¹It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. For I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

¹ትምክህት የሚያስፈልግ ነው፤ አይጠቅምም ነገር ግን ከጌታ ወዳለው ራእይና መገለጥ እመጣለሁ።

²I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I don’t know, or whether out of the body, I don’t know; God knows), such a one caught up into the third heaven.

²ሰውን በክርስቶስ አውቃለሁ፥ በሥጋ እንደ ሆነ አላውቅም ወይም ከሥጋ ውጭ እንደ ሆነ አላውቅም፥ እግዚአብሔር ያውቃል፤ እንዲህ ያለው ሰው ከአሥራ አራት ዓመት በፊት እስከ ሦስተኛው ሰማይ ድረስ ተነጠቀ።

³I know such a man (whether in the body, or outside of the body, I don’t know; God knows),

³እንዲህ ያለውንም ሰው አውቃለሁ፥ በሥጋ እንደ ሆነ ወይም ያለ ሥጋ እንደ ሆነ አላውቅም፥ እግዚአብሔር ያውቃል፤

⁴how he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

⁴ወደ ገነት ተነጠቀ፥ ሰውም ሊናገር የማይገባውን የማይነገረውን ቃል ሰማ።

⁵On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.

⁵እንደዚህ ስላለው እመካለሁ፥ ስለ ራሴ ግን ከድካሜ በቀር አልመካም።

⁶For if I would desire to boast, I will not be foolish; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, so that no man may think more of me than that which he sees in me, or hears from me.

⁶ልመካ ብወድስ ሞኝ አልሆንም፥ እውነትን እላለሁና፤ ነገር ግን ማንም ከሚያይ ከእኔም ከሚሰማ የምበልጥ አድርጎ እንዳይቆጥረኝ ትቼአለሁ።

⁷By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively.

⁷ስለዚህም በመገለጥ ታላቅነት እንዳልታበይ የሥጋዬ መውጊያ፥ እርሱም የሚጎስመኝ የሰይጣን መልእክተኛ ተሰጠኝ፤ ይኸውም እንዳልታበይ ነው።

⁸Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

⁸ስለዚህ ነገር ከእኔ እንዲለይ ሦስት ጊዜ ጌታን ለመንሁ።

⁹He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.

⁹እርሱም። ጸጋዬ ይበቃሃል፥ ኃይሌ በድካም ይፈጸማልና አለኝ። እንግዲህ የክርስቶስ ኃይል ያድርብኝ ዘንድ በብዙ ደስታ በድካሜ ልመካ እወዳለሁ።

¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

¹⁰ስለዚህ ስለ ክርስቶስ በድካም በመንገላታትም በችግርም በስደትም በጭንቀትም ደስ ይለኛል፤ ስደክም ያን ጊዜ ኃይለኛ ነኝና።

¹¹I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing.

¹¹በመመካቴ ሞኝ ሆኜአለሁ፤ እናንተ ግድ አላችሁኝ፤ እናንተ እኔን ልታመሰግኑ ይገባ ነበርና። እኔ ምንም ባልሆን እንኳ፥ ከዋነኞቹ ሐዋርያት በምንም አልጎድልምና።

¹²Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty works.

¹²በእርግጥ የሐዋርያነት ምልክት በመካከላችሁ በምልክትና በድንቅ ነገር በተአምራትም በሁሉ ትዕግሥት ተደረገ።

¹³For what is there in which you were made inferior to the rest of the assemblies, unless it is that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong.

¹³እኔ ራሴ ካልከበድሁባችሁ ከዚህ በቀር፥ ከሌላ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ያነሳችሁበት በምን እኮ ነው? ይህን በደሌን ይቅር በሉልኝ።

¹⁴Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

¹⁴እነሆ፥ ወደ እናንተ እመጣ ዘንድ ስዘጋጅ ይህ ሦስተኛዬ ነው፤ አልከብድባችሁምም፥ እናንተን እንጂ ያላችሁን አልፈልግምና። ወላጆች ለልጆች እንጂ ልጆች ለወላጆች ገንዘብ ሊያከማቹ አይገባቸውምና።

¹⁵I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?

¹⁵እኔ ግን ስለ ነፍሳችሁ በብዙ ደስታ ገንዘቤን እከፍላለሁ፥ ራሴን እንኳ እከፍላለሁ። ከመጠን ይልቅ ብወዳችሁ በዚህ ልክ ፍቅራችሁ የሚያንስ ነውን?

¹⁶But be it so, I did not myself burden you. But, being crafty, I caught you with deception.

¹⁶ይሁን እንጂ እኔ አልከበድሁባችሁም፤ ነገር ግን ሸንጋይ ሆኜ በተንኰል ያዝኋችሁ።

¹⁷Did I take advantage of you by anyone of them whom I have sent to you?

¹⁷ወደ እናንተ ከላክኋቸው በአንዱ ስንኳ አታለልኋችሁን?

¹⁸I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit? Didn’t we walk in the same steps?

¹⁸ቲቶን መከርሁት ከእርሱም ጋር ወንድሙን ላክሁት፤ ቲቶስ አታለላችሁን? በአንድ መንፈስ አልተመላለስንምን? በአንድ ፍለጋስ አልተመላለስንም?

¹⁹Again, do you think that we are excusing ourselves to you? In the sight of God we speak in Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edifying.

¹⁹ለእናንተ ስለ ራሳችን እንድንመልስ ሁልጊዜ ይመስላችኋልን? በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በክርስቶስ ሆነን እንናገራለን፤ ነገር ግን፥ ወዳጆች፥ እናንተን ልናንጻችሁ ሁሉን እንናገራለን።

²⁰For I am afraid that by any means, when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don’t desire; that by any means there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, riots;

²⁰ስመጣ፥ እንደምወደው ሳትሆኑ አገኛችሁ ይሆናል እኔም እንደምትወዱት ሳልሆን ታገኙኝ ይሆናል ብዬ እፈራለሁና፤ ምናልባት ክርክር ቅንዓትም ቁጣም አድመኝነትም ሐሜትም ማሾክሾክም ኩራትም ሁከትም ይሆናሉ፤

²¹that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness and sexual immorality and lustfulness which they committed.

²¹እንደ ገና ስመጣ በእናንተ ዘንድ አምላኬ እንዲያዋርደኝ፥ አስቀድመውም ኃጢአት ከሠሩትና ስላደረጉት ርኵሰትና ዝሙት መዳራትም ንስሐ ካልገቡት ወገን ስለ ብዙዎች ምናልባት አዝናለሁ ብዬ እፈራለሁ።