¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

¹⁰ It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.^[a] Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.

Paul’s Vision and His Thorn in the Flesh

12 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. ² I^[a] was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. ³ Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know ⁴ that I was caught up^[b] to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

²⁸ All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.

⁶ And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:

¹⁷ “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance.

¹⁹ Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.

¹⁰ and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

¹⁵ While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. ¹⁶ Then the one who looked like a man^[a] touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak.