2Corinthians:1:12-2
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You already know something about us .
I hope that you will come to know us fully .
On the day when the Lord Jesus comes you will be proud of us .
So too will we be proud of you .
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Because I was sure of this ,
I wanted to visit you before .
Then you would have had a double blessing .
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I wanted to visit you and then go to Macedonia .
I wanted to visit you again when I was on my way back from Macedonia .
Then you would send me on my way to Judea .
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That was what I wanted to do .
Now then ,
did I act as if I did not know what I wanted ?
When I make my plans ,
do you think I make them like a man of this world ?
Do I say Yes when I mean to say No ?
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As surely as God is true ,
our message to you was not Yes and No at the same time .
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Silvanus and Timothy and I told you about the Son of God ,
Jesus Christ .
His word was not Yes and No .
It was always Yes .
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To the many promises God has made Christ can say Yes .
He can make them all come true .
So then ,
it is because of Christ that we can say ,
Yes ,
it is so !
when we praise God .
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It is God who makes us stand strong with you in Christ .
God has chosen us and put his mark on us .
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He has put his Spirit in our hearts .
This is the first part of what we are to receive ,
and it proves that we will receive all God has promised .
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Let God take my life if what I say is not true .
I did not go to Corinth because I did not want to make you sad .
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We do not rule over what you believe .
But we work with you to make you glad .
You are strong already by believing as you do .
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Now I ,
Paul ,
beg you to do something since you know that Christ was kind and gentle .
You say I am weak when I am face to face with you ,
but when I am not with you ,
then I speak to you with hard words .
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I beg you ,
do not force me to talk hard words when I come .
I have made up my mind to talk hard words against some people .
They think we are living for the things in this world .
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Of course we are living in bodies made for this world .
But we are not fighting for the things in this world .
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We do not use the things of this world in our fighting ,
but we use the power of God .
This power can break down the walls where the enemy hides .
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We can break down what people think and every big idea that tries to stop people from knowing God .
And we can make every thought a prisoner to obey Christ .
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Only when you all obey ,
then we are ready to punish anyone who will not obey .
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Surely you can see this .
If one person is sure that he belongs to Christ ,
then he should see that we too belong to Christ just as he does .
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The Lord gave us power to build you up ,
not to break you down .
Maybe I talk about it too much .
But I feel I am right in talking about it .
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I do not want you to think that I am trying to make you afraid by my letters .
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Some people say ,
Pauls letters make us listen .
They are strong .
But he himself is weak and what he says is not worth listening to .
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People like that should know this .
When we come we will do what we have said in our letters .
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We do not want to be like those people who praise themselves .
They measure themselves by their own ideas ,
and look at themselves to see how good they are .
When they do that ,
they are foolish !
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We will not talk of things we did not do .
No ,
we will only be proud of those things which God has given us to do .
And he has sent us even as far as you .
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We are not going farther than we should when we come to you .
We were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ .
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We will not be proud of other mens work which we did not do .
We hope that you will believe more strongly ,
so that we can do more work among you ,
as God gives it to us .
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Then we hope to tell the good news in places far beyond you .
We will not be proud of the work given to someone else to do-work that was done before we got there .
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The holy writings say that the person who is proud should be proud only of the Lord .
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A man who praises himself is not a man who is good .
The man who is really good is the man whom the Lord praises .
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I want to say something a little bit foolish .
But please listen to me !
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I love you as God loves you .
I see you as a woman who has not been married and I am giving you to be the wife of a husband .
That husband is Christ .
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But the snake fooled Eve by his trick .
And I am afraid that your minds will be drawn away from a clean ,
pure love of Christ .
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You listen to a new man when he comes to tell you about a different Jesus ,
which is not the one we told you about .
And when you receive a spirit and a message which are not the ones you had first ,
then you listen too much .
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But I really do not think that the chief apostles are any better than I am !
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Maybe I am not a good talker ,
but I surely know what I am talking about !
Yes ,
we made this plain to you in every way in all things .
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Perhaps it was wrong for me to bring myself down in order to raise you up .
Do you think that ?
Was it wrong for me to tell you the good news without pay ?
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I took pay from other churches .
I made them poor so that I might help you .
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When I was with you and needed money ,
I did not make any of you pay me .
When the brothers came from Macedonia ,
they gave me what I needed .
So I was not ,
and I will not be ,
any trouble to you .
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Surely ,
the true word of Christ is in me .
I will never stop being proud of this anywhere in Achaia &
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FI &
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Greece &
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Fi &
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Why is this ?
Is it because I do not love you ?
God knows that I love you .
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And I will keep on doing what I am doing now .
Some teachers are praising themselves .
They say they are like us .
By doing this I prove they are not like us .
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Men like that are not true apostles .
They work to fool people .
They try to make themselves look like apostles of Christ .
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I am not surprised .
Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light .
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So it is not strange if his workers also try to make themselves look like Gods workers who do right .
They will come to an end like the work they do !
think that I am foolish .
But if you do ,
then please listen to me as if I were foolish .
I also want to do a little talking about myself .
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I am not talking like the Lord when I say this .
It seems foolish to say so much about myself .
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Many people talk about themselves in the world .
So I will too .
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Since you are wise ,
you still agree to listen to foolish people .
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You listen to a man even if he makes slaves of you ,
even if he spends all your money ,
even if he catches you in a trap ,
even if he is proud of himself ,
even if he slaps you in the face .
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I am ashamed ,
but I must say that we were too weak to be like that !
Anything that others want to be proud of ,
I can talk about too .
And yet it is really foolish to do so .
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Are they Hebrew people ?
So am I .
Are they Israels people ?
So am I .
Is Abraham their father ?
He is mine too .
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Are they workers for Christ ? (
I talk like one who is not in his right mind .)
I am a better worker .
I have worked much harder .
I have been in prison more often .
I have been beaten many ,
many times .
Often I have almost died .
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The Jewish leaders five times gave me thirty nine strikes with the rope .
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Three times people beat me with sticks ,
and once they threw rocks at me .
Three times I was in a boat when it broke in the sea .
I have been in the water all one night and day .
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I have travelled much .
I have crossed bad rivers .
I have gone where men might steal my things .
The Jews and those who are not Jews have troubled me .
I have been in hard places in the city .
I have had hard times in the desert .
I have had hard times on the water .
I have had hard times among those who should have been my brothers and were not .
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I have worked hard .
I have been tired out .
I have often had no sleep at night .
I have been hungry and thirsty .
I have often had nothing to eat .
I have been cold and did not have enough clothes to wear .
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Beside all other things ,
my heart is troubled about the churches .
That is a load I carry every day .
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When anyone is weak ,
I am weak too .
When anyone is made to fall away ,
my heart burns within me
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If I must talk about myself ,
I will talk about the things that show I am weak .
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God knows I am not telling lies .
He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and he is to be praised forever .
32In the city of Damascus a man ruled for king Aretas .
He had the gates of the city guarded because he wanted to catch me .
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But I sat in a basket .
Then it was put out through a window in the wall and was let down .
And so I got away from him .
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I must talk about myself even though it does no good .
I will talk about visions and things which the Lord has shown me .
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I know a Christian man .
Fourteen years ago he was taken up into the place where God lives .
I do not know if he was in his body when he went or not .
God knows if he was .
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I do know this .
He was taken up into the place where God lives .
And again I say ,
I do not know if he was in his body or not .
God knows if he was .
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This man heard things which cannot be told .
No person on earth can speak them .
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I will talk about such a man .
But I will not talk about myself .
If I do talk ,
it will be about the ways I am weak .
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Now if I wanted to talk about myself ,
I would not be foolish .
I would be telling the truth .
But I will not say any more .
This is why :
I do not want anyone to think I am better than what he sees I am ,
or hears me teach .
I want him to judge me only by what he can see in me and by what I say .
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Because the things God showed me were so wonderful ,
I might have become too proud of myself .
But something happened and stopped that .
It was like a thorn in me .
It came from Satan &
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FI &
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the devil &
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Fi &
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to trouble me .
