2 Corinthians 12

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 x revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man y in Christ who fourteen years ago was z caught up to a the third heaven - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, b God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into c paradise - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, b 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, d except of my weaknesses. 6 Though if I should wish to boast, e 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 f to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, 1 g a thorn was given me in the flesh, h a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 i Three 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 k my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that l the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 m For the sake of Christ, then, n I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For o when I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

11 p I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was q not at all inferior to these super-apostles, r even though I am nothing. 12 s The signs of a true apostle were performed among you t 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 u I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

14 Here v for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for w I seek not what is yours but you. For x children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but y parents for their children. 15 z I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If a I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that b 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 c through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 d I urged Titus to go, and sent e 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 f in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and g all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps h 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 i who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, j sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

  1. Cross References
    Galatians 1:12
    For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
    Galatians 2:2
    I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.
    Ephesians 3:3
    How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
  2. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 5:17
    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
  3. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:3
    And I know that this man was caught up into paradise - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -
    1 Thessalonians 4:17
    Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
    Revelation 12:5
    She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
    Ezekiel 8:3
    He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
    Acts 8:39
    And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 148:4
    Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
  5. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 11:11
    And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
  6. Cross References
    Luke 23:43
    And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
    Revelation 2:7
    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
    Genesis 2:8
    And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
  7. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:2
    I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
  8. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 2:3
    And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.
  9. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 5:13
    For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
    2 Corinthians 11:16 - 17
    I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
    2 Corinthians 12:11
    I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
  10. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 10:10
    For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.
  11. Cross References
    Numbers 33:55
    But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
    Ezekiel 28:24
    And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.
  12. Cross References
    Luke 13:16
    And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
    1 Corinthians 5:5
    You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
  13. Cross References
    Matthew 26:44
    So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:2
    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:29 - 31
    He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
    Philippians 4:13
    I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
  16. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 2:5
    That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
  17. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 5:15
    And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
    Matthew 5:11 - 12
    Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
  18. Cross References
    Romans 5:3
    More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.
  19. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 13:4
    For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
  20. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:6
    Though if I should wish to boast, 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.
  21. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 11:5
    Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
    1 Corinthians 15:10
    But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  22. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:7
    So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
    1 Corinthians 15:9
    For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
  23. Cross References
    Romans 15:19
    By the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God - so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.
    1 Corinthians 9:1
    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
  24. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 6:4
    But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities.
  25. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 9:12
    If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
    Acts 20:33
    I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
  26. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 13:1
    This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
    2 Corinthians 1:15
    Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.
    2 Corinthians 13:2
    I warned 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 if I come again I will not spare them -
  27. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 10:24
    Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
    1 Corinthians 10:33
    Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
  28. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 4:14 - 15
    I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
  29. Cross References
    Proverbs 19:14
    House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
    Ezekiel 34:2
    Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God : Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
  30. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 1:6
    If 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.
    Philippians 2:17
    Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
    Colossians 1:24
    Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
    1 Thessalonians 2:8
    So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
    2 Timothy 2:10
    Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
  31. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 6:11
    We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open.
  32. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 11:9
    And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.
  33. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 9:5
    So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.
  34. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 8:6
    Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.
  35. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 8:18
    With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.
  36. Cross References
    Romans 1:9
    For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
    Romans 9:1
    I am speaking the truth in Christ - I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit -
  37. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 14:26
    What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
  38. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 2:1 - 4
    For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
    1 Corinthians 4:21
    What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
  39. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 13:2
    I warned 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 if I come again I will not spare them -
    Revelation 2:21
    I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
  40. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 5:1
    It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.
    1 Corinthians 6:18
    Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Previous Book Next Book