2Corinthians:11
Seeker Overlay ON
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Would that ye could bear with me in a little folly !
and indeed ye do bear with me .
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For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy ;
for I espoused you to one husband ,
to present you as a pure virgin to Christ ;
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but I fear ,
lest by any means ,
as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtlety ,
so your minds should be corrupted from single
heartedness toward Christ .
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For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus ,
whom we did not preach ,
or if ye receive another spirit ,
which ye did not receive ,
or another gospel ,
which ye did not accept ,
well might ye bear with it .
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For I suppose that I am in no respect behind the very foremost apostles .
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And though I am rude in speech ,
yet I am not in knowledge ;
but this did we in every respect manifest to you in all things .
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Did I commit an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted ,
because I preached to you the gospel of God without charge ?
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I robbed other churches ,
taking wages of them ,
in order to do you service ;
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and when I was present with you ,
and in want ,
I was a charge to no one ; (
for the brethren ,
when they came from Macedonia ,
supplied my wants ;)
and in every thing I kept myself and will keep myself from being burdensome to you .
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As the truth of Christ is in me ,
this boasting shall not be stopped in regard to me in the regions of Achaia .
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Wherefore ?
Because I love you not ?
God knoweth !
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But what I do ,
that I will continue to do ,
that I may cut off occasion from those who wish for an occasion ,
in order that in the matter of which they boast they may be found even as we .
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For such are false apostles ,
deceitful workmen ,
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ .
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And no wonder ;
for even Satan transformeth himself into an angel of light .
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It is no great thing ,
then ,
if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness ;
whose end shall be according to their works .
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I say again ,
let no one suppose me a fool ;
if otherwise ,
yet even as a fool receive me ,
that I too may boast myself a little .
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What I speak ,
I speak not after the Lord ,
but as it were in folly ,
in this confidence of boasting .
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Seeing that many boast after the flesh ,
I will boast also .
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For ye bear with fools gladly ,
seeing ye yourselves are wise ;
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for ye bear with it ,
if one brings you into bondage ,
if one devours you ,
if one takes from you ,
if one exalts himself ,
if one smites you on the face .
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I say it to my reproach ,
that we were weak ;
but in whatever any one is bold , (
I speak in folly ,)
I am bold also .
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Are they Hebrews ?
So am I .
Are they Israelites ?
So am I .
Are they Abram
s offspring ?
So am I .
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Are they ministers of Christ ? (
I speak as beside myself ,)
I am more ;
in labors more abundantly ,
in stripes above measure ,
in prisons more frequently ,
in deaths often ;
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of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one ;
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thrice I was beaten with rods ,
once I was stoned ,
thrice I suffered shipwreck ,
a night and a day I have spent in the deep ;
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by journeyings often ;
by perils of rivers ,
by perils of robbers ,
by perils from my countrymen ,
by perils from the heathen ,
by perils in the city ,
by perils in the wilderness ,
by perils in the sea ,
by perils among false brethren ;
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by weariness and painfulness ,
in watchings often ,
in hunger and thirst ,
in fastings often ,
in cold and nakedness .
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Besides the other troubles ,
there is that which presseth upon me daily ,
the anxiety for all the churches .
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Who is weak ,
and I am not weak ?
who is in danger of stumbling ,
and I do not burn ?
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If I must boast ,
I will boast of the things which belong to my weakness .
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The God and Father of the Lord Jesus ,
who is blessed for evermore ,
knoweth that I am not lying .
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In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept guard over the city of the Damascenes ,
in order to apprehend me ;
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and through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall ,
and escaped his hands .