Paulub tsî ǂhumi apostelgu*
1 ǂGao ta ra ǂkharirose du nî taniǀnam te, gârese ta ga tanisen ǃnubai ǃkhaisa. Ā taniǀnamxaba te du re! 2 Sado ta ra tau Elosi tauxasib ǀkha amaga ta ge sado ǀgui aob, Xristub* ǀkha nî ǃgame ǃanu oaxaese ra mîmâiba. 3 Xawe ta ra ǃao, sadu ǂâidi nî Xristub ǃnâ du ūhâ ǂgomsa xu ǂgaeǂhapuhe ǃkhaisa, ǀaob ge Evasa gāxaǃnâsib âb ǀkha ǂgaeǂhapu khami. 4 ǀNî-i ga hā tsî ǀnî Jesub sige aoǁnâ tamaba aoǁnâ, ǀkhara Gagab tsî ǀkhara ǃGâiǂhôas tsîra, hō tsî du ge ǃkhōǃoa tama hâ ira, o du ge ǁîn ǃnâ ra māsen.
5 ǁNā apostelgu, hoan xa kaigu ǃgâ-ai ta ǂkhari tama ti ta ge ra ǂâi. 6 ǁKhāǁkhāsa tama ǃhoa-aota ka, xawe ta ge tare-e ta ra ǃhoa ǃkhaisa a ǂan. Nēsa ta ge sado mâ ǀgaus hoas ai ǃgāsase gere mîǃāba.
7 ǃGamǃgamsen tsî ta ge sado ǀgapiǀgapis ǃaroma, marioǃnâse Elob di ǃGâiǂhôasa aoǁnâ ǃkhais ǀkha ta kha ge ǁore? 8 Nau kerkhega xu ta ge mataresa gere ǃkhōǃoa sado ta nî ǃoabase. 9 Sadu tawa ta ge hâ i, o ta ge ǂhâsina ta ge ūhâ i, xawe khoe-i xare-e ǃgomsib ase ge ība tama hâ i, ti ǃgâsagu, Masedoniaba xu ge hāgu ge ti ǂhâsigu ǃnâ dīǀoaǀoa xui-ao. Hoan ǃnâ ta ge sado ǃgomsib ase ge ība tama hâ i tsî ta ge ǃaruǀî ǁnāti nî tanisen. 10 Xristub di amab tita ǃnâ hâs ǁkhās khamis ge nē koasensa Axajab di ǀkharigu ǃnâ tita ūǀhanahe tide. 11 Tare-i ǃaroma? Sado ta ǀnam tama amagasa? Elob ge sado ta ǀnam ǃkhaisa a ǂan.
12 Nēsi ta ra dī-e ta ge ǃaruǀî nî dī, ǁîgu koasens di ǀapede ta nî ǃkhomǃnâ tsî gu ǃgaoǃgao-i, sige sîsenni ǁîgu dib ǀkha a ǀguitikō ti gu nî mî-e ūhâ tidese. 13 ǁNāti ī khoegu, Xristub di apostelgu ase ra ǀkharaǀkharasengu ge ǂkhaba apostel tsî a gāxaǃnâ ǃoaba-ao. 14 Tsî ǁnās ge buruxa tama hâ, Satanni* ǂûb kom ǃnâb di ǀhomǃgāse ra ǀkharaǀkharaseno, 15 o i kom kai xū tamao, ǁîb ǃoaba-aogu tsîn ga ǂhanu-aisib di ǃoaba-aose ǀkharaǀkharaseno. ǁÎgu ǀams ge ǁîgu di sîsengu khami nî ī.
Paulub ge ǃGâiǂhôas ǃaroma ra tsâ
16 ǁKhawa ta ra mî, a i tā khoe-e tita, gârekhoeta a ti ǂâi, xawe ti du ga ǂâi, o gârekhoese ǃkhōǃoa te, î ta ǁkhāti ǂkharirose koasen ǁkhā. 17 Ti gâre ǂgomǃgâsens nēsi ta ra ǃhoa-ūs ge ǃKhūba xu hâ tama hâ, xawe koasens ǀguisa ī. 18 ǂGuin khoesi ǀgaub ǃoa ra koasen amaga ta ge tita ǁkhāti nî koasen. 19 Sadu ge ǁnātikōse a gā-ai, xawe du ge gâre khoena ra tani. 20 Khoe-i ga sado khobodī, gāxaǃnâ, ūǀhana, ǃgôaǁnâ tamas ka io ais ǃnâ ǁapu, o du kom ra tanio. 21 Ti taosib ǃoa ta ge ǁîsa ra mî, sige ge ǁnā xūna dīs ǃaroma kaise ǂkhabusa i amaga.
