23 I call on God as a witness, c on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth. d 24 I do not mean that we have control of e your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand f by faith. 2 1 In fact, I made up my mind about this: g I would not come to you on another painful visit. h 2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me? i 3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident j about all of you that my joy will also be yours. 4 For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

A Sinner Forgiven

5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate k—to all of you. 6 The punishment inflicted by the majority is sufficient for that person. 7 As a result, you should instead forgive l and comfort him. Otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character m to see if you are obedient n in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for you in the presence of Christ. 11 I have done this so that we may not be taken advantage o of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

A Trip to Macedonia

12 When I came to Troas p to preach the gospel of Christ, the Lord opened a door q for me. 13 I had no rest r in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus, s but I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia. t

A Ministry of Life or Death

14 But thanks be to God, u who always puts us on display v in Christ w and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. x 15 For to God we are the fragrance y of Christ among those who are being saved z and among those who are perishing. a 16 To some we are an aroma of death b leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life c leading to life. And who is competent for this? 17 For we are not like the many d who market God’s message e for profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.