1. Please put up with a little of my foolishness.
2. I am as concerned about you as God is. You were like a virgin bride I had chosen only for Christ.
3. But now I fear that you will be tricked, just as Eve was tricked by that lying snake. I am afraid that you might stop thinking about Christ in an honest and sincere way.
4. We told you about Jesus, and you received the Holy Spirit and accepted our message. But you let some people tell you about another Jesus. Now you are ready to receive another spirit and accept a different message.
5. I think I am as good as any of those super apostles.
6. I may not speak as well as they do, but I know as much. And this has already been made perfectly clear to you.
7. Was it wrong for me to lower myself and honour you by preaching God's message free of charge?
8. I robbed other churches by taking money from them to serve you.
9. Even when I was in need, I still didn't bother you. In fact, some of the Lord's followers from Macedonia brought me what I needed. I have not been a burden to you in the past, and I will never be a burden.
10. As surely as I speak the truth about Christ, no one in Achaia can stop me from boasting about this.
11. And it isn't because I don't love you. God himself knows how much I do love you.
12. I plan to go on doing just what I have always done. Then those people won't be able to boast about doing the same things we are doing.