^aIt is necessary to boast, though it is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and ^brevelations ¹of the Lord. 2 I know a man ^ain Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod knows—such a man was ^ccaught up to the ^dthird heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^aGod knows— 4 was ^acaught up into ^bParadise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5 ^aOn behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in ^bweaknesses. 6 For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^afoolish, ^bfor I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will consider me beyond what he sees in me or hears from me.

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the ^arevelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a ^bthorn in the flesh, a ^cmessenger of Satan to ¹torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord ^athree times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^apower is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^bboast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore ^aI am well content with weaknesses, with ¹insults, with ^bdistresses, with ^cpersecutions and ^dhardships, ^efor the sake of Christ, for ^fwhen I am weak, then I am strong.

11 I have become ^afoolish; you yourselves compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you, for ^bin no respect was I inferior to the ¹most-eminent apostles, even if ^cI am nothing. 12 The ^1asigns ²of a true apostle were worked out among you with all perseverance, by ³signs and wonders and ⁴miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as less than the rest of the churches, except that ^aI myself did not become a burden to you? ¹Forgive me ^bthis wrong!

14 Here ^afor this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^bwill not be a burden to you; for I ^cdo not seek what is yours, but ^dyou. For ^echildren ought not to save up for their parents, but ^fparents for their children. 15 So I will ^amost gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. If ^bI love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I ^adid not burden you myself. Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^btook you in by deceit. 17 ^aHave I taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you? 18 I ^aencouraged ^bTitus to go, and I sent ^cthe brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Did we not walk ¹in the same ^dspirit—^ein the very same steps?

19 All this time ¹you think we are defending ourselves to you. We speak in Christ ^ain the sight of God. ^bAnd all these things, ^cbeloved, are for your building up. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps ^awhen I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^bstrife, jealousy, ^coutbursts of anger, ^dselfish ambition, ^eslanders, ^fgossip, ^garrogance, ^hdisturbances. 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^asinned in the past and not repented of the ^bimpurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality which they have practiced.

^aBoasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and ^brevelations ¹of the Lord. 2 I know a man ^ain Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod knows—such a man was ^ccaught up to the ^dthird heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^aGod knows— 4 was ^acaught up into ^bParadise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5 ^aOn behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my ^bweaknesses. 6 For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^afoolish, ^bfor I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the ^arevelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a ^bthorn in the flesh, a ^cmessenger of Satan to ¹torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord ^athree times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^apower is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^bboast ¹about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore ^aI am well content with weaknesses, with ¹insults, with ^bdistresses, with ^cpersecutions, with ^ddifficulties, ^efor Christ’s sake; for ^fwhen I am weak, then I am strong.

11 I have become ^afoolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for ^bin no respect was I inferior to the ¹most eminent apostles, even though ^cI am a nobody. 12 The ^1asigns ²of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by ³signs and wonders and ⁴miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that ^aI myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me ^bthis wrong!

14 Here ^afor this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^bwill not be a burden to you; for I ^cdo not seek what is yours, but ^dyou; for ^echildren are not responsible to save up for their parents, but ^fparents for their children. 15 I will ^amost gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If ^bI love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I ^adid not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^btook you in by deceit. 17 ^aCertainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? 18 I ^aurged ^bTitus to go, and I sent ^cthe brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not ¹conduct ourselves ²in the same ^dspirit and walk ^ein the same steps?

19 All this time ¹you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, ^ait is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and ^ball for your upbuilding, ^cbeloved. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps ^awhen I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^bstrife, jealousy, ^cangry tempers, ^ddisputes, ^eslanders, ^fgossip, ^garrogance, ^hdisturbances; 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^asinned in the past and not repented of the ^bimpurity, ¹immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.