2 Corinthians 12

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: ²I 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. ³And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴how he was caught up into ^(E)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. ⁵Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not ^(F)boast, except in my infirmities. ⁶For 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

⁷And 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. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰Therefore ^(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

¹¹I 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. ¹³For 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. ¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶But be that as it may, ^(Y)I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! ¹⁷Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸I 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. ²⁰For 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; ²¹lest, 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.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

2 Corinthians 12:1 NU necessary, though not profitable, to boast
2 Corinthians 12:7 beat
2 Corinthians 12:11 NU omits in boasting
2 Corinthians 12:19 NU You have been thinking for a long time that we

Ecclesiastes 3-5

New King James Version

Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A ^(A)time for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ^[a]to be born,
And ^(B)a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴A time to ^(C)weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
^(D)A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
^(E)A time to keep silence,
And a time to ^(F)speak;
⁸A time to love,
And a time to ^(G)hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹^(H)What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰^(I)I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^(J)no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^(K)better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^(L)every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
^(M)Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
¹⁵^(N)That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God ^[b]requires an account of ^[c]what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^(O)I saw under the sun:

In the place of ^[d]judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
^[e]Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^(P)“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every ^[f]purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ¹⁹^(Q)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^(R)all are from the dust, and all return to dust. ²¹^(S)Who^[g] knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ²²^(T)So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^(U)that is his ^[h]heritage. ^(V)For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

The Uselessness of Selfish Toil

4 Then I returned and considered all the ^(W)oppression that is done under the sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
^[i]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
²^(X)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
³^(Y)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

⁴Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

⁵^(Z)The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
⁶^(AA)Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

⁷Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸There is one alone, without ^[j]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his ^(AB)eye satisfied with riches.
But ^(AC)he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of ^(AD)good?”
This also is vanity and a ^[k]grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

⁹Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

¹³Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
¹⁴For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although ^[l]he was born poor in his kingdom.
¹⁵I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
¹⁶There was no end of all the people ^[m]over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Fear God, Keep Your Vows

5 Walk ^(AE)prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather ^(AF)than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

²Do not be ^(AG)rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words ^(AH)be few.
³For a dream comes through much activity,
And ^(AI)a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

⁴^(AJ)When you make a vow to God, do not delay to ^(AK)pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
⁵^(AL)Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

⁶Do not let your ^(AM)mouth cause your flesh to sin, ^(AN)nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your ^[n]excuse and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But ^(AO)fear God.

The Vanity of Gain and Honor

⁸If you ^(AP)see the oppression of the poor, and the violent ^[o]perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for ^(AQ)high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.

⁹Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.

¹⁰He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.

¹¹When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?

¹²The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

¹³^(AR)There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
¹⁴But those riches perish through ^[p]misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
¹⁵^(AS)As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.

¹⁶And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And ^(AT)what profit has he ^(AU)who has labored for the wind?
¹⁷All his days ^(AV)he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen: ^(AW)It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; ^(AX)for it is his ^[q]heritage. ¹⁹As for ^(AY)every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his ^[r]heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the ^(AZ)gift of God. ²⁰For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.