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Tuesday, July 8th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

2 Corinthians 12:16

Let it be granted, then, that I was not a burden to you; but, crafty fellow that I am, I took you with trickery!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Love;   Minister, Christian;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Mission;   Suffering;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Paul;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Peddler;   2 Corinthians;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israelite;   Person of Christ;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Collection;   Deceit, Deception, Guile;   Guile;   Honest;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Craft;   Guile;   Person of Christ;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now granted, I did not burden you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit!
King James Version (1611)
But be it so: I did not burthen you: neuerthelesse beeing craftie, I caught you with guile.
King James Version
But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
English Standard Version
But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit.
New American Standard Bible
But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, devious person that I am, I took you in by deceit.
New Century Version
It is clear I was not a burden to you, but you think I was tricky and lied to catch you.
Amplified Bible
But be that as it may, I did not burden you [with my support]. But [some say that] I was sly and took you by trickery.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit.
Legacy Standard Bible
But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself. Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit.
Berean Standard Bible
Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery.
Contemporary English Version
You agree that I wasn't a burden to you. Maybe that's because I was trying to catch you off guard and trick you.
Darby Translation
But be it so. *I* did not burden you, but being crafty I took you by guile.
Easy-to-Read Version
It is clear that I was not a burden to you, but you think that I was tricky and used lies to catch you.
Geneva Bible (1587)
But bee it that I charged you not: yet for as much as I was craftie, I tooke you with guile.
George Lamsa Translation
But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless as a shrewd man, I caught you with guile:
Good News Translation
You will agree, then, that I was not a burden to you. But someone will say that I was tricky, and trapped you with lies.
Lexham English Bible
But let it be. I have not been a burden to you, but because I was crafty, I took you by cunning.
Literal Translation
But let it be so, I did not burden you; but being crafty, I took you with bait.
American Standard Version
But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
Bible in Basic English
But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but (someone may say) being false, I took you with deceit.
Hebrew Names Version
But be it so, I did not myself burden you. But, being crafty, I caught you with deception.
International Standard Version
Granting that I have not been a burden to you, was I a clever schemer who trapped you by some trick?2 Corinthians 11:9;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And, perhaps, (though) I did not burden you, yet (it may be said), as a crafty man with deceit I have robbed you.
Murdock Translation
But perhaps, though I was not burdensome to you, yet, like a cunning man, I filched from you by craftiness !
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But be it, [that] I was not chargeable vnto you: Neuerthelesse, when I was craftie, I caught you with guile.
English Revised Version
But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
World English Bible
But be it so, I did not myself burden you. But, being crafty, I caught you with deception.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But be it so: I did not burden you: but being crafty, I caught you with guile.
Weymouth's New Testament
If I love you so intensely, am I the less to be loved? Be that as it may: I was not a burden to you. But being by no means scrupulous, I entrapped you, they say!
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But be it; Y greuyde not you, but whanne Y was sutil, Y took you with gile.
Update Bible Version
But let it be so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
Webster's Bible Translation
But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
New English Translation
But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit!
New King James Version
But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning!
New Living Translation
Some of you admit I was not a burden to you. But others still think I was sneaky and took advantage of you by trickery.
New Life Bible
It is true that I was not a heavy load to you. But some say I set a trap for you.
New Revised Standard
Let it be assumed that I did not burden you. Nevertheless (you say) since I was crafty, I took you in by deceit.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But let it be! - I, myself, did not burden you, - Notwithstanding, being crafty, with guile, I caught you?
Douay-Rheims Bible
But be it so: I did not burthen you: but being crafty, I caught you by guile.
Revised Standard Version
But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by guile.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
But be it yt I greved you not: never the lesse I was crafty and toke you with gile.
Young's Literal Translation
And be it [so], I -- I did not burden you, but being crafty, with guile I did take you;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But let it be so that I greued you not, neuertheles for so moch as I was craftye, I toke you wt gyle.
Mace New Testament (1729)
'tis own'd I did not put you to any charges myself: but was so crafty, as to over-reach you, by others.
THE MESSAGE
And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where's the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven't we always been just as aboveboard, just as honest?
Simplified Cowboy Version
Y'all know I didn't ask for anything while I was there. Yet, some of you still think I somehow tricked y'all into doing something you didn't want to do.

Contextual Overview

11 I have behaved like a fool, but you forced me to do it — you who should have been commending me. For I am in no way inferior to the "super-emissaries," even if I am nothing. 12 The things that prove I am an emissary — signs, wonders and miracles — were done in your presence, despite what I had to endure. 13 Is there any way in which you have been behind any of the other congregations, other than in my not having been a burden to you? For this unfairness, please forgive me! 14 Look, I am ready this third time to come and visit you; and I will not be a burden to you; for it is not what you own that I want, but you! Children are not supposed to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 And as for me, I will most gladly spend everything I have and be spent myself too for your sakes. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 Let it be granted, then, that I was not a burden to you; but, crafty fellow that I am, I took you with trickery! 17 Was it perhaps through someone I sent you 18 that I took advantage of you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him; Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? Didn't we live by the same Spirit and show you the same path? 19 Perhaps you think that all this time we have been defending ourselves before you. No, we have been speaking in the sight of God, as those united with the Messiah should; and, my dear friends, it is all for your upbuilding. 20 For I am afraid of coming and finding you not the way I want you to be, and also of not being found the way you want me to be. I am afraid of finding quarreling and jealousy, anger and rivalry, slander and gossip, arrogance and disorder.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I did not: 2 Corinthians 12:13, 2 Corinthians 11:9, 2 Corinthians 11:10

being: That is, as my enemies represent, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 2 Corinthians 4:2, 2 Corinthians 7:2, 2 Corinthians 10:2, 2 Corinthians 10:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 1 Peter 2:3

