2 Corinthians 12 - Galatians 2

New King James Version

The Vision of Paradise

12 It is ^[a]doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to ^(A)visions and ^(B)revelations of the Lord: ² I know a man ^(C)in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one ^(D)was caught up to the third heaven. ³ And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴ how he was caught up into ^(E)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. ⁵ Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not ^(F)boast, except in my infirmities. ⁶ For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

The Thorn in the Flesh

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a ^(G)thorn in the flesh was given to me, ^(H)a messenger of Satan to ^[b]buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ^8 (I)Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly ^(J)I will rather boast in my infirmities, ^(K)that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(L)I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. ^(M)For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Signs of an Apostle

¹¹ I have become ^(N)a fool ^[c]in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for ^(O)in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though ^(P)I am nothing. ^12 (Q)Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and ^(R)wonders and mighty ^(S)deeds. ¹³ For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!

Love for the Church

^14 (T)Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for ^(U)I do not seek yours, but you. ^(V)For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. ¹⁵ And I will very gladly spend and be spent ^(W)for your souls; though ^(X)the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

¹⁶ But be that as it may, ^(Y)I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸ I urged Titus, and sent our ^(Z)brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

^19 (AA)Again, ^[d]do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? ^(AB)We speak before God in Christ. ^(AC)But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. ²⁰ For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that ^(AD)I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; ²¹ lest, when I come again, my God ^(AE)will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many ^(AF)who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, ^(AG)fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.

Coming with Authority

13 This will be ^(AH)the third time I am coming to you. ^(AI)“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” ^2 (AJ)I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent ^[e]I write to those ^(AK)who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again ^(AL)I will not spare— ³ since you seek a proof of Christ ^(AM)speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty ^(AN)in you. ^4 (AO)For though He was crucified in weakness, yet ^(AP)He lives by the power of God. For ^(AQ)we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

⁵ Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, ^(AR)that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you ^[f]are ^(AS)disqualified. ⁶ But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

Paul Prefers Gentleness

⁷ Now ^[g]I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though ^(AT)we may seem disqualified. ⁸ For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad ^(AU)when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, ^(AV)that you may be made complete. ^10 (AW)Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the ^(AX)authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.

Greetings and Benediction

¹¹ Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. ^(AY)Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love ^(AZ)and peace will be with you.

^12 (BA)Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹³ All the saints greet you.

^14 (BB)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and ^(BC)the ^[h]communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but ^(BD)through Jesus Christ and God the Father ^(BE)who raised Him from the dead), ² and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³ Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ^4 (BF)who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us ^(BG)from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Only One Gospel

⁶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon ^(BH)from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ^7 (BI)which is not another; but there are some ^(BJ)who trouble you and want to ^(BK)pervert^[i] the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if ^(BL)we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be ^[j]accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you ^(BM)than what you have received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For ^(BN)do I now ^(BO)persuade men, or God? Or ^(BP)do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Call to Apostleship^(BQ)

^11 (BR)But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. ¹² For ^(BS)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came ^(BT)through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how ^(BU)I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and ^(BV)tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, ^(BW)being more exceedingly zealous ^(BX)for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵ But when it pleased God, ^(BY)who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ^16 (BZ)to reveal His Son in me, that ^(CA)I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with ^(CB)flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Contacts at Jerusalem^(CC)

¹⁸ Then after three years ^(CD)I went up to Jerusalem to see ^[k]Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But ^(CE)I saw none of the other apostles except ^(CF)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

^21 (CG)Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which ^(CH)were in Christ. ²³ But they were ^(CI)hearing only, “He who formerly ^(CJ)persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(CK)glorified God in me.

Defending the Gospel^(CL)

2 Then after fourteen years ^(CM)I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. ² And I went up ^[l]by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but ^(CN)privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means ^(CO)I might run, or had run, in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ And this occurred because of ^(CP)false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^(CQ)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^(CR)that they might bring us into bondage), ⁵ to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^(CS)the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶ But from those ^(CT)who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^(CU)God ^[m]shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^(CV)added nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, ^(CW)when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^(CX)had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter ⁸ (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^(CY)circumcised ^(CZ)also ^(DA)worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James, ^[n]Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^(DB)pillars, perceived ^(DC)the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^(DD)that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^(DE)the very thing which I also was eager to do.

No Return to the Law

^11 (DF)Now when ^[o]Peter had come to Antioch, I ^[p]withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; ¹² for before certain men came from James, ^(DG)he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing ^[q]those who were of the circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about ^(DH)the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter ^(DI)before them all, ^(DJ)“If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, ^[r]why do you compel Gentiles to live as ^[s]Jews? ^15 (DK)We who are Jews by nature, and not ^(DL)sinners of the Gentiles, ^16 (DM)knowing that a man is not ^[t]justified by the works of the law but ^(DN)by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not ^(DO)by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found ^(DP)sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹ For I ^(DQ)through the law ^(DR)died to the law that I might ^(DS)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(DT)crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh ^(DU)I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(DV)who loved me and gave Himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God; for ^(DW)if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died ^[u]in vain.”