2 Corinthians 7–10

7Since we have these promises, beloved, ^jlet us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body¹ and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Paul’s Joy

^2kMake room in your hearts² for us. ^lWe have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that ^myou are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴I am acting with ⁿgreat boldness toward you; ^oI have great pride in you; ^pI am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

⁵For even ^qwhen we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—^rfighting without and fear within. ⁶But ^sGod, who comforts the downcast, ^tcomforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸For ^ueven if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though ^vI did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^wbecause you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰For ^xgodly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^yworldly grief produces death. ¹¹For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^zwhat zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. ¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one ^awho did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³Therefore ^bwe are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit ^chas been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For ^dwhatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you ^ewas true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. ¹⁵And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers ^fthe obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice, because I have complete ^gconfidence in you.

Encouragement to Give Generously

8We want you to know, brothers,¹ about the grace of God that has been ^hgiven among the churches of Macedonia, ²for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and ⁱtheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For they gave ^jaccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴begging us earnestly ^kfor the favor² of taking part in ^lthe relief of the saints— ⁵and this, not as we expected, but they ^mgave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶Accordingly, ⁿwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you ^othis act of grace. ⁷But as ^pyou excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you³—^qsee that you excel in this act of grace also.

^8rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰And in this matter ^tI give my judgment: ^uthis benefits you, who ^va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. ¹¹So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. ¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable ^waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. ¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴your abundance at the present time should supply ^xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵As it is written, ^y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶But ^zthanks be to God, ^awho put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷For ^bhe not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going⁴ to you of his own accord. ¹⁸With him we are sending^{5 c}the brother who is famous among ^dall the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹And not only that, but he has been ^eappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^fgrace that is being ministered by us, ^gfor the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹for ^hwe aim at what is honorable ⁱnot only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. ²²And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is ^jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers⁶ of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^kour boasting about you to these men.

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

9Now ^lit is superfluous for me to write to you about ^mthe ministry for the saints, ²for I know your readiness, ⁿof which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^osince last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³But ^pI am sending¹ the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^qas I said you would be. ⁴Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^rcome with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^sgift² you have promised, so that it may be ready ^tas a willing gift, ^unot as an exaction.³

The Cheerful Giver

⁶The point is this: ^vwhoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully⁴ will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^wnot reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^xGod loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^yGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency⁵ in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

^z“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰He who supplies ^aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^bincrease the harvest of your righteousness. ^11cYou will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^dthrough us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^ethe needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service, ^fthey⁶ will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^gconfession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ^15hThanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Paul Defends His Ministry

10ⁱI, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^jmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ²I beg of you ^kthat when I am present I may not have to show ^lboldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴For the ^mweapons of ⁿour warfare are not of the flesh but have ^odivine power ^pto destroy strongholds. ⁵We destroy arguments and ^qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^robey Christ, ^6sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, ^twhen your obedience is complete.

^7uLook at what is before your eyes. ^vIf anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as ^whe is Christ’s, ^xso also are we. ⁸For even if I boast a little too much of ^your authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^zhis bodily presence is weak, and ^ahis speech of no account.” ¹¹Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. ¹²Not that we dare to classify or ^bcompare ourselves with some of those who ^care commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are ^dwithout understanding.

¹³But we will not boast ^ebeyond limits, but will ^fboast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, ^gto reach even to you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. ^hFor we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ⁱas your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be ^jgreatly enlarged, ¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. ¹⁷“Let ^kthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸For it is ^lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^mwhom the Lord commends.