¹Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.

¹እኔም ራሴ ጳውሎስ፥ በእናንተ ዘንድ ፊት ለፊት ሳለሁ ትሑት የሆንሁ፥ ከእናንተ ግን ብርቅ የምደፍራችሁ፥ በክርስቶስ የዋህነትና ገርነት እመክራችኋለሁ፤

²Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh.

²በዓለማዊ ልማድ እንደምንመላለስ በሚቆጥሩን በአንዳንዶች ላይ አምኜ ልደፍር አስባለሁ፥ በዚያ እምነት ግን ከእናንተ ጋር ሆኜ እንዳልደፍር እለምንችኋለሁ።

³For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh;

³በሰው ልማድ ምንም እንኳ የምንመላለስ ብንሆን፥ እንደ ሰው ልማድ አንዋጋም፤

⁴for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,

⁴የጦር ዕቃችን ሥጋዊ አይደለምና፥ ምሽግን ለመስበር ግን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ብርቱ ነው፤

⁵throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;

⁵የሰውንም አሳብ በእግዚአብሔርም እውቀት ላይ የሚነሣውን ከፍ ያለውን ነገር ሁሉ እናፈርሳለን ለክርስቶስም ለመታዘዝ አእምሮን ሁሉ እንማርካለን፥

⁶and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.

⁶መታዘዛችሁም በተፈጸመች ጊዜ አለመታዘዝን ሁሉ ልንበቀል ተዘጋጅተናል።

⁷Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s.

⁷በፊታችሁ ያለውን ተመልከቱ። ማንም የክርስቶስ መሆኑን ተረድቶ ቢሆን፥ ይህን እንደ ገና በራሱ ይቁጠረው፤ እርሱ የክርስቶስ እንደ ሆነ እኛ ደግሞ እንዲሁ ነን።

⁸For though I should boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down) I will not be disappointed,

⁸ጌታ እናንተን ለማነጽ እንጂ እናንተን ለማፍረስ ያይደለ በሰጠው በሥልጣናችን ከፊት ይልቅ ብመካ እንኳ አላፍርም።

⁹that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters.

⁹በመልእክቶቼ የማስደነግጣችሁ አይምሰላችሁ።

¹⁰For, “His letters,” they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”

¹⁰መልእክቶቹስ ከባድና ኃይለኛ ናቸው፥ ሰውነቱ ግን ሲታይ ደካማ ነው፥ ንግግሩም የተናቀ ነው ይላሉና።

¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present.

¹¹እንዲሁ የሚል ይህን ይቁጠረው፤ በሩቅ ሳለን በመልእክታችን በኩል በቃል እንዳለን፥ በፊቱ ደግሞ ሳለን በሥራ እንዲሁ ነን።

¹²For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.

¹²ራሳቸውን ከሚያመሰግኑ ከአንዳንዶች ጋር ራሳችንን ልንቆጥር ወይም ራሳችንን ልናስተያይ አንደፍርምና፤ ነገር ግን እነርሱ ራሳቸውን ከራሳቸው ጋር ሲያመዛዝኑ፥ ራሳቸውንም ከራሳቸው ጋር ሲያስተያዩ፥ አያስተውሉም።

¹³But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you.

¹³እኛ ግን እግዚአብሔር እንደ ወሰነልን እስከ እናንተ እንኳ እንደሚደርስ እንደ ክፍላችን ልክ እንጂ ያለ ልክ አንመካም።

¹⁴For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ,

¹⁴ወደ እናንተ እንደማንደርስ አድርገን ከመጠን አናልፍምና፥ የክርስቶስን ወንጌል በመስበክ እስከ እናንተ እንኳ ደርሰናልና፤

¹⁵not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence,

¹⁵በሌሎች ድካም ያለ ልክ አንመካም፥ ነገር ግን እምነታችሁ ሲያድግ ከእናንተ ወዲያ ባለው አገር እስክንሰብክ ሥራችንን እየጨመርን፥ በክፍላችን በእናንተ ዘንድ እንድንከብር ተስፋ እናደርጋለን፤ በሌላው ክፍል ስለ ተዘጋጀው ነገር አንመካም።

¹⁶so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done.

¹⁷የሚመካ ግን በጌታ ይመካ፤ እግዚአብሔር የሚያመሰግነው እንጂ ራሱን የሚያመሰግን እርሱ ተፈትኖ የሚወጣ አይደለምና።

¹⁷But “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:24

¹⁸For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.