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cution. So it has been always in regard to the establishment of the gospel. It began its career in the sufferings of its great Author, and the foundation of the church was laid in his blood. It progressed amidst sufferings, for all the apostles, except John, it is supposed, were martyrs. It continued to advance amidst sufferings-for ten fiery persecutions raged throughout the Roman empire, and thousands died in consequence of their professed attachment to the Saviour. It has been always propagated in heathen lands by selfdenials and sacrifices, for the life of a missionary is that of sacrifice and toil. How many such men as David Brainerd and Henry Martyn have sacrificed their lives in order to extend the true religion around the world!

6. All that we enjoy is the fruit of the sufferings, toils, and sacrifices of others. We have not one Christian privilege or hope which has not cost the life of many martyr. How thankful should we be to God that he was pleased to raise up men who would be willing thus to suffer, and that he sustained and kept them until their work was accomplished!

7. We may infer the sincerity of the men engaged in propagating the Christian religion. What had Paul to gain in the sorrows which he endured? Why did he not remain in his own land, and reap the honours which were then fully within his grasp? The answer is an easy one. It was because he believed that Christianity was true; and believing that, he believed that it was of importance to make it known to the world. Paul did not endure these sorrows, and encounter these perils, for the sake of pleasure, honour, or gain. No man who reads this chapter can doubt that he was sincere, and that he was an honest

man.

8. The Christian religion is, therefore, true. Not because the first preachers were sincere for the advocates of error are often sincere, and are willing to suffer much, or even to die as martyrs; but because this was a case when their sincerity proved the facts in regard to the truth of Christianity. It was not sincerity in regard to opinions merely, it was in regard to facts. They not only believed that the Messiah had come, and died, and risen again, but they saw him-saw him when he lived; saw him die; saw him after he was risen: and it was in relation to these facts they were sincere. But how could they be deceived here? Men may be deceived in their opinions; but how could John, e. g., be deceived in affirming that he was intimately acquainted-the bosom friend- with Jesus of Nazareth; that he saw him die; and that he conversed with him after he had died? In this he could not be mistaken; and sooner than deny this, John would have spent his whole life in a cave in Patmos, or have died on the cross or at the stake. But if John saw all this, then the Christian religion is true.

9. We should be willing to suffer now. If Paul and the other apostles were willing to endure so much, why should not we be? If they were willing to deny themselves so much in order that the gospel should be spread among the nations, why should not we be? It is now just as important that it should be spread as it was then; and the church should be just as willing to sacri

fice its comforts to make the gospel known as it was in the days of Paul. We may add, also, that if there was the same devotedness to Christ evinced by all Christians now which is described in this chapter; if there was the same zeal and self-denial, the time would not be far distant when the gospel would be spread all around the world. May the time soon come when all Christians shall have the same self-denial as Paul; and especially when all who enter the ministry shall be willing to forsake country and home, and to encounter peril in the city and the wilderness; on the sea and the land; to meet cold, and nakedness, hunger, thirst, persecution, and death in any way in order that they may make known the name of the Saviour to a lost world.

CHAPTER XIL

VER. 1. It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

a For I will.

This chapter is a continuation of the same general subject which was discussed in the two previous chapters. The general design of the apostle is, to defend himself from the charges brought against him in Corinth, and especially, as would appear, from the charge that he had no claims to the character of an apostle. In the previous chapters he had met these charges, and had shown that he bad just cause to be bold towards them; that he had in his life given evidence that he was called to this work, and especially that by his successes and by his sufferings he had showed that he had evidence that he had been truly engaged in the work of the Lord Jesus.

This chapter contains the following subjects. 1. Paul appeals to another evidence that he was engaged in the apostolic office-an evidence to which none of his accusers could appeal-that he had been permitted to behold the glories of the heavenly world. (Ver. 1-10.) In the previous chapter he had mentioned his trials. Here he says (ver. 1) that as they had compelled him to boast, he would mention the revelation which he had had of the Lord. He details, therefore, the remarkable vision which he had had several years before, (ver. 2—4,) when he was caught up to heaven, and permitted to behold the wonders there. Yet he says, that lest such an extraordinary manifestation should exalt him above measure, he was visited with a sore and peculiar trial -a trial from which he prayed earnestly to be delivered, but that he received answer that the grace of God would be sufficient to support him. (Ver. 5-9.) It was in view of this, he says, (ver. 10,) that he had pleasure in infirmities and sufferings in the cause of the Redeemer.

