21To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.
22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
28Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
— 2 Corinthians 11:21-30

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Illustration of 2 Corinthians 11:30

Illustration of 2 Corinthians 11:30 -- If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.