2 CORINTHIANS 10 [†] i I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the  j meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2I beg of you  k that when I am present I may not have to show  l boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3[†]For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the  m weapons of  n our warfare are not of the flesh but have  o divine power  p to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and  q every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to  r obey Christ, 6 s being ready to punish every disobedience,  t when your obedience is complete.

7 u Look at what is before your eyes.  v If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as  w he is Christ’s,  x so also are we. 8[†]For even if I boast a little too much of  y our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9[†]I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but  z his bodily presence is weak, and  a his speech of no account.” 11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12[†]Not that we dare to classify or  b compare ourselves with some of those who  c are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are  d without understanding.

13[†]But we will not boast  e beyond limits, but will  f boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us,  g to reach even to you. 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you.  h For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15[†]We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that  i as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be  j greatly enlarged, 16so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. 17[†]“Let  k the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18For it is  l not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one  m whom the Lord commends.