It came to stop me from being too proud .
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I begged the Lord three times that this trouble might leave me .
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But he said to me ,
My kindness and strength is enough for you .
When you are weak ,
my power is strong .
So then ,
I am very glad to talk about how weak I am so that the power of Christ may live in me .
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So then ,
for the sake of Christ I am glad to be weak ,
to have people say wrong things about me ,
to be poor ,
to have people trouble me ,
and to have hard times .
When I am weak ,
that is the time I am really strong ,
have been acting like one with no sense ,
but you have made me do it .
You should have been talking about the good things I have done .
The very best apostles are not one bit better than I am ,
even though I am nothing at all .
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There are signs that show a true apostle .
I did all these things when I was among you .
There were signs ,
wonderful works ,
and other big works which I did .
You saw the power of God ,
even though I was being tested .
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In what way did you not receive as much as the other churches ?
Only this !
I did not trouble you to pay me .
Forgive me for the wrong I did you !
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Now ,
I am ready to come to you for the third time .
And I will not trouble you to pay me .
I do not want what belongs to you ,
but I want you .
The children should not save up for their parents ,
but the parents should do it for their children .
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For my part ,
I am glad to spend what I have ,
and to spend myself for the sake of your souls .
But it seems to me that the more I love you the less you love me !
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All right then ,
I did not trouble you for any money .
But some of you think that I have been mean and played a trick on you .
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Did I send anyone to you to get something for myself ?
No !
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I asked Titus to go and I sent our brother with him .
Did Titus get anything for himself ?
No !
Did we not act in the same spirit ?
Did we not walk in the same steps ?
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Am I saying all this just to you ?
Are we just trying to make ourselves look right to you ?
No ,
we say this before God and in Christ .
And my dear people ,
I have done it all to make you better Christians .
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I want to be pleased with you when I come .
But I am afraid I will not be .
And I am afraid that you will not be pleased with me .
I fear that I may find quarrelling ,
jealousy ,
anger ,
and that I will find you are enemies to each other ,
that you are spoiling each others names ,
that you are telling stories about each other ,
that you are proud and do not obey rulers .
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And I am afraid that when I come my God will make me ashamed of you .
I am afraid that my heart will be very sad about you .
Many have been doing wrong things for a long time .
Many have not turned away from their dirty ways ,
their wrong use of sex ,
and the things they should be ashamed of .
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This is the third time I am coming to you .
The holy writings say Any complaint must be proved by the words of two or three people .
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I have told you before ,
when I visited you the second time .
And I tell you again now ,
while I am not there .
When I come again ,
I will punish those who did wrong before and the others who have done wrong since .
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This will be the proof you want that Christ speaks through me .
Christ is not weak when he deals with you .
No ,
he shows his power among you .
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It is true that he was weak when he died on a cross .
But now he is alive by the power of God .
We are weak as he was ,
but we will also be alive as he is by the power God has .
You will see this .
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Look at yourselves and check to see if you still believe .
Test yourselves .
Do you not know Jesus Christ is in you ?
If he is not in you ,
you do not pass the test .
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I hope you will know that we pass the test .
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We ask God to help you that you will do nothing wrong .
That is not to show you that we pass the test .
We want you to do what is right even if we do not pass the test .
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After all ,
we have no power to work against what is true ,
but only for the truth .
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We are glad to be weak ,
if you are made strong .
And we ask God for this too ,
that you may become perfect .
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That is why I am writing these things to you the way I am ,
before I reach you .
Then ,
when I come to you ,
I do not want to be hard on you .
I do not want to use the power which the Lord has given me .
He gave it to me to help to make you better Christians ,
not to break you down .
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Now ,
my brothers ,
in closing I say ,
Goodbye .
Be what you should be .
Listen to what I say .
Be good to each other .
Agree with one another .
Live in peace with one another .
And the God who gives love and peace will be with you .
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Greet one another with a holy kiss .
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All of Gods people send greetings to you .
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And to all of you I say ,
May the kindness and blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon you .
May God show you his love .
May you all have the Holy Spirit with you .
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