Paul and the False Apostles 1 UST { Next,} I hope that you will be patient with me as I say a few things{ that I consider} foolish. I know that you are patient with me! BSB BSB: I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that.
3 UST However, I fear that someone{ will trick you}, just as Satan cleverly tricked Eve{, the first woman}.{ I fear that such a person} will ruin how you think in ways that are completely loyal to the Messiah. BSB BSB: I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
4 UST { I fear for you} because{ I know that} people visit you and tell you about Jesus, but it is not the same Jesus we told you about. Others offer you a spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit that we offered to you. Others proclaim good news to you, but it is not the same good news that you first believed. Despite that, you are very patient{ when people tell you about these things}. BSB BSB: For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.
5 UST { I want you to believe what we first told you} because I think that the Messiah acts through me as much as through those who say that they represent him the best. BSB BSB: I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”
6 UST Although I have not learned how to speak very well, despite that,{ I have learned} to know{ what is true}. I show you that this is true whenever I say or do anything. BSB BSB: Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.
7 UST You know that I did not sin against you when I did not ask you to pay me for proclaiming to you the good news from God.{ By doing that,} I made myself less important to make you more important. BSB BSB: Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8 UST { In fact,} I received money from other groups of believers. I accepted their money so that I could serve you. BSB BSB: I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.
9 UST Further, when I was with you, I did not have everything that I needed. However, I did not bother any of you{ by asking for money}.{ I could do that} because our fellow believers who traveled{ with me} from Macedonia province gave me everything that I needed. Indeed, in every situation, I did not and never will bother you{ by asking for money for myself}. BSB BSB: And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
10 UST No one who lives in any part of Achaia province will be able to keep me from saying great things{ about how I did not bother you}. What I am saying is as true as if the Messiah were saying it. BSB BSB: As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.
11 UST My reason for{ not bothering you} is not that I do not care for you. God can testify{ that I do care for you}. BSB BSB: Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 UST Rather,{ here is my reason for why} I will continue not to bother you. That way, I can prevent anyone from being able to say such great things about themselves as we{ say about ourselves}.{ I know that} some people want to do this. BSB BSB: But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.
13 UST Those people are not really those whom the Messiah sent to represent him. They deceive people with what they do, and they can only pretend to represent the Messiah. BSB BSB: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
14 UST That should not surprise us. The devil also pretends to be a glorious spiritual being. BSB BSB: And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
15 UST So then, we should expect those who serve him also to pretend to help people become righteous. God will eventually give them what they deserve in proportion to what they have done. BSB BSB: It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.
Paul’s Suffering and Service (Colossians 1:24–29)
16 UST I repeat what I said earlier: I do not want anyone to think that I am foolish. However, if you do{ think that I am foolish}, you should at least allow me to act in foolish ways. That way, I too can say a few great things about myself. BSB BSB: I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
17 UST What I am about to say is not how I speak when I am representing the Lord{ Jesus}. Rather, I am about to speak foolishly as I prove that I can say great things about myself. BSB BSB: In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
18 UST Many other people say great things about themselves in merely human ways. So, I too will say great things about myself. BSB BSB: Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.
19 UST { I know that you will listen to me,} because you consider yourselves to be wise people, so you are happy to be patient with other people who act foolishly. BSB BSB: For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise.
20 UST In fact, you are patient{ when people treat you badly}. They may force you to obey them. They may use up what you have. They may cheat you. They may say they are better than you. They may insult you.{ However, you are still patient with them.} BSB BSB: In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.
21 UST { If that is the right way for powerful people to treat you, then} I admit{ that how we acted when we were with you} shames us and proves that we are weak. On the other hand, whatever other people dare to do, I too can dare to do. Of course, I say these things only because I am acting foolishly. BSB BSB: To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.
22 UST Those people say they are Jews who speak Hebrew, but I also{ am a Jew and speak Hebrew}. They say they are Israelites, but I also{ am an Israelite}. They say they are descendants of Abraham, but I also{ am a descendant of Abraham}. BSB BSB: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23 UST They say they serve the Messiah, but I{ serve the Messiah} even more.{ Of course,} I am talking like a crazy person.{ However,} I have worked harder{ than they have}. People have put me in jail more{ than them}. People have struck me very many times. I have almost died many times. BSB BSB: Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
24 UST Five different times Jewish leaders had someone strike me{ the maximum number of times:} 39. BSB BSB: Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 UST Three different times leaders had someone repeatedly hit me with a stick. One time people threw stones at me{ to kill me}. Three different times the ship{ I was sailing in} sank. I have survived for 24 hours in the middle of the ocean. BSB BSB: Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
26 UST I travel frequently. I go through dangerous places, including rivers, towns, deserts, and oceans. There are always people who could hurt me, including thieves, Jewish people, non- Jewish people, and people who pretend to be fellow believers. BSB BSB: In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
27 UST I work very hard. I frequently do not sleep much. I do not have enough to eat or drink. I frequently go hungry. I sometimes freeze and do not have enough clothing. BSB BSB: in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 UST Besides everything else{ that I could mention}, I anxiously think daily about all the groups of believers. BSB BSB: Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
29 UST When a fellow believer is feeble, I am feeble. When someone causes a fellow believer to sin, I become very angry. BSB BSB: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
30 UST Since I need to say great things about myself, I intend to say great things about how feeble I am. BSB BSB: If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
31 UST We all will forever honor the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. He can testify that what I am saying is true. BSB BSB: The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.
32 UST When I was in Damascus city, the local ruler who served King Aretas had soldiers looking for me in the city to capture me. BSB BSB: In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.
33 UST However, fellow believers helped me get away from the local ruler.{ They put me} in a large basket,{ attached it to a rope, and} let it down through an opening in the city wall. BSB BSB: But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.