2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Paul’s Sufferings for Christ

¹⁶I repeat: No one should consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, so I too may boast a little. ¹⁷What I say in this matter^[a] of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but foolishly. ¹⁸Since many boast in an unspiritual way,^[b] I will also boast. ¹⁹For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools!^(A) ²⁰In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours^(B) you, if someone captures you, if someone dominates you, or if someone hits^(C) you in the face. ²¹I say this to our shame: We have been weak.

But in whatever anyone dares to boast—I am talking foolishly—I also dare:

²²Are they Hebrews?^(D) So am I.
Are they Israelites? So am I.
Are they the seed of Abraham?^(E) So am I.
²³Are they servants of Christ?
I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one:
with far more labors,
many more imprisonments,
far worse beatings, near death^[c] many times.
²⁴Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews.^(F)
²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans.^(G)
Once I was stoned by my enemies.^[d]^(H)
Three times I was shipwrecked.^(I)
I have spent a night and a day
in the open sea.
²⁶On frequent journeys, I faced
dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers,^(J)
dangers from my own people,^(K)
dangers from the Gentiles,
dangers in the city,
dangers in the open country,
dangers on the sea,
and dangers among false brothers;
²⁷labor and hardship,
many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,
often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.^(L)

²⁸Not to mention^[e] other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches. ²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble,^(M) and I do not burn with indignation? ³⁰If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. ³¹The God and Father^(N) of the Lord Jesus, who is praised forever, knows I am not lying. ³²In Damascus,^(O) the governor under King Aretas^[f] guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me, ³³so I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.^(P)