2 Corinthians 10

¹ I myself, Paul, urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I, who am humble when I am with you, but bold toward you when I am away.

² I ask that when I am present, I may not have to be bold with the confidence I intend to use against some who consider us to be living according to the flesh.

³ For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.

⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful through God for tearing down strongholds; we tear down arguments,

⁵ and every proud obstacle raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

⁶ And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

⁷ You look at appearances. If anyone is convinced that he belongs to Christ, let him consider this again: just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

⁸ For even if I boast a little more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

⁹ I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters.

¹⁰ For, he says, “The letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak, and his speech is contemptible.”

¹¹ Let such a person consider this: what we are in our words through letters when absent, that we will also be in action when present.

¹² For we do not dare to rank or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack understanding.

¹³ We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but according to the limit God has assigned to us, a limit that reaches even to you.

¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves as though we had not reached you; we did reach you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵ We do not boast beyond measure in the labor of others. Rather, we hope that as your faith grows, our work among you will be greatly expanded within the limits assigned to us.

¹⁶ Then we can proclaim the good news in the regions beyond you, without boasting about work already done within someone else’s limits.

¹⁷ But let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

¹⁸ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

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