Paul Boasts About His Sufferings

¹⁶ I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.^(A) But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.

¹⁷ In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would,^(A) but as a fool.^(B)

²¹ To my shame I admit that we were too weak^(A) for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.^(B)

¹³ If we are “out of our mind,”^(A) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.