2. He then (ver. 11, 12) sums up what he had said; draws the conclusion that he had given every sign or evidence that he was an apostle;

that in all that pertained to toil, and patience, and miracles, he had shown that he was commissioned by the Saviour; though with characteristic modesty he said he was nothing.

3. He then expresses his purpose to come again and see them, and his intention then not to be burdensome to them. (Ver. 13-15.) He was willing to labour for them, and to exhaust his strength in endeavouring to promote their welfare without receiving support from them, for he regarded himself in the light of a father to them, and it was not usual for children to support their parents.

4. In connexion with this, he answers another charge against himself. Some accused him of being crafty; that though he did not burden them, yet he knew well how to manage so as to secure what he wanted without burdening them, or seeming to receive any thing from them. (Ver. 16.) To this he answers by an appeal to fact. Particularly he appeals to the conduct of Titus when with them, in full proof that he had | no such design. (Ver. 17-19.)

5. In the conclusion of the chapter, he expresses his fear that when he should come among them he would find much that would humble them, and give him occasion for severity of diseipline. (Ver. 20, 21.) This apprehension is evidently expressed in order that they might be led to examine themselves, and to put away whatever was wrong.

It is not expedient.-It is not well; it does not become me. This may either mean that he felt and admitted that it did not become him to boast in this manner; that there was an impropriety in his doing it, though circumstances had compelled him, and in this sense it is understood by nearly, or quite, all expositors; or it may be taken ironically. "Such a man as I am ought not to boast. So you say, and so it would seem. A man who has done no more than I have; who has suffered nothing; who has been idle and at ease as I have been, ought surely not to boast. And since there is such an evident impropriety in my boasting and speaking about myself, I will turn to another matter, and inquire whether the same thing may not be said about visions and revelations. I will speak, therefore, of a man who had some remarkable revelations, and inquire whether he has any right to boast of the favours imparted to him.' This seems to me to be the probable interpretation of this passage. To glory. -To boast. (Chap. x. 8, 13; xi. 10.) One of the charges which they alleged against him was, that he was given to boasting without any good reason. After the enumeration in the previous chapter of what he had done and suffered, he says that this was doubtless very true. Such a man had nothing to boast of. I will come.-Marg. "For I will." Our translators have omitted the word (yup) "for" in the text, evidently supposing that it is a mere expletive. Doddridge renders it, "nevertheless." But it seems to me that it contains an important sense, and that it should be rendered by "then." "Since it is not fit that I should glory, then I will refer to visions, &c. I will turn away then from that subject, and come to another." Thus the word (yap) is used in John "Shall then (un yap) Christ come out

vii. 41.

of Galilee?" (Acts viii. 31.) "How can I then (àç yap) except some man should guide me?" See also Acts xix. 35. Rom. iii. 3. Phil. i. 18. To visions.-The word vision is used in the Scriptures often to denote the mode in which divine communications were usually made to men. This was done by causing some scene to appear to pass before the mind as in a landscape, so that the individual seemed to see a representation of what was to occur in some future period. It was usually applied to prophecy, and is often used in the Old Testament. See my Note on Isa. i. 1, and also on Acts ix. 10. The vision which Paul here refers to was that which he was permitted to have of the heavenly world. (Ver. 4.) He was permitted to see what perhaps no other mortal had seen, the glory of heaven. And revelations of the Lord.-Which the Lord had made. Or it may mean manifestations which the Lord had made of himself to him. The word rendered revelations means properly an uncovering, (áπokáλv↓ıç, from ȧTокαλúπTW, to uncover,) and denotes a removal of the veil of ignorance and darkness, so that an object may be clearly seen; and is thus applied to truth revealed, because the obscurity is removed and the truth becomes manifest.

