⁹ For ^(A)I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because ^(B)I persecuted the church of God.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (A)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(B)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(C)even though I am nothing.

³ But ^(A)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(B)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, ^(A)persecutor, and insolent opponent. But ^(B)I received mercy ^(C)because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and ^(D)the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the ^(E)faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is ^(F)trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus ^(G)came into the world to save sinners, ^(H)of whom I am the foremost.

^7 (A)Of this gospel I was made ^(B)a minister according to the gift of ^(C)God's grace, which was given me ^(D)by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, ^(E)though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, ^(F)to preach to the Gentiles the ^(G)unsearchable ^(H)riches of Christ,

^9 (A)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(B)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (C)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(D)from the chief priests, but ^(E)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(F)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(G)blaspheme, and ^(H)in raging fury against them I ^(I)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

^6 (A)as to zeal, ^(B)a persecutor of the church; ^(C)as to righteousness under the law,^[a] blameless.

¹³ For you have heard of ^(A)my former life in Judaism, how ^(B)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.