2 Corinthians 10:1–18

¹Now I myself, Paul, entreat ​YOU​ by the mildness and kindness of the Christ, lowly though I am in appearance among ​YOU, whereas when absent I am bold toward ​YOU.²Indeed I beg that, when present, I may not use boldness with that confidence with which I am counting on taking bold measures against some who appraise us as if we walked according to [what we are in the] flesh.³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to [what we are in the] flesh.⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things.⁵For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God; and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ;⁶and we are holding ourselves in readiness to inflict punishment for every disobedience, as soon as ​YOUR​ own obedience has been fully carried out.

⁷YOU​ look at things according to their face value. If anyone trusts in himself that he belongs to Christ, let him again take this fact into account for himself, that, just as he belongs to Christ, so do we also.⁸For even if I should boast a bit too much about the authority that the Lord gave us to build ​YOU​ up and not to tear ​YOU​ down, I would not be put to shame,⁹that I may not seem to want to terrify ​YOU​ by [my] letters.¹⁰For, say they: “[His] letters are weighty and forceful, but [his] presence in person is weak and [his] speech contemptible.”¹¹Let such a man take this into account, that what we are in our word by letters when absent, such we shall also be in action when present.¹²For we do not dare to class ourselves among some or compare ourselves with some who recommend themselves. Certainly they in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves have no understanding.

¹³For our part we will boast, not outside our assigned boundaries, but according to the boundary of the territory that God apportioned to us by measure, making it reach even as far as ​YOU.¹⁴Really we are not overstretching ourselves as if we did not reach to ​YOU, for we were the first to come even as far as ​YOU​ in declaring the good news about the Christ.¹⁵No, we are not boasting outside our assigned boundaries in the labors of someone else, but we entertain hope that, as ​YOUR​ faith is being increased, we may be made great among ​YOU​ with reference to our territory. Then we will abound still more,¹⁶to declare the good news to the countries beyond ​YOU, so as not to boast in someone else’s territory where things are already prepared.¹⁷“But he that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.”¹⁸For not the one who recommends himself is approved, but the man whom Jehovah recommends.