2 Corinthians 12:1–7

¹²For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

²³All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

¹¹I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

¹⁰And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

⁹Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

¹⁷And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

¹⁸And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

²⁰And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

²¹And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

¹¹And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

¹³At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

¹⁵And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

¹⁶But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

¹⁷Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

¹⁸To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

¹⁹Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

¹⁰¶ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

¹¹And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

¹²And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

¹³Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

¹⁴And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

¹⁵But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

¹⁶For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

¹⁷And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

⁵Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:

⁶His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

⁷And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

⁸Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

⁹Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.

¹⁰¶ And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

²⁴¶ Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

²And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

²⁸¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

⁶And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

¹²All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

¹⁶I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

¹⁷That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

¹⁸Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

¹⁹For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

²⁰For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

²¹I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

²²Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

²³Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

²⁴Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

²⁵Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

²⁶In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

²⁷In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

²⁸Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

³⁰If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

¹NOW it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

²In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,

³The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.

⁴¶ And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

⁵Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

⁶And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

⁷And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

⁸And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

⁹Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

¹⁰As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

¹¹Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

¹²And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

¹³As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

¹⁴And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

¹⁵¶ Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.

¹⁶The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

¹⁷When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.

¹⁸As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

¹⁹And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

²⁰Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²¹When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²²And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

²³And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.

²⁴And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.

²⁵And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

²⁶¶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

²⁷And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

²⁸As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

¹⁴Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

³How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

¹⁷And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

¹AND it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

²Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

³And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

²And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

¹¹Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

¹⁵For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

¹²And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.

²⁴Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

²⁵In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

²⁷But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

³And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

⁴How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

⁵Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

¹⁷Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

⁶Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

⁸We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

⁶They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:

³⁹And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.

¹⁰He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

²⁴¶ Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

²²And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judæa which were in Christ:

⁶For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

¹⁴¶ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

¹⁵And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

¹⁶And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²⁴For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

⁵⁶He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

⁵¹And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

²²But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

²³For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

⁷Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

¹THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

⁵Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

¹⁶¶ And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

⁵And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

²¹That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

²²And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

²³I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

⁴Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

⁴³And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

⁹I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

³And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

³⁰If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

¹⁶I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

⁸For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:

⁹That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

¹⁰For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

³¹The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

¹¹I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

⁵Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

⁹For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

¹⁰According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

¹⁸But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

¹³For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.

²⁵And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

¹I SAY the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

⁵⁵But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

³Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

²⁵But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

⁵To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

¹³Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

³¹And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

⁶Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

²⁰But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

¹⁶¶ But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

¹⁴Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

⁷¶ So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

³¹¶ Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

²⁵And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

⁵Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

²⁰For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

²⁰That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

²⁴¶ And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

⁶⁷Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,