You seem to listen to those who boast, so I too will boast. I will boast about being a Jew (as those others do), and I will boast about having suffered greatly for Christ, and about an extraordinary vision that God gave me. Although God caused me to suffer an affliction, he promised that he would help me and strengthen me.

2 Corinthians 11:16—12:10

16 I say again: I do not want any of you to think that my boasting about myself is like foolish people boast. But even if anyone thinks that I am boasting about myself like a foolish person boasts, listen to what I have to say anyway, just like you listen to those false apostles. They really speak foolishly! Listen to me while I also boast a little. 17 About the things that I am going to tell you, boasting confidently about myself, surely you know that they are not the kind of things that the Lord Jesus would say. Instead, I will speak as a foolish person would speak. 18 Because many among you are boasting about their own work, as unbelievers do, I will also boast about myself and my work [MTY, IRO]. 19 I am sure that you, who think that you are so wise, will accept what I say because you gladly accept the false teachers and the foolish things that they say. 20 When people treat you as if they were your bosses, you gladly submit to them. You think that it is all right when others force you to provide for their needs. You think that it is all right when people take control over you, when they boast about themselves, or when they insult you by slapping you in the face. 21 I agree that I was not bold enough to treat you in such ways. Ha! Do you think that [IRO] I should feel ashamed because I did not do that?

So now, talking like a person who does not have any sense, I will boldly tell you some things about myself, just like those false apostles tell you things about themselves. 22 Do they tell you that they are Hebrews and can speak the Hebrew language? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they belong to God’s people, the nation of Israel? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they are descendants of our great ancestor Abraham? Well, he is my ancestor, too. 23 Do they tell you how much work they have done for Christ? Now I am talking like a crazy person talks [EUP]. Well, I work for Christ much more than they do. I have been in prison many more times than they have. Many times I have been beaten {people have beaten me} very severely because I believe in and obey Christ. Many times I almost died because of serving Christ. 24 On five occasions Jewish religious leaders beat me 39 times with a whip. 25 On three occasions I was beaten {Roman officials beat me} with wooden sticks. On one occasion a large crowd of people threw stones at me to kill me. On three occasions the ship that I was traveling on was wrecked and sank. On one of those occasions I was floating in the water a night and a day before I was rescued. 26 As I have often traveled to other places, I have often risked losing my life. For example, sometimes I have been in danger crossing rivers. I have been in danger traveling in places where there were bandits. At times I have been in danger among people of my own nation, the Jews, and at other times I been in danger among those who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, and I have been in dangerous situations in barren areas. I have been in dangerous situations when I was traveling in ships. I have been in danger among people who falsely claim to be fellow believers. 27 I have worked very hard [DOU] to earn ◄a living/what I need►, and often I did not sleep. At times I was hungry and thirsty, and at times I did not have enough time to eat. Sometimes I was cold because I did not have enough clothes to wear. 28 In addition to all that, I am constantly and deeply concerned about all the congregations that I have helped to begin. 29 Every time that I hear about fellow believers [RHQ] who are not strong spiritually, I sympathize with them and try to help them. Every time that I learn about a fellow believer [RHQ] who causes another believer to do something wrong, that makes me very angry.

30 Because it seems that it is necessary for me to continue boasting about myself, I will boast about things that caused some people to think of me as being weak. 31 God, who is the Father of our (inc) Lord Jesus, and who is the one whom we should praise forever, knows that I am not lying about this. 32 One time when I was in Damascus city, the governor whom King Aretas had appointed to rule part of his area, told his soldiers to guard the gates of the city so that they could seize me if I tried to leave the city. 33 But my friends helped me to escape by putting me in a large basket and lowering me to the ground by a rope through an opening in the city wall. That was really humiliating!

12 It seems that I must go on boasting about myself. Although I do not think that my telling you about this will help you to accept me as Christ’s representative to you, I will say this anyway. I will tell you about visions that the Lord gave a certain man and about things that he supernaturally revealed to that man. I will tell you this because some of the people among you boast that it was in visions that they received the things that they teach. 2 The man that I will tell you about is one who believes in Christ. Fourteen years ago he was taken {Christ took him} up into the third heaven, the highest heaven, the place where God is. I do not know whether he went there in his physical body or whether he was outside of his body at that time and only his spirit went. Only God really knows. 3-4 3-4But he was suddenly taken {Christ suddenly took him} up to a place called Paradise, that wonderful place where God lives. I repeat that I do not know whether his body went there or only his spirit. Only God knows that. While he was there, God told him some things that he does not allow human beings to tell others about. 5 I will proudly talk about that man. However, I will not be boasting as I say that I am the one who saw and heard those wonderful things. I will talk only about the things that cause others to think of me as a weak human being like everyone else. 6 But even if I should choose to boast to you about such wonderful things that happened to me, I would not be speaking like a fool, because I would be telling you the truth. But I will not talk proudly about such things, because I do not want any of you to think highly of me because of the things that have happened to me. Instead, I want you to decide what kind of person I am by the way you see me acting and by what you hear me teach. 7 In order that I might not become proud because of those many wonderful things that Christ revealed to me, God permitted Satan to send a messenger to humble me (OR, to make me sick). What that messenger did to me was painful, like [MET] a thorn pricking my body. 8 Three times I prayed to the Lord about it, begging him to take this away from me. 9 But he said to me, “No, I will not take this away from you. Instead, I will kindly help you, and that will be all that you need, because it is when you are weak that I can best work powerfully to help you.” So, because of what the Lord said to me, I will very gladly boast about the things that make me seem weak, so that people may realize that it is Christ who gives me power to serve him. 10 For that reason, whenever I am weak, or when people insult me, or when I have to endure hardships, or when I am persecuted {people cause me to suffer}, or when I am in situations that distress me, I am content because I am serving Christ. I can say that because at any time when I myself am weak, that is the very time when Christ powerfully helps me.