2 Corinthians 12:1-10 - A Vision Of Paradise

¹ I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this manwhether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows ⁴ was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, which a man is not permitted to tell. ⁵ On behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶ Though if I should boast, I will not be a fool, for I will 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 And to keep me from being too elated because of the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should depart from me. 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 about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong.