| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" toward you when away! | 1Now I, Paul, appeal to you personally by the meekness and gentleness of Christ (I who am meek when present among you, but am full of courage toward you when away!)-- |
| 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. | 2now I ask that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence that (I expect) I will dare to use against some who consider us to be behaving according to human standards. |
| 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. | 3For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, |
| 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. | 4for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments |
| 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. | 5and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. |
| 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. | 6We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. |
| 7You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. | 7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we. |
| 8So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. | 8For if I boast somewhat more about our authority that the Lord gave us for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of doing so. |
| 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. | 9I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters, |
| 10For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." | 10because some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak and his speech is of no account." |
| 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. | 11Let such a person consider this: What we say by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present. |
| 12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. | 12For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. |
| 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. | 13But we will not boast beyond certain limits, but will confine our boasting according to the limits of the work to which God has appointed us, that reaches even as far as you. |
| 14We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. | 14For we were not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach as far as you, because we were the first to reach as far as you with the gospel about Christ. |
| 15Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, | 15Nor do we boast beyond certain limits in the work done by others, but we hope that as your faith continues to grow, our work may be greatly expanded among you according to our limits, |
| 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else's territory. | 16so that we may preach the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast of work already done in another person's area. |
| 17But, "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." | 17But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. |
| 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. | 18For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends. |
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