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2 Corinthians 11:1-15

11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! ² For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³ But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. ⁵ Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. ⁶ Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

⁷ Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. ¹⁰ As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

¹² And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Summary: Whether Paul receives new reports from the church in Corinth or not, we are not sure. He may be addressing a change in the Corinthian church or a small remnant of people who still accept and commend the ministry and false teaching of these "super apostles" which is why we see a sharp change in the tone of the letter of 2 Corinthians. He fears that, as Eve was deceived by the cunning of Satan, the Corinthian church is in danger of following after lies and liars who distort the gospel. In response to this group, who obstinately follows these false apostles, he engages in boasting of his sincere ministry to them. With wit, he reminds them of his sincere love for them as a plea to reject what is false and hold fast to the gospel message. Paul uncloaks the true nature of these false apostles, who claim to be servants of righteousness, but are actually servants of Satan in disguise.