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I knew a man in Christ.—I was acquainted with a Christian; the phrase "in Christ" meaning nothing more than that he was united to Christ or was a Christian. See Rom. xvi. 7. The reason why Paul did not speak of this directly as a vision which he had himself seen was probably that he was accused of boasting, and he had admitted that it did not become him to glory. But though it did not become him to boast directly, yet he could tell them of a man concerning whom there would be no impropriety evidently in boasting. It is not uncommon, moreover, for a man to speak of himself in the third person. Thus Cæsar in his Commentaries uniformly speaks of himself. And so John in his gospel speaks of himself. (Chap. xiii. 23, 24; xix. 26; xxi. 20.) John did it on account of his modesty, because he would not appear to put himself forward, and because the mention of his own name as connected with the friendship of the Saviour in the remarkable manner in which he enjoyed it, might have savoured of pride. For a similar reason Paul may have been unwilling to mention his own name here; and he may have abstained from referring to this occurrence elsewhere, because it might savour of pride, and might also excite the envy or ill-will of others. Those who have been most favoured with spiritual enjoyments will not be the most ready to proclaim it. They will cherish the remembrance in order to excite gratitude in their own hearts and support them in trial; they will not blazon it abroad as if they were more the favourites of

Heaven than others are. That this refers to Paul
himself is evident for the following reasons. (1.)
His argument required that he should mention
something that had occurred to himself. Any
thing that had occurred to another would not
have been pertinent. (2.) He applies it directly
to himself, (ver. 7,) when he says that God took
effectual measures that he should not be unduly
exalted in view of the abundant revelations be-
stowed on him. About fourteen years ago.-On
what occasion or where this occurred, or why he
concealed the remarkable fact so long, and why
there is no other allusion to it, is unknown; and
conjecture is useless. If this epistle was written,
as is commonly supposed, about the year 58, then
this occurrence must have happened about the
year 44.
This was several years after his con-
version, and of course this does not refer to the
trance mentioned in Acts ix. 9, at the time when
he was converted. Dr. Benson supposes that
this vision was made to him when he was praying
in the temple after his return to Jerusalem, when
he was directed to go from Jerusalem to the
Gentiles, (Acts xxii. 17,) and that it was intended
to support him in the trials which he was about
to endure. There can be little danger of error
in supposing that its object was to support him
in those remarkable trials, and that God designed
to impart to him such views of heaven and its
glory, and of the certainty that he would soon
be admitted there, as to support him in his suffer-
ings, and make him willing to bear all that should
be laid upon him. God often gives to his people
some clear and elevated spiritual comforts before
they enter into trials as well as while in them;
he prepares them for them before they come.
This vision Paul had kept secret for fourteen
years. He had doubtless often thought of it;
and the remembrance of that glorious hour was
doubtless one of the reasons why he bore trials
so patiently and was willing to endure so much.
But before this he had had no occasion to men-
tion it. He had other proofs in abundance that
he was called to the work of an apostle; and to
mention this would savour of pride and ostenta-
tion. It was only when he was compelled to
refer to the evidences of his apostolic mission
that he refers to it here. Whether in the body I
cannot tell. That is, I do not pretend to explain
it. I do not know how it occurred. With the
fact he was acquainted; but how it was brought
about he did not know. Whether the body was
caught up to heaven; whether the soul was for
a time separated from the body; or whether the
scene passed before the mind in a vision, so that
he seemed to have been caught up to heaven, he
does not pretend to know. The evident idea is,
that at the time he was in a state of insensibility
in regard to surrounding objects, and was uncon-
scious of what was occurring, as if he had been
dead. Where Paul confesses his own ignorance
of what occurred to himself it would be vain for
us to inquire; and the question how this was done
is immaterial. No one can doubt that God had
power if he chose to transport the body to hea-
ven; or that he had power for a time to separate
the soul from the body; or that he had power to
represent to the mind so clearly the view of the
heavenly world that he would appear to see it.

See Acts vii. 56. It is clear only that he lost all
consciousness of any thing about him at that
time, and that he saw only the things in heaven.
It may be added here, however, that Paul evi-
dently supposed that his soul might be taken to
heaven without the body, and that it might have
separate consciousness and a separate existence.
He was not, therefore, a materialist, and he did
not believe that the existence and consciousness
of the soul was dependent on the body. God
knoweth.-With the mode in which it was done
God only could be acquainted. Paul did not at-
tempt to explain that. That was to him of com-
paratively little consequence, and he did not lose
his time in a vain attempt to explain it. How
happy would it be if all theologians were as ready
to be satisfied with the knowledge of a fact, and
to leave the mode of explaining it with God, as
this prince of theologians was. Many a man
would have busied himself with a vain speculation
about the way in which it was done; Paul was
contented with the fact that it had occurred.
Such an one caught up.-The word which is here
used (àρá) means, to seize upon, to snatch
away, as wolves do their prey, (John xii. 10;)
or to seize with avidity or eagerness, (Matt. xi.
12;) or to carry away, to hurry off by force or
Acts vii. 39;
involuntarily. See John vi. 15.
xxiii. 10. In the case before us there is implied
the idea that Paul was conveyed by a foreign
force; or that he was suddenly seized and snatch-
ed up to heaven. The word expresses the sud-
denness and the rapidity with which it was done.
Probably it was instantaneous, so that he ap-
peared at once to be in heaven. Of the mode in
which it was done Paul has given no explana-
tions; and conjecture would be useless. To the
third heaven.-The Jews sometimes speak of seven
heavens, and Mahomet has borrowed this idea
from the Jews. But the Bible speaks but of
three heavens, and among the Jews in the apos-
tolic ages also the heavens were divided into
three. (1.) The aerial, including the clouds and
the atmosphere, the heavens above us, until we
come to the stars. (2.) The starry heavens, the
heavens in which the sun, moon, and stars appear
to be situated. (3.) The heavens beyond the
stars. That heaven was supposed to be the resi-
dence of God, of angels, and of holy spirits. It
was this upper heaven, the dwelling-place of
God, to which Paul was taken, and whose won-
ders he was permitted to behold-this region
where God dwelt; where Christ was seated at
the right-hand of the Father, and where the spi-
rits of the just were assembled. The fanciful
opinions of the Jews about seven heavens may
be seen detailed in Schoettgen or in Wetstein, by
whom the principal passages from the Jewish
writings relating to the subject have been collect-
ed. As their opinions throw no light on this pas-
sage, it is unnecessary to detail them here.

VER. 3. And I knew such a man, (whether in
the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell :
God knoweth ;)

And I knew such a man.—It is not uncommen to repeat a solemn affirmation, in order that it may be made more emphatic. This is done here.

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66

Into paradise. The word paradise (apadetdoc) occurs but three times in the New Testament. (Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 4. Rev. ii. 7.) It occurs often in the Septuagint, as the translation of the word garden. (Gen. ii. 8, 9, 10, 15, 16; iii. 1, 2, 3, 8, 16, 23, 24; xiii. 10. Num. xxiv. 6. Isa. li. 3. Ezek. xxviii. 13; xxxi. 8, 9. Joel ii. 3. And also Isa. i. 30. Jer. xxix. 5; and of the word (DT) Pardes in Neh. ii. 8. Eccl. ii. 5. Cant. ii. 13.) It is a word which had its origin in the language of eastern Asia, and which has been adopted in the Greek, the Roman, and other western languages. In Sanserit, the word "paradesha" means a land elevated and cultivated; in Armenian, pardes" denotes a garden around the house, planted with trees, shrubs, grass for use and ornament. In Persia, the word denotes the pleasure-gardens and parks with wild animals around the country residences of the monarchs and princes. Hence, it denotes in general a garden of pleasure; and in the New Testament is applied to the abodes of the blessed after death, the dwelling-place of God and of happy spirits; or to heaven as a place of blessedness. Some have supposed that Paul here, by the word "paradise," means to describe a different place from that denoted by the phrase "the third heaven;" but there is no good reason for this supposition. The only difference is, that this word implies the idea of a place of blessedness; but the same place is undoubtedly referred And heard unspeakable words.-The word which is here rendered "unspeakable," (äppnra,) may either mean what cannot be spoken, or what ought not to be spoken. The word means unutterable, ineffable; and whichever idea we attach to it, Paul meant to say that he could not attempt by words to do justice to what he saw and heard. The use of the word "words" here would seem to imply that he heard the language of exalted praise; or that there were truths imparted to his mind which he could not hope to convey in any language spoken by men. Which it is not lawful for a man to utter.-Marg. "Possible." Witsius supposes that the word or may include both, and Doddridge accords with the interpretation. See also Robinson's Lex. The word is most commonly used in the signification of "lawful." Thus, Matt. xiv. 4, "It is not lawful for thee to have her." Acts xvi. 21, "Which it is not lawful for us to observe;" xxii. 25, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman?" &c. In the same sense of lawful it is used in Matt. xii. 2, 10, 12; xx. 15. Mark ii. 26; x. 2. When it refers to possibility, it probably means moral possibility; that is, propriety, or it means that it is right. It seems to me, therefore, that the word here rather means that it was not

to.

proper to give utterance to those things; it would not be right to attempt it. It might be also true, that it would not have been possible for language to convey clearly the ideas connected with the things which Paul was then permitted to see; but the main thought is, that there was some reason why it would not be proper for him to have attempted to communicate those ideas to men at large. The Jews held that it was unlawful to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, i. e. the name of four letters, () "Jehovah;" and whenever that name occurred in their Scriptures, they substituted the name Adonai in its place. They maintain, indeed, that the true pronunciation is utterly lost, and none of them to this day attempt to pronounce it. But this was mere superstition; and it is impossible that Paul should have been influenced by any such reason as this.

The transaction here referred to is very remarkable. It is the only instance in the Scriptures of any one who was taken to heaven, either in reality or in vision, and who returned again to the earth, and was then qualified to communicate important truths about the heavenly world from personal observation. Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven; but they returned not to converse with men. Elijah appeared with Moses in conversation with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration; but they conversed with him only about his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke ix. 31.) There would have been no propriety for them to have spoken to Jesus of heaven, for he came down from heaven and was in heaven, (John iii. 13,) and they were not permitted to speak to the disciples of heaven. Lazarus was raised from the dead, (John xi.,) and many of the saints which had slept in their graves arose at the death of Jesus, (Matt. xxvii. 52,) but there is no intimation that they communicated any thing to the living about the heavenly world. Of all the millions who have been taken to heaven, not one has been permitted to return to bear his testimony to its glories; to witness for God that he is faithful to his promises; to encourage his pious friends to persevere; or to invite his impenitent friends to follow him to that glorious world. And so fixed is the law; so settled is the principle, that even Lazarus was not permitted to go, though at the earnest request of the rich man in hell, and warn his friends not to follow him to that world of woe. (Luke xvi. 27-31.) Mahomet, indeed, feigned that he had made a journey to heaven, and he attempts to describe what he saw; and the difference between true inspiration and false or pretended inspiration is strikingly evinced by the difference between Paul's dignified silence"verba sacro digna silentio" (Horace)—and the puerilities of the prophet of Mecca. See the Koran, chap. xvii. As the difference between the true religion and imposture is strikingly illustrated by this, we may recur to the principal events which happened to the impostor on this celebrated journey. The whole account may be seen in Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 43, seq. He solemnly affirmed that he had been translated to the heaven of heavens; that on a white beast, less than a mule, but larger than an ass, he had been conveyed from the temple of Mecca to that

of Jerusalem; had successively ascended the seven heavens with his companion Gabriel, receiving and returning the salutations of its blessed inhabitants; had then proceeded alone within two bow-shots of the throne of the Almighty, when he felt a cold which pierced him to the heart, and was touched on the shoulder by the hand of God, who commanded him to pray fifty times a day, but with the advice of Moses he was prevailed on to have the number reduced to five; and that he then returned to Jerusalem and to Mecca, having performed a journey of thousands of years in the tenth part of a night.

The fact that Paul was not permitted to communicate what he had seen is very remarkable. It is natural to ask why it is so? Why has not God sent down departed saints to tell men of the glories of heaven? Why does he not permit them to come and bear testimony to what they have seen and enjoyed? Why not come and clear up the doubts of the pious; why not come and convince a thoughtless world; why not come and bear honourable testimony for God that he is faithful to reward his people? And, especially, why did he not suffer Paul, whom he had permitted to behold the glories of paradise, to testify simply to what he had seen, and tell us what was there?

