Paul and Those Who Pretend to Be Apostles
1I hope you will put up with me in a little foolish bragging. Yes, please put up with me! 2My jealousy for you comes from God himself. I promised to give you to only one husband. That husband is Christ. I wanted to be able to give you to him as if you were a pure virgin. 3But Eve’s mind was tricked by the snake’s clever lies. And here’s what I’m afraid of. Your minds will also somehow be led astray. They will be led away from your true and pure love for Christ. 4Suppose someone comes to you and preaches about a Jesus different from the Jesus we preached about. Or suppose you receive a spirit different from the Spirit you received before. Or suppose you receive a different message of good news. Suppose it was different from the one you accepted earlier. You put up with those kinds of things easily enough.
5I don’t think I’m in any way less important than those “super-apostles.” 6It’s true that I haven’t been trained as a speaker. But I do have knowledge. I’ve made that very clear to you in every way. 7I preached God’s good news to you free of charge. When I did that, I was putting myself down in order to lift you up. Was this a sin? 8I received help from other churches so I could serve you. This was almost like robbing them. 9When I was with you and needed something, I didn’t cause you any expense. The believers who came from Macedonia gave me what I needed. I haven’t caused you any expense at all. And I won’t ever do it. 10I’m sure that the truth of Christ is in me. And I’m just as sure that nobody in Achaia will keep me from bragging. 11Why? Because I don’t love you? No! God knows I do!
12And I will keep on doing what I’m doing. That will stop those who claim they have things to brag about. They think they have a chance to be considered equal with us. 13People like that are false apostles. They are workers who tell lies. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. 14That comes as no surprise. Even Satan himself pretends to be an angel of light. 15So it doesn’t surprise us that Satan’s servants also pretend to be serving God. They will finally get exactly what they deserve.
Paul Brags About His Sufferings
16I will say it again. Don’t let anyone think I’m a fool. But if you do, put up with me just as you would put up with a fool. Then I can do a little bragging. 17When I brag about myself like this, I’m not talking the way the Lord would. I’m talking like a fool. 18Many are bragging the way the people of the world do. So I will brag like that too. 19You are so wise! You gladly put up with fools! 20In fact, you even put up with anyone who makes you a slave or uses you. You put up with those who take advantage of you. You put up with those who claim to be better than you. You put up with those who slap you in the face. 21I’m ashamed to have to say that I was too weak for that!
Whatever anyone else dares to brag about, I also dare to brag about. I’m speaking like a fool! 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Do they belong to the people of Israel? So do I. Are they Abraham’s children? So am I. 23Are they serving Christ? I am serving him even more. I’m out of my mind to talk like this! I have worked much harder. I have been in prison more often. I have suffered terrible beatings. Again and again I almost died. 24Five times the Jews gave me 39 strokes with a whip. 25Three times I was beaten with sticks. Once they tried to kill me by throwing stones at me. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26I have had to keep on the move. I have been in danger from rivers. I have been in danger from robbers. I have been in danger from my fellow Jews and in danger from Gentiles. I have been in danger in the city, in the country, and at sea. I have been in danger from people who pretended they were believers. 27I have worked very hard. Often I have gone without sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Often I have gone without food. I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, every day I am concerned about all the churches. It is a very heavy load. 29If anyone is weak, I feel weak. If anyone is led into sin, I burn on the inside.
30If I have to brag, I will brag about the things that show how weak I am. 31I am not lying. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus knows this. May God be praised forever. 32In Damascus the governor who served under King Aretas had their city guarded. He wanted to arrest me. 33But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall. So I escaped from the governor.
Pavao i lažni apostoli
1Nadam se da ćete imati strpljenja i podnijeti da vam još malo govorim poput bezumnika. Podnesite me još malo. 2Ljubomoran sam na vas Božjom ljubomorom jer sam vas kao čistu nevjestu obećao mladoženji: Kristu. 3Bojim se, međutim, da će se vaše misli pokvariti te da će zastraniti od čiste i iskrene odanosti Kristu, kao što je i zmija lukavo prevarila Evu u edenskome vrtu. 4Ma tko došao i propovijedao vam drugoga Isusa umjesto onoga kojega smo vam mi propovijedali, ili drugoga Duha, a ne onoga kojega ste primili, ili drugo evanđelje od onoga u koje ste povjerovali, vi sve to lijepo podnosite. 5Ipak ne smatram da su ti “nadapostoli”, kako li se već sami nazivaju, bolji od mene. 6Ako sam i loš govornik, barem znam što govorim, a nadam se da ste to dosada i vi shvatili jer sam vam se neprestano dokazivao.
