1 Therefore, having by the divine favour such a ministry, I exert myself:
2 renouncing all secret dishonesty, and void of all artifice, I deliver the word of God unadulterated, and recommend my self by urging the truth home to every man's conscience, as in the presence of God.
3 but if our gospel be obscure, it is so only to those who are lost:
4 to those unbelievers, whose minds the God of this world has so blinded, that the glorious lustre of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, does not enlighten them.
5 for we preach not our selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, professing our selves your servants for his sake.
6 for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to enlighten others in the knowledge of the glory of God, which shines in the person of Jesus Christ.
7 but this treasure is lodg'd in such earthen vessels as we are, that the exceeding efficacy of it may appear to be from God, and not from us.
8 I am press'd on every side, yet not crush'd; perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; dejected, but not destroyed;
10 always bearing about in my body the marks of sufferings like those of Jesus, so that Jesus might be plainly prov'd to be alive by the sufferings of my body.
11 for as long as I live I shall be exposed to death for the sake of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest by the preservation of our mortal life.
12 so that I suffer the influences of his death, while you only feel the effects of his life.
13 Having by the same spirit the same faith as David had when he said, "I believed, and therefore have I spoken:" I also believe, and therefore I speak;
14 knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up me also by Jesus, and shall present me with you:
15 for all things are for your sakes, that the grace which was conferr'd upon many, might by the gratitude of so many, redound to the glory of God.
16 for which cause I am not discouraged, but tho' my body decays, yet my mind is daily renewed.
17 for the light affliction, which I at present suffer, will be infinitely over-ballanced by an eternal weight of glory;
18 for I have no regard to the things which are visible, but to such as are invisible: since visible things are temporary, but the invisible are eternal.