To these questions, so obvious, it is impossible to give an answer that we can demonstrate to be the true one. But we may suggest some reasons which may furnish a plausible answer, and which may serve to remove some of the perplexity in the case. I would, therefore, suggest that the following may have been some of the reasons why Paul was not permitted to communicate what he saw to men. (1.) It was designed for the support of Paul himself in view of the very remarkable trials which he was about to endure. God had called him to great toils and self-denials. He was to labour much alone; to go to foreign lands; to be persecuted, and ultimately put to death; and it was his purpose to qualify him for this work by some peculiar manifestation of his favour. He accordingly gave him such views of heaven that he would be supported in his trials by a conviction of the undoubted truth of what he taught, and by the prospect of certain glory when his labours should end. It was one instance when God gave peculiar views to prepare for trials, as he often does to his people now, preparing them in a peculiar manner for peculiar trials. Christians, from some cause, often have more elevated views and deeper feeling before they are called to endure trials than they have at other times peculiar grace to prepare them for suffering. But as this was designed in a peculiar manner for Paul alone, it was not proper for him to communicate what he saw to others. (2.) It is probable that if there were a full revelation of the glories of heaven we should not be able to comprehend it; or even if we did, we should be incredulous in regard to it. So unlike what we see; so elevated above our highest comprehension; probably so unlike what we now anticipate is heaven, that we should be slow to receive the revelation. It is always difficult to describe what we have not seen, even on earth, so that we shall have any very clear idea of it:

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how much more difficult must it be to describe
heaven! We are often incredulous about what
is reported to exist in foreign lands on earth
which we have not seen, and a long time is often
necessary before we will believe it. The king of
Siam, when told by the Dutch ambassador that
water became so hard in his country that men
might walk on it, said, "I have often suspected
you of falsehood, but now I know that you lie."
So incredulous might we be, with our weak
faith, if we were told what actually exists in
heaven. We should not improbably turn away
from it as wholly incredible. (3.) There are
great truths which it is not the design of God to
reveal to men. The object is to communicate
enough to win us, to comfort us, to support our
faith, not to reveal all. In eternity there must
be boundless truths and glories which are not
needful for us to know now, and which, on many
accounts, it would not be proper to be revealed
to men. The question is not, do we know all,
but have we enough safely to guide us to heaven,
and to comfort us in the trials of life. (4.)
There is enough revealed of heaven for our
guidance and comfort in this world. God has
told us what it will be in general. It will be a
world without sin; without tears; without wrong.
injustice, fraud, or wars; without disease, pesti-
lence, plague, death; and it is easy to fill up the
picture sufficiently for all our purposes. Let us
think of a world where all shall be pure and
holy; of a world free from all that we now be-
hold that is evil; free from pain, disease, death;
a world where "friends never depart, foes never
come;" a world where all shall be harmony and
love-and where all this shall be eternal, and we
shall see that God has revealed enough for our
welfare here. The highest hopes of man are
met when we anticipate an eternal heaven; the
heaviest trials may be cheerfully borne when we
have the prospect of everlasting rest. (5.) One
other reason may be assigned why it was not
proper for Paul to disclose what he saw, and why
God has withheld more full revelations from men
about heaven. It is, that his purpose is that we
shall here walk by faith and not by sight. We
are not to see the reward, nor to be told fully
what it is. We are to have such confidence in
God that we shall assuredly believe that he will
fully reward and bless us, and under this confi-
dence we are to live and act here below. God
designs, therefore, to try our faith, and to furnish
an abundant evidence that his people are disposed
to obey his commands and to put their trust in
his faithfulness. Besides, if all the glories of
heaven were revealed; if all were told that
might be; and if heaven were made as attractive
to mortal view as possible, then it might appear
that his professed people were influenced solely
by the hope of the reward. As it is, there is
enough to support and comfort; not enough to
make it the main and only reason why we serve
God. It may be added, (a) That we have all
the truth which we shall ever have about heaven
here below. No other messenger will come;
none of the pious dead will return. If men,
therefore are not willing to be saved in view of
the truth which they have, they must be lost.
God will communicate no more. (b) The Chris-

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