2 Corinthians 10

¹Now I, Paul himself, appeal to you by the gentle strength and gracious forbearance of Christ—I who am supposedly "lowly" when face-to-face with you, but "bold" toward you when away! ²I beg of you that when I am present, I may not have to be bold with that confidence with which I reckon I will dare to confront some who calculate that we are walking according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds. We are tearing down mental schemes ⁵and every lofty thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ⁶being ready to punish every act of disobedience as soon as your own obedience is made complete.

⁷Look at the obvious facts before your face. If anyone has convinced himself that he belongs to Christ, let him calculate this again for himself: that just as he belongs to Christ, so also do we. ⁸For even if I should boast somewhat more abundantly about our authority—which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down—I will not be put to shame. ⁹I say this so I do not seem as if I am trying to terrify you through my letters. ¹⁰For “His letters,” they say, “are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak and his speech is worth nothing.” ¹¹Let such a person calculate this: that what we are in word through letters when absent, we will also be in deed when present.

¹²For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they show they have no understanding. ¹³We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but will stay within the limit of the boundary which God assigned to us as a measure—to reach even as far as you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves as if we had not reached you, for we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. ¹⁵We do not boast beyond our limits in the labors of others, but we have the hope that as your faith increases, our influence among you will be greatly enlarged within our assigned boundary, ¹⁶so that we may preach the good news to the regions beyond you, without boasting about work already prepared in someone else’s boundary. ¹⁷“But let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸For it is not the one who recommends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord recommends.