¹⁷ What I am saying in regard to this boastful undertaking, I am saying not with the Lord’s authority but as a fool;^(A)

¹² To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.^(A)

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God^[a] and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh^(A)— ⁴ even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;^{(B) 6} as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

⁴ otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be put to shame—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking.^[a]

The Unmarried and the Widows

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.^(A)

¹⁸ since many boast according to human standards,^[a] I will also boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly put up with fools, being wise yourselves! ²⁰ For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you or preys upon you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or gives you a slap in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.^{(A) 22} Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.^{(B) 23} Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.^{(C) 24} Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.^{(D) 25} Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;^{(E) 26} on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;^{(F) 27} in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food,^[b] cold and naked.^(G)

⁶ This I say by way of concession, not of command.^(A)