⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.^{(A) 9} But he said to me, “My grace^(B) is sufficient for you, for my power^(C) is made perfect in weakness.^(D)”^(E) Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight^(F) in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,^(G) in persecutions,^(H) in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.^(I)

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians

¹¹ I have made a fool of myself,^(J) but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,”^[a](K) even though I am nothing.^{(L) 12} I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.^(M)