CHAPTER 12
I must
go on boasting.
Although there is nothing to gain,
I will go on
to
visions
and
revelations
from the Lord.
I know
a man
in
Christ
who fourteen
years
ago
was caught up
to
the third
heaven.
Whether it was
in
the body
or
out of
it
I do not know,
but God
knows.
was caught up
into
Paradise.
The things he heard
were too sacred
for words,
things that
man
is not permitted
to tell.
Even
if
I wanted
to boast,
I would not be
a fool,
because
I would be speaking
the truth.
But
I refrain,
so
no one
will credit
me
with more than
he sees
in me
or
hears
from
me,
or
with these
surpassingly great
revelations.
So
to
keep me from becoming conceited,
I
was given
a thorn
in my
flesh,
a messenger
of Satan,
to
torment
me.
But
He said
to me,
“My
grace
is sufficient
for you,
for
My
power
is perfected
in
weakness.”
Therefore
I will boast
all the more
gladly
in
my
weaknesses,
so that
the
power
of Christ
may rest
on
me.
That is why,
for the sake
of Christ,
I delight
in
weaknesses,
in
insults,
in
hardships,
in
persecutions,
in
difficulties.
For
when
I am weak,
then
I am
strong.
I have become
a fool,
but you
drove
me to it.
In fact,
you
should
have commended
me,
since
I am in no way inferior
to those
“super-apostles,”
even
though
I am
nothing.
The
TRUE
marks
of an apostle—
signs,
wonders,
and
miracles—
were performed
among
you
with
great
perseverance.
In what way
were you inferior
to
the
other
churches,
except
that
I
was not a burden
to you?
Forgive
me
this
wrong!
See,
I am
ready
to come
to
you
a third time,
and
I will not be a burden,
because
I am not seeking
your
possessions,
but
you yourselves.
For
children
should not have
to save up
for their
parents,
but
parents
for their
children.
And
for the sake of
your
souls,
I
will most gladly
spend my money
and
myself.
If
I love
you
more,
will you love me
less?
I urged
Titus to visit you,
and
I sent
our
brother with him.
Did Titus
exploit
you
in any way?
Did we not walk
in the
same
spirit
and follow
in the
same
footsteps?
Have you been thinking
all along
that
we were making a defense
to you?
We speak
before
God
in
Christ,
and
all
of this,
beloved,
is
to build you up.
For
I am afraid
that
when I come,
I may not find
you
as
I wish,
and
you
may not find me
as
you wish.
I fear
that there may be
quarreling,
jealousy,
rage,
rivalry,
slander,
gossip,
arrogance,
and disorder.
I am afraid that
when I come
again,
my
God
will humble
me
before
you,
and
I will be grieved over
many
who
have sinned earlier
and
have not repented
of
their acts of
impurity,
sexual immorality,
and
debauchery.