and every arrogant obstacle ¹  that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey ²  Christ.

For you put up with ¹  it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly ²  toward you, if someone strikes you in the face.

So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf ¹  before God.

I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison ¹  to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ¹  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.

Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution ¹  you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift ²  and not as something you feel forced to do. ³ 

For if someone comes and proclaims ¹  another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, ²  or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, ³  or a different gospel than the one you accepted, ⁴  you put up with it well enough! ⁵ 

Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive ¹  I may not have to deal harshly with you ²  by using my authority – the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!

if indeed, after we have put on ¹  our heavenly house, ²  we will not be found naked.

I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm. ¹ 

But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) ¹  he has saddened all of you as well.

Now I appeal to God as my witness, ¹  that to spare ²  you I did not come again to Corinth. ³ 

For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself ¹  is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have.

Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, ¹  we try to persuade ²  people, ³  but we are well known ⁴  to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

but when one ¹  turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ² 

As a result, ¹  death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. ² 

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself ¹  as an angel of light.

For how ¹  were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this injustice!

I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others. ¹ 

Have you been thinking all this time ¹  that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. ²