Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle
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I repeat, r let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
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What I am saying s with this boastful confidence, t I say not with the Lord's authority but as a fool.
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Since u many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.
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For you gladly bear with fools, v being wise yourselves!
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For you bear it if someone w makes slaves of you, or x devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or y strikes you in the face.
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To my shame, I must say, z we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of - I am speaking as a fool - I also dare to boast of that.
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Are they Hebrews? a So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
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Are they b servants of Christ? c I am a better one - I am talking like a madman - with far greater labors, d far more imprisonments, e with countless beatings, and f often near death.
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Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the g forty lashes less one.
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Three times I was h beaten with rods. i Once I was stoned. Three times I j was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
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on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, k danger from my own people, l danger from Gentiles, m danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
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n in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, o in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
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And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for p all the churches.
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q Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
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r If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
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s The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, t he who is blessed forever, u knows that I am not lying.
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At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas v was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,
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w but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
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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.
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 9:4
Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated - to say nothing of you - for being so confident.
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 7:12
To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.
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Cross References
Philippians 3:3 - 4
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh -
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 4:10
We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
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Cross References
Galatians 2:4
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in - who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery -
Galatians 4:3
In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
Galatians 4:9
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 7:2
Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 4:11
To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless.
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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.
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Cross References
Romans 11:1
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
Philippians 3:5
Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee.
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 3:6
Who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 10:7
Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.
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Cross References
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.
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 6:5
Beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger.
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Cross References
Acts 16:23
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 1:9 - 10
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
2 Corinthians 4:11
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
2 Corinthians 6:9
As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed.
Romans 8:36
As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
1 Corinthians 15:30 - 32
Why are we in danger every hour?
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 25:3
Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.
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Cross References
Acts 16:22
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
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Cross References
Acts 14:19
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
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Cross References
Acts 27:41
But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.
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Cross References
Acts 9:23
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to ...
Acts 13:50
But the Jews incited the devout women of high s...
Acts 14:5
When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and J...
Acts 17:5
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wick...
1 Thessalonians 2:15
Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets...
Acts 18:12
But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Je...
Acts 20:3
There he spent three months, and when a plot wa...
Acts 20:19
Serving the Lord with all humility and with tea...
Acts 21:27
When the seven days were almost completed, the ...
Acts 23:10
And when the dissension became violent, the tri...
Acts 23:12
When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound...
Acts 25:3
Asking as a favor against Paul that he summon h...
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Cross References
Acts 14:5
When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them.
Acts 19:23
About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.
Acts 27:42
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.
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Cross References
Acts 21:31
And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
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Cross References
1 Thessalonians 2:9
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
2 Thessalonians 3:8
Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 4:11
To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless.
Philippians 4:12
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 7:17
Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
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Cross References
1 Corinthians 8:13
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 9:22
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
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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.
2 Corinthians 12:5
On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
1 Corinthians 2:3
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.
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Cross References
Romans 15:6
That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Romans 9:5
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
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2 Corinthians 11:11
And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
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Cross References
Acts 9:24
But their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him.
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Acts 9:25
But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.