Paul's Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^(A)revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(B)in Christ who fourteen years ago was ^(C)caught up to ^(D)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(E)God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into ^(F)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, ^(H)except of my weaknesses— ⁶ though if I should wish to boast, ^(I)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So ^(J)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^{[a] (K)}a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^(L)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ^8 (M)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, ^(N)“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(O)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^(P)the power of Christ may rest upon me. ^10 (Q)For the sake of Christ, then, ^(R)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^(S)when I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (T)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(U)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(V)even though I am nothing. ^12 (W)The signs of a true apostle were performed among you ^(X)with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³ For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that ^(Y)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(Z)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(AA)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(AB)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(AC)parents for their children. ^15 (AD)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(AE)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(AF)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(AG)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (AH)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(AI)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(AJ)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(AK)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(AL)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹ I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(AM)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(AN)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

Final Warnings

13 ^(AO)This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established ^(AP)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ^2 (AQ)I warned ^(AR)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that ^(AS)if I come again I will not spare them— ³ since you seek proof that Christ ^(AT)is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but ^(AU)is powerful among you. ⁴ For ^(AV)he was crucified in weakness, but ^(AW)lives by the power of God. For ^(AX)we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you ^(AY)we will live with him by the power of God.

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. ^(AZ)Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that ^(BA)Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷ But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad when ^(BB)we are weak and you are strong. Your ^(BC)restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come ^(BD)I may not have to be ^(BE)severe in my use of ^(BF)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Final Greetings

¹¹ Finally, brothers,^[b] rejoice. ^(BG)Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^{[c] (BH)}agree with one another, ^(BI)live in peace; and the God of love and ^(BJ)peace will be with you. ^12 (BK)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (BL)All the saints greet you.

^14 (BM)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^(BN)the love of God and ^(BO)the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

² When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. ³ There he spent three months, and when ^(A)a plot was made against him by the Jews^[a] as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)a servant^[a] of Christ Jesus, ^(B)called to be an apostle, ^(C)set apart for the gospel of God, ² which ^(D)he promised beforehand ^(E)through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, ^(F)who was descended from David^{[b] (G)}according to the flesh ⁴ and ^(H)was declared to be the Son of God ^(I)in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom ^(J)we have received grace and ^(K)apostleship ^(L)to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name ^(M)among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are ^(N)called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

^(O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, ^(P)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^(Q)because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ^9 (R)For God is my witness, ^(S)whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^(T)that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^(U)by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(V)I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged ^(W)by each other's faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[c] that ^(X)I have often intended to come to you (but ^(Y)thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^(Z)harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (AA)I am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(AB)barbarians,^[d] both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(AC)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(AD)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(AE)first and also to ^(AF)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(AG)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(AH)from faith for faith,^{[e] (AI)}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”^[f]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(AJ)the wrath of God ^(AK)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(AL)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(AM)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(AN)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (AO)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(AP)exchanged the glory of ^(AQ)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AR)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(AS)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(AT)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AU)who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AV)God gave them up to ^(AW)dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ^(AX)men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^(AY)God gave them up to ^(AZ)a debased mind to do ^(BA)what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know ^(BB)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(BC)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(BD)give approval to those who practice them.

God's Righteous Judgment

2 Therefore you have ^(BE)no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For ^(BF)in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ² We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³ Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you presume on ^(BG)the riches of his kindness and ^(BH)forbearance and ^(BI)patience, ^(BJ)not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are ^(BK)storing up ^(BL)wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

^6 (BM)He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷ to those who ^(BN)by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking^[h] and ^(BO)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress ^(BP)for every human being who does evil, the Jew ^(BQ)first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and ^(BR)peace for everyone who does good, ^(BS)the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(BT)God shows no partiality.

God's Judgment and the Law

¹² For all who have sinned ^(BU)without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For ^(BV)it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, ^(BW)by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is ^(BX)written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ^16 (BY)on that day when, ^(BZ)according to my gospel, God judges ^(CA)the secrets of men ^(CB)by Christ Jesus.

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and ^(CC)rely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸ and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; ¹⁹ and if you are sure that you yourself are ^(CD)a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law ^(CE)the embodiment of ^(CF)knowledge and truth— ^21 (CG)you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you ^(CH)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(CI)boast in the law ^(CJ)dishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴ For, ^(CK)as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed ^(CL)among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵ For circumcision indeed is of value ^(CM)if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. ²⁶ So, if ^(CN)a man who is uncircumcised keeps ^(CO)the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded^[i] as circumcision? ²⁷ Then he who is physically^[j] uncircumcised but keeps the law ^(CP)will condemn you who have ^(CQ)the written code^[k] and circumcision but break the law. ²⁸ For ^(CR)no one is a Jew ^(CS)who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹ But a Jew is one ^(CT)inwardly, and ^(CU)circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. ^(CV)His praise is not from man but from God.