| 1 Que la gente solo vea en nosotros servidores de Cristo y administradores de los misterios de Dios. | 1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. |
| 2 Ahora, lo que se busca en los administradores es que sean fieles. | 2 Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. |
| 3 Para mí lo de menos es que me pidáis cuentas vosotros o un tribunal humano; ni siquiera yo me pido cuentas. | 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. |
| 4 La conciencia, es verdad, no me remuerde; pero tampoco por eso quedo absuelto: mi juez es el Señor. | 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. |
| 5 Así, pues, no juzguéis antes de tiempo, dejad que venga el Señor. Él iluminará lo que esconden las tinieblas y pondrá al descubierto los designios del corazón; entonces cada uno recibirá de Dios lo que merece. | 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God. |
| 6 Hermanos, he aplicado lo anterior a Apolo y a mí por causa vuestra, para que con nuestro caso aprendáis a jugar limpio y no os engriáis el uno contra el otro. | 6 I have applied all this to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. |
| 7 A ver, ¿quién te hace tan importante? ¿Tienes algo que no hayas recibido? Y, si lo has recibido, ¿a qué tanto orgullo, como si nadie te lo hubiera dado? | 7 For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? |
| 8 Ya tenéis todo lo que ansiabais, ya sois ricos, habéis conseguido un reino sin nosotros. ¿Qué más quisiera yo? Así reinaríamos juntos. | 8 Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! |
| 9 Por lo que veo, a nosotros, los apóstoles, Dios nos coloca los últimos; como condenados a muerte, dados en espectáculo público para ángeles y hombres. | 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. |
| 10 Nosotros unos locos por Cristo, vosotros, sensatos en Cristo; nosotros débiles, vosotros fuertes; vosotros célebres, nosotros despreciados; | 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. |
| 11 hasta ahora pasamos hambre y sed y falta de ropa; recibimos bofetadas, no tenemos domicilio, | 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, |
| 12 nos agotamos trabajando con nuestras propias manos; nos insultan y les deseamos bendiciones; nos persiguen y aguantamos; | 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; |
| 13 nos calumnian y respondemos con buenos modos; nos tratan como a la basura del mundo, el desecho de la humanidad; y así hasta el día de hoy. | 13 when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. |
| 14 No os escribo esto para avergonzaros, sino para amonestaros. Porque os quiero como a hijos; | 14 I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. |
| 15 ahora que estáis en Cristo tendréis mil tutores, pero padres no tenéis muchos; por medio del Evangelio soy yo quien os ha engendrado para Cristo Jesús. | 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. |
| 16 Así pues, os ruego que seáis imitadores míos. | 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. |
| 17 Por ello os he enviado a Timoteo, hijo mío querido y fiel en el Señor, el cual os recordará mis normas de conducta en Cristo Jesús, conforme las enseño por doquier en todas las iglesias. | 17 Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. |
| 18 Pensando que yo no iré a visitaros, algunos se han engreído. | 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. |
| 19 Mas iré pronto a visitaros, si Dios quiere; y entonces conoceré no las palabras de los orgullosos, sino su poder; | 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. |
| 20 pues el reino de Dios no consiste en palabras sino en poder. | 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. |
| 21 ¿Qué queréis? ¿Que vaya a visitaros con un palo o con amor y espíritu de mansedumbre? | 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? |
