occasions, I received forty stripes, less one, from the Jews.
24 Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews.
25 Three times, I was beaten with rods. One time, I was stoned. Three times, I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day, I was in the depths of the sea.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
26 I have made frequent journeys, through dangerous waters, in danger of robbers, in danger from my own nation, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger in the sea, in danger from false brothers,
26 I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
27 with hardships and difficulties, with much vigilance, in hunger and thirst, with frequent fasts, in cold and nakedness,
27 in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
28 and, in addition to these things, which are external: there is my daily earnestness and solicitude for all the churches.
28 Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not being burned?
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
30 If it is necessary to glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weaknesses.
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don’t lie.
32 At Damascus, the governor of the nation under Aretas the king, watched over the city of the Damascenes, so as to apprehend me.
32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the Damascenes’ city, desiring to arrest me.
33 And, through a window, I was let down along the wall in a basket; and so I escaped his hands.
33 I was let down in a basket through a window by the wall, and escaped his hands.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aretas
The king whose governor guarded Damascus to seize Paul; Paul escaped in a basket through a window in the wall.
Cited in the guide: 2 Corinthians 11:32
Cross references (33)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Corinthians 11:4; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 11:21; 2 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Corinthians 5:13
- 2 Hosea 2:19–20; Ephesians 5:26–27; Isaiah 54:5; Colossians 1:28; Leviticus 21:13–15
- 3 Colossians 2:8; Galatians 1:6; Ephesians 4:14; 1 John 4:1; Colossians 2:4
- 4 Galatians 1:6–8; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 1 Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 4:4–5; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11
- 5 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 12:11–12; Galatians 2:6–9
- 6 1 Corinthians 1:17; Ephesians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Peter 3:15–16
- 7 2 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 4:10–12; 2 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 9:6
- 8 2 Corinthians 11:9; Philippians 4:14–16; Philippians 4:18
- 9 2 Thessalonians 3:8–9; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:6; Philippians 4:10–16; Hebrews 11:37
- 10 Romans 9:1; Acts 18:12; Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 11:31
- 11 2 Corinthians 12:15; 2 Corinthians 7:3; 2 Corinthians 6:11–12; 2 Corinthians 12:2–3; Revelation 2:23
- 12 1 Corinthians 9:12; 2 Corinthians 10:17; Galatians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 11:9; 2 Corinthians 11:18
- 13 Galatians 1:7; Revelation 2:2; 1 John 4:1; Philippians 3:2; Galatians 2:4
- 14 Galatians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9; Matthew 4:1–10
- 15 Philippians 3:19; 2 Corinthians 3:9; Revelation 9:11; Jeremiah 23:14–15; Jude 4
- 16 2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corinthians 12:6; 2 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Corinthians 11:21–23
- 17 1 Corinthians 7:12; Philippians 3:3–6; 2 Corinthians 9:4; 1 Corinthians 7:25; 2 Corinthians 11:18–27
- 18 2 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 3:3–4; 1 Peter 1:24; 2 Corinthians 12:5–6
- 19 1 Corinthians 4:10; 1 Corinthians 10:15; 1 Corinthians 8:1; Revelation 3:17
- 20 Galatians 2:4; Galatians 5:1; Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9; Isaiah 50:6
- 21 2 Corinthians 10:10; 2 Corinthians 10:1–2; 2 Corinthians 11:17; 2 Corinthians 11:22–27; 2 Corinthians 13:10
- 22 Philippians 3:5; Romans 11:1; Romans 9:4; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 9:13
- 23 2 Corinthians 6:4–5; Colossians 1:24; 2 Corinthians 6:9; 2 Corinthians 1:9–10; 2 Corinthians 11:24–25
- 24 Mark 13:9; Deuteronomy 25:2–3; Matthew 10:17
- 25 Acts 14:19; Hebrews 11:37; Acts 27:1–44; Acts 16:37; Acts 16:33
- 26 Acts 14:5; Acts 20:19; Acts 25:3; Acts 17:5; Acts 13:50
- 27 2 Corinthians 6:5; Philippians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 4:11–12
- 28 1 Corinthians 7:17; Romans 15:16; Acts 20:18–35; Romans 11:13; Acts 15:40–41
- 29 1 Corinthians 8:13; 1 Corinthians 9:22; Galatians 4:8–20; Nehemiah 13:23–25; Nehemiah 13:15–20
- 30 2 Corinthians 12:5–11; Proverbs 25:27; 1 Corinthians 2:3; Jeremiah 9:23–24; Proverbs 27:2
- 31 Romans 9:5; Ephesians 1:3; John 10:30; Romans 15:6; 1 Peter 1:3
- 32 Acts 9:24–25; 2 Corinthians 11:26
- 33 Acts 9:25; Joshua 2:18; 1 Samuel 19:12
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Being about to enter upon his own praises he uses much previous correction. And he does this not once or twice, although the necessity of the subject, and what he had often said, were sufficient excuse for him.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 12 (1889)
For the devil it was, transforming himself into an angel of light. And he much allured proud flesh, in that he had no fleshly body.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
Wherefore Paul also said, "That wherein they glory, they may be found even as we." But if when we are in a strange country, and are going unto persons unknown to us, we must seek nothing more than our food for the day, much more when abiding at home.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
The devil also transfigures himself into an angel of light; not that he may reascend to where he was, for having made his heart hard as an anvil, he has henceforth a will that cannot repent; but in order that he may envelope those who are living an Angelic life in a mist of blindness, and a pestilent condition …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… not in his own voice, doth he call on that other deep, for whom being jealous he feareth, lest that, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so their minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in our Bridegroom, Thine only Son. What a light of beauty will that be when "we shall see Him as He …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)