For if what was made ineffective ¹  came with ²  glory, how much more has what remains ³  come in glory!

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ¹  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.

When ¹  I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs. ²  I ³  kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.

Three times I was beaten with a rod. ¹  Once I received a stoning. ²  Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea.

In Damascus, the governor ¹  under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus ²  in order to arrest ³  me,

So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf ¹  before God.

but I was let down in a rope-basket ¹  through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.

was caught up into paradise ¹  and heard things too sacred to be put into words, ²  things that a person ³  is not permitted to speak.

For how ¹  were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this injustice!

But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit!

And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. ¹ 

For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, ¹  how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness ²  excel ³  in glory!

because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, ¹  he is coming ²  to you of his own accord. ³ 

Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? ¹  Or do I make my plans ²  according to mere human standards ³  so that I would be saying ⁴  both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us ¹  the message of reconciliation.

For if I have boasted to him about anything concerning you, I have not been embarrassed by you, ¹  but just as everything we said to you was true, ²  so our boasting to Titus about you ³  has proved true as well.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.

For indeed he was crucified by reason of weakness, but he lives because of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, but we will live together with him, because of God’s power toward you.

For you know the grace ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.

even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, ¹  so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble ²  me – so that I would not become arrogant. ³