Chapter 6

Their Ministry Commended

1 And aworking together with Him, bwe also urge you not to receive cthe grace of God in vain—

2 for He says,

“aAt the acceptable time I listened to you,

And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—

3 agiving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,

4 but in everything acommending ourselves as 1bservants of God, cin much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,

5 in abeatings, in imprisonments, in btumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in chunger,

6 in purity, in aknowledge, in bpatience, in kindness, in the cHoly Spirit, in dgenuine love,

7 in athe word of truth, in bthe power of God; by cthe weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

8 by glory and adishonor, by bevil report and good report; regarded as cdeceivers and yet dtrue;

9 as unknown 1yet well-known, as adying 1yet behold, bwe live; as 2punished 1yet not put to death,

10 as asorrowful yet always arejoicing, as bpoor yet making many rich, as chaving nothing 1yet possessing dall things.

11 aOur mouth 1has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our bheart is opened wide.

12 You are not restrained 1by us, but ayou are restrained in your own 2affections.

13 Now in a like aexchange—I speak as to bchildren—open wide to us also.

14 aDo not be 1bound together with bunbelievers; for what cpartnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

15 Or what aharmony has Christ with 1Belial, or 2what has a bbeliever in common with an cunbeliever?

16 Or awhat agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are bthe temple of cthe living God; just as God said,

“dI will edwell in them and fwalk among them;

And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

17 “aTherefore, bcome out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.

“And do not touch what is unclean;

And I will welcome you.

18 “aAnd I will be a father to you,

And you shall be bsons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

Chapter 7

Paul Reveals His Heart

1 Therefore, having these promises, abeloved, blet us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 aMake room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.

3 I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said abefore that you are bin our hearts to die together and to live together.

4 Great is my aconfidence 1in you; great is my bboasting on your behalf. I am filled with ccomfort; I am overflowing with djoy in all our affliction.

5 For even when we came into aMacedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were bafflicted on every side: cconflicts without, fears within.

6 But aGod, who comforts the 1depressed, bcomforted us by the coming of cTitus;

7 and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.

8 For though I acaused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—

9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything 1through us.

10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a arepentance 1without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this 1godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what alonging, what zeal, what bavenging of wrong! In everything you cdemonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

12 So although aI wrote to you, it was not for the sake of bthe offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God.

13 For this reason we have been acomforted.

And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of bTitus, because his cspirit has been refreshed by you all.

14 For if in anything I have aboasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before bTitus proved to be the truth.

15 His 1affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the aobedience of you all, how you received him with bfear and trembling.

16 I rejoice that in everything aI have confidence in you.