| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Berean Study Bible |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2I 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. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were too sacred for words, things that man is not permitted to tell. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Even 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, |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7or because of 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. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9But 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. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10That 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. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11I 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. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong! |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14See, 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. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15And 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? |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Did I exploit you by anyone I sent you? |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18I 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? |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Have 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. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20For 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. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21I 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. |
|
