Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle (2 Cor. 11:16-33).
16 I repeat, let no one think
me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a
little.
17 What I am saying with this
boastful confidence, I say not with the Lord's authority but as a fool.
18 Since many boast according
to the flesh, I too will boast.
19 For you gladly bear with
fools, being wise yourselves!
20 For you bear it if someone
makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on
airs, or strikes you in the face.
21 To my shame, I must say, we
were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am
speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I.
Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 Are they servants of
Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far
more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
24 Five times I received at
the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten
with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day
I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in
danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from
Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger
from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship,
through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in
cold and exposure.
28 And, apart from other
things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not
weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will
boast of the things that show my weakness.
31 The God and Father of the
Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
32 At Damascus, the governor
under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,
33 but I was let down in a
basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
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