in fact I told myself it was the sentence of death. But that was to make me rely not on myself but on the God who raises the dead;
It is not that I am personally qualified to form any judgment by myself; my qualifications come from God,
for he considered that God was able even to raise men from the dead. Hence he did get him back, by what was a parable of the resurrection.
But I possess this treasure in a frail vessel of earth, to show that the transcending power belongs to God, not to myself;
He also told the following parable to certain persons who were sure of their own goodness and looked down upon everybody else.
(Because, as it is written, For thy sake we are being killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.)
Now I would like you to know about the distress which befell me in Asia, brothers. I was crushed, crushed far more than I could stand, so much so that I despaired even of life;
he rescued me from so terrible a death, he rescues still, and I rely upon him for the hope that he will continue to rescue me.