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 5:22 - give them 2 Kings 10:19 - But Jehu Nehemiah 5:16 - all my Matthew 4:19 - I will 1 Corinthians 9:3 - them 2 Peter 1:16 - we have

Cross-References

Genesis 12:13
Please say that you are my sister, so that it will go well with me for your sake, and so that I will stay alive because of you."
Genesis 12:14
(ii) When Avram entered Egypt, the Egyptians did notice that the woman was very beautiful.
Genesis 12:15
Pharaoh's princes saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Genesis 13:2
Avram became wealthy, with much cattle, silver and gold.
Genesis 20:14
Avimelekh took sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Avraham; and he returned to him Sarah his wife.
Genesis 24:35
Adonai has greatly blessed my master, so that he has grown wealthy. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.
Genesis 26:14
He had flocks, cattle and a large household; and the P'lishtim envied him.
Genesis 32:5
with these instructions: "Here is what you are to say to my lord ‘Esav: ‘Your servant Ya‘akov says, "I have been living with Lavan and have stayed until now.
Job 1:3
He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen and 500 female donkeys, as well as a great number of servants; so that he was the wealthiest man in the east.
Job 42:12
Adonai blessed Iyov's later situation even more than his earlier one — he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But be it so, I did not burden you,.... These words are not spoken by the apostle in his own person of himself, but in the person of his adversaries, and contain a concession and an objection of theirs, but be it so; they granted that he had not burdened the Corinthians, that he had took nothing of them himself for preaching the Gospel; they owned that he had preached it freely; this was so clear a point, and so flagrant a case, that they could not deny it; yet they insinuated to the Corinthians, and objected to the apostle, that though he did not receive anything from them with his own hands, yet he craftily and cunningly made use of others to drain their purses, and receive it for him; and which is suggested in the next clause:

nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile; so say the false apostles of me; for these are not the words of the apostle in his own person; nor to be understood of any spiritual craft, or lawful cunning and prudent artifices used by him, to allure and draw the Corinthians into a good liking and opinion of the Gospel and of his ministry, and so caught them, and was the happy means of their conversion; but they are spoken in the person of the false apostles, charging him with a wicked and criminal craftiness, by making use of other persons in a sly underhanded way, to get this church's money, when he pretended to preach the Gospel freely; to which he answers in the next verse.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But be it so - This is evidently a charge of his enemies; or at least a charge which it might be supposed they would make. Whether they ever in fact made it, or whether the apostle merely anticipates an objection, it is impossible to determine. It is clearly to be regarded as the language of objectors; for:

(1) It can never be supposed that Paul would state as a serious matter that he had caught them with deceit or fraud.

(2) He answers it as an objection in the following verse. The meaning is, “We admit that you did not burden us. You did not exact a support from us. But all this was mere trick. You accomplished the same thing in another way. You professed when with us not to seek our property but our souls. But in various ways you contrived to get our money, and to secure your object. You made others the agents for doing this, and sent them among us under various pretexts to gain money from us.” It will be remembered that Paul had sent; Titus among them to take up the collection for the poor saints in Judea 2 Corinthians 8:6, and it is not at all improbable that some there had charged Paul with making use of this pretence only to obtain money for his own private use. To guard against this charge. was one of the reasons why Paul was so anxious to have some persons appointed by the church to take charge of the contribution; see 1 Corinthians 16:3; compare the notes on 2 Corinthians 8:19-21.

Being crafty - Being cunning That is, by sending persons to obtain money on different pretences.

I caught you with guile - I took you by deceit or fraud. That is, making use of fraud in pretending that the money was for poor and afflicted saints, when in reality it was for my own use. It is impossible that Paul should have ever admitted this of himself; and they greatly pervert the passage who suppose that it applies to him, and then plead that it is right to make use of guile in accomplishing their purposes. Paul never carried his measures by dishonesty, nor did he ever justify fraud; compare the notes on Acts 23:6.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. But be it so, I did not burden you — That is: You grant that I did not burden you, that I took nothing from you, but preached to you the Gospel freely; but you say that, BEING CRAFTY, I caught you with guile; i.e. getting from you, by means of others, what I pretended to be unwilling to receive immediately from yourselves.

Many persons suppose that the words, being crafty, I caught you with guile, are the words of the apostle and not of his slanderers; and therefore have concluded that it is lawful to use guile, deceit, c., in order to serve a good and a religious purpose. This doctrine is abominable and the words are most evidently those of the apostle's detractors, against which he defends his conduct in the two following verses.


 
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