7Jesam li pogriješio ponizujući sebe, a vas uzvisujući time što sam vam besplatno navješćivao Božju Radosnu vijest? 8“Plijenio” sam druge crkve uzimajući od njih novac da bih mogao vama služiti. 9A kad sam boraveći kod vas zapao u oskudicu, nisam vas molio da mi pomognete. Pomogla su mi braća koja su došla iz Makedonije. Uvijek sam pazio, a i nadalje ću paziti da vam ne budem na teret. 10Sigurno kao što je sigurna Kristova istina u meni, nitko me neće spriječiti da se time hvalim po cijeloj Ahaji! 11Zašto? Zar zato što vas ne volim? Bog zna da vas volim!
12Ali činit ću to i dalje da bih oduzeo priliku onima koji je traže da bi se hvalili kako su jednaki nama. 13Takvi su ljudi lažni apostoli. Prevarili su vas pretvarajući se da su Kristovi apostoli. 14Ne čudi me to jer se i sam Sotona pretvara u anđela svjetla. 15Onda nije čudno da i njegovi sluge čine isto pretvarajući se da su sluge pravednosti. Na koncu će završiti kako su svojim djelima zaslužili.
Pavlove kušnje
16Još jedanput vas molim, ne smatrajte me bezumnikom što tako govorim. Ali čak ako me takvim i smatrate, poslušajte me kao što biste i nekoga bezumnog čovjeka, da se malo pohvalim. 17Takvo hvalisanje nije mi Bog naredio; ponašam se kao nerazuman čovjek. 18A kako se oni drugi neprestano hvale po ljudsku, onda ću se tako i ja pohvaliti. 19Uostalom, vi koji ste mudri, rado slušate one bezumnike! 20Zaista, podnosite da se prema vama odnose kao prema robovima, da vam uzimaju sve što imate, da s vama postupaju s visoka, da vas udaraju po licu. 21Sa stidom moram priznati da smo mi bili preslabi da bismo tako postupali!
Ali čime god da se tko usuđuje hvaliti (opet govorim poput bezumnika), i ja se usuđujem! 22Kažu da su Hebreji? I ja sam. Da su Izraelci? I ja sam. Da su Abrahamovi potomci? Ja sam također. 23Da su Kristovi sluge? Sada već govorim kao luđak: ja sam to još i više! Radio sam još napornije, češće sam bio u tamnicama, bezbroj su me puta bičevali i uvijek sam se iznova suočavao sa smrću. 24Pet su me puta Židovi pretukli s trideset devet udaraca. 25Triput su me šibali, jedanput kamenovali, doživio sam tri brodoloma, a jednom sam cijelu noć i dan proveo na pučini. 26Naporno sam i daleko putovao i zapadao u opasnosti od nabujalih rijeka, od razbojnika, od vlastitih sunarodnjaka, kao i od pogana. Opasnosti su mi prijetile u gradovima, u pustinjama, na olujnim morima. Vrebala su me lažna braća, ljudi koji tvrde da su Kristovi sljedbenici, ali to nisu. 27Živio sam u trudu i muci, probdio mnoge neprospavane noći. Često sam bio gladan i žedan jer nisam imao što jesti, često sam drhtao od studeni jer nisam imao što obući.
28A povrh svega toga, svakog sam se dana brinuo za sve crkve. 29Tko je slab, a da ja ne osjećam tu slabost? Tko je naveden na grijeh, a da ja ne izgaram?
30Ako se već moram hvaliti, radije bih se hvalio onime što pokazuje moju slabost. 31Bog i Otac našega Gospodina Isusa, neka je slavljen uvijeke, zna da ne lažem. 32U Damasku je namjesnik kralja Arete postavio stražu kod gradskih vrata da me uhvati; 33ali spustili su me po užetu u košari preko gradskoga zida i tako sam im umaknuo.
