2 Corinthians 10:9–15

¹⁹But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

²¹What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

¹⁰For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

¹⁷For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

¹⁰¶ And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

⁶But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

⁵Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

⁶For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

⁸For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹³Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

¹⁴And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

⁶Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

¹AND I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

²For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

³And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

²¹For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

¹NOW I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

²⁰For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

¹⁰Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

²I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:

³Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.

¹⁹But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

²Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

¹²Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

¹⁸For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

¹DO we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

¹²For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

²No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

¹⁰As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

⁶Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

¹⁴For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

¹⁵Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

⁷But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

³For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

²⁰Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

¹¹But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

¹⁷Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁵And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

¹⁴Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.

⁴Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

¹⁸But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

¹⁵For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

¹¹According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

¹⁰But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

⁵Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

⁶I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

¹AM I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

²If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

¹²Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,

¹DO we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

²Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

³Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

⁴In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

²⁴But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

⁵For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

⁶I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

⁷Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

¹THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

¹⁹Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

¹⁶In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

¹⁰According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

²⁵Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

³We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

²⁰Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

¹³But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

¹³And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.