Nēsi ta ge gâre khoe-i khami ra ǃhoa. Khoe-i ga xū-i xa koaseno, o ta ge tita tsîna ǁnāsa a dī ǁkhā. 22 Hebreǁîga? Tita tsîn. Israelǁîga? Tita tsîn. Abrahammi suriga? Tita tsîn. 23 Xristub ǃoaba-aoga? Nēsisa ta ge ǃkhau hâ khoe-i khami ra ǃhoa. Tita ge ǁîgu xa ǃnāsase a ǃoaba-ao. ǁÎgu xa ǃnāsase sîsen, ǃnāsa ǃnāde ǃkhōsis ǃnâ hâ, ǃnāsase ǂnauhe tsî ǃnāsa ǃnāde ǁōb di ǃaorosasib ǃnâ ge hâ i. 24 Koro ǃnādi kōse ta ge ǁnaetisa ǃnonadisikhoeseǀa ǂnauǃnabaga Jodeǁîna xu ge ǃkhōǃoa. 25 ǃNona ǃnāde haigu ǀkha ǂnauhe, ǀgui ǃnāsa ǀuiǁhomhe tsî ta ge ǃnona ǃnāde doe-ommi tsūǃgâb ǃnâ ge hâ i, ǁîdi di ǀguisa ta ge tsēs tsî tsuxuba ǃgam hurib ǃnâ ge hâ i. 26 ǃNāsase ta ge daob ai, ǁkhōsib dâu ra ǃāgu dib, ǁkhâuǁnâ-aon, ti khoen Jodeǁîn tsî Jodeǁî taman* ǁaegu, ǃādi tsî ǃgaroǃhūb ǃnâ, hurib ai tsî ǂkhaba ǃgâsagu ǁaegu, 27 ǃgom sîsenni, ǀhupub tsî ǃnāsa ǃnāde ǁom tamase hâs ǃnâ, ǃâs tsî ǁgâs, ǂgui ǃnādi ǁaeba ǂû-i ose hâs, ǃkhaib tsî ǀōǀkhāsib tsî ǃaorosasigu ǃnâ ge hâ i. 28 Nē xūn hoan xōǀkhās ge kerkhegu hoagu xa ta ūhâ ǂhansensa tsēkorobe ge hâ i. 29 Khoe-i ga ǂkhabusa, o ta ge tita tsîna ǂkhabusase ra tsâ. Khoe-i ga ǁore, o ta ge tita tsîna ǃnākhoesib ǃnâ ra ǂhubi.
30 Koasen ta ka, o ta ge ti ǂkhabusasiga ra ǁgauǂui xūn xa nî koasen. 31 Elob ǁGûb, ǃKhūb Jesub Xristub dib, hoa ǀamosib kōse ǀkhaehe hâb ge ǂhumi tama ta hâ ǃkhaisa a ǂan. 32 Gao-aob, Aretasi di gowoniab ge Damaskusa ǁnāpa ta ge hâ i ǁaeb ai ge ǃûi kai, titab nî ǃkhōse. 33 Xawe ta ge ǂnubiǂgoab ǃnâ ge hâ i mûǂuidaosa-ū ǀharu-i ǃnâ ǁgôa kaihe tsî ǁnā ǀgaus ai ǁîba xu ge ǃkhoeni.
Paul and the False Apostles
1 I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do! 2 I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself. 3 I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ—in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies. 4 For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!
5 I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called “apostles” of yours! 6 Perhaps I am an amateur in speaking, but certainly not in knowledge; we have made this clear to you at all times and in all conditions.
7 I did not charge you a thing when I preached the Good News of God to you; I humbled myself in order to make you important. Was that wrong of me? 8 While I was working among you, I was paid by other churches. I was robbing them, so to speak, in order to help you. 9 And during the time I was with you I did not bother you for help when I needed money; the believers who came from Macedonia brought me everything I needed. As in the past, so in the future: I will never be a burden to you! 10 By Christ's truth in me, I promise that this boast of mine will not be silenced anywhere in all of Achaia. 11 Do I say this because I don't love you? God knows I love you!
12 I will go on doing what I am doing now, in order to keep those other “apostles” from having any reason for boasting and saying that they work in the same way that we do. 13 Those men are not true apostles—they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ. 14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light! 15 So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.
Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle
16 I repeat: no one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, just so I will have a little to boast of. 17 Of course what I am saying now is not what the Lord would have me say; in this matter of boasting I am really talking like a fool. 18 But since there are so many who boast for merely human reasons, I will do the same. 19 You yourselves are so wise, and so you gladly tolerate fools! 20 You tolerate anyone who orders you around or takes advantage of you or traps you or looks down on you or slaps you in the face. 21 I am ashamed to admit that we were too timid to do those things!
But if anyone dares to boast about something—I am talking like a fool—I will be just as daring. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23 Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman—but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. 24 Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; 25 three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. 26 In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. 27 There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. 28 And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.
30 If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus—blessed be his name forever!—knows that I am not lying. 32 When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. 33 But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.
