2 Corinthians 12:14 (DRB)

Passage

Behold now the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be burthensome unto you. For I seek not the things that are yours, but you. For neither ought the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 12:12 Yet the signs of my apostleship have been wrought on you, in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

2 Corinthians 12:13 For what is there that you have had less than the other churches but that I myself was not burthensome to you? Pardon me this injury.

2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold now the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be burthensome unto you. For I seek not the things that are yours, but you. For neither ought the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

2 Corinthians 12:15 But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls: although loving you more, I be loved less.

2 Corinthians 12:16 But be it so: I did not burthen you: but being crafty, I caught you by guile.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "third", "time", "ready", "come", "burthensome", "seek", and "things". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "third", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "For what is there that you have..." into verse 15's "But I most gladly will spend and...", so "behold" and "third" belong inside that flow. In 2 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "third" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.