²³ Are they servants of Christ?^(A) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,^(B) been in prison more frequently,^(C) been flogged more severely,^(D) and been exposed to death again and again.^(E)

⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments^(A) and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;^(B)

²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes^(A) minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods,^(B) once I was pelted with stones,^(C) three times I was shipwrecked,^(D) I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying,^(A) and yet we live on;^(B) beaten, and yet not killed;

⁶ He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant^(A)—not of the letter^(B) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.^(C)