Our affection for you is not restricted, ¹  but you are restricted in your affections for us.

And we are sending ¹  along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the gospel. ² 

For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends.

And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals ¹  in the things they boast about.

(To my disgrace ¹  I must say that we were too weak for that!) ²  But whatever anyone else dares to boast about ³  (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. ⁴ 

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 

I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ¹  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ²  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers,

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!

For we groan while we are in this tent, ¹  since we are weighed down, ²  because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

You are looking at outward appearances. ¹  If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we.

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.

Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you – unless, indeed, you fail the test! ¹ 

But it is God who establishes ¹  us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, ² 

For this reason also I wrote you: ¹  to test you to see ²  if you are obedient in everything.

For if what was made ineffective ¹  came with ²  glory, how much more has what remains ³  come in glory!

But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, ¹ 

by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, ¹  by genuine ²  love,

Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my ¹  children – open wide your hearts to us ²  also.

I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you! ¹ 

in hard work and toil, ¹  through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. ²