Capture of the Ark Provokes God

5 Now the Philistines took the ark of God and ^(A)brought it from Ebenezer to ^(B)Ashdod. ² Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to ^(C)the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. ³ When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, ^(D)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^(E)set him in his place again. ⁴ But when they arose early the next morning, behold, ^(F)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; ^[a]only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house ^(G)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ Now ^(H)the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and ^(I)He ravaged them and smote them with ^(J)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. ⁷ When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” ⁸ So they sent and ^(K)gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. ⁹ After they had brought it around, ^(L)the hand of the Lord was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^(M)tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to ^[b]us, to kill ^[c]us and ^[d]our people.” ¹¹ They ^(N)sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill ^[e]us and ^[f]our people.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; ^(O)the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and ^(P)the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Paul’s Vision

12 ^(A)Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and ^(B)revelations ^[a]of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(C)in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^(D)God knows—such a man was ^(E)caught up to the ^(F)third heaven. ³ And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ was ^(H)caught up into ^(I)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. ^5 (J)On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my ^(K)weaknesses. ⁶ For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^(L)foolish, ^(M)for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷ Because of the surpassing greatness of the ^(N)revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a ^(O)thorn in the flesh, a ^(P)messenger of Satan to ^[b]torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸ Concerning this I implored the Lord ^(Q)three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(R)power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^(S)boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(T)I am well content with weaknesses, with ^[d]insults, with ^(U)distresses, with ^(V)persecutions, with ^(W)difficulties, ^(X)for Christ’s sake; for ^(Y)when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹ I have become ^(Z)foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for ^(AA)in no respect was I inferior to the ^[e]most eminent apostles, even though ^(AB)I am a nobody. ¹² The ^[f](AC)signs ^[g]of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by ^[h]signs and wonders and ^[i]miracles. ¹³ For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that ^(AD)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me ^(AE)this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(AF)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^(AG)will not be a burden to you; for I ^(AH)do not seek what is yours, but ^(AI)you; for ^(AJ)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but ^(AK)parents for their children. ¹⁵ I will ^(AL)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If ^(AM)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But be that as it may, I ^(AN)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^(AO)took you in by deceit. ^17 (AP)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? ¹⁸ I ^(AQ)urged ^(AR)Titus to go, and I sent ^(AS)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not ^[j]conduct ourselves ^[k]in the same ^(AT)spirit and walk ^(AU)in the same steps?

¹⁹ All this time ^[l]you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, ^(AV)it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and ^(AW)all for your upbuilding, ^(AX)beloved. ²⁰ For I am afraid that perhaps ^(AY)when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^(AZ)strife, jealousy, ^(BA)angry tempers, ^(BB)disputes, ^(BC)slanders, ^(BD)gossip, ^(BE)arrogance, ^(BF)disturbances; ²¹ I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^(BG)sinned in the past and not repented of the ^(BH)impurity, ^[m]immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.