Personal Greetings

16 I commend^(A) to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon^[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae.^(B)

¹² We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^(A) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^(B) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

¹² We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.^(A) When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

¹⁸ For it is not the one who commends himself^(A) who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.^(B)

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians

¹¹ I have made a fool of myself,^(A) but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,”^[a](B) even though I am nothing.^(C)