Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God, and ^cTimothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, ^dwith all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

2 ^eGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

3 ^fBlessed be the ^gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^hGod of all comfort, 4 ⁱwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in ^jChrist’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.¹ 6 ^kIf we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you ^lshare in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,² of ^mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us ⁿrely not on ourselves ^obut on God ^pwho raises the dead. 10 ^qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. ^rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 ^sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf ^tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Visions and His Thorn

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^xrevelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man ^yin Christ who fourteen years ago was ^zcaught up to ^athe third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into ^cparadise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod 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, ^dexcept of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, ^eI 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 ^fto keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^{1 g}a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^ha messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 ⁱThree times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, ^j“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^kmy power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^lthe power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 ^mFor the sake of Christ, then, ⁿI am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^owhen I am weak, then I am strong.