2 Corinthians 1–2

Greeting

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, ^aand Timothy ^bour ^cbrother:

To God’s church at Corinth, ^dwith all the saints who are throughout Achaia. ^e

²Grace to you and peace ^ffrom God our Father ^gand the Lord Jesus Christ.

The God of Comfort

³Praise ^hthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies ⁱand the God of all comfort. ^j4He comforts us in all our affliction, ^kso that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵For as the sufferings ^lof Christ ^moverflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. ⁿ⁶If we are afflicted, ^oit is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in your endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. ^p7And our hope ^qfor you is firm, because we know that as you share ^rin the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort.

⁸For we don’t want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: ^swe were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength ^t—so that we even despaired ^uof life. ⁹Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God ^vwho raises ^wthe dead. ¹⁰He has delivered ^xus from such a terrible death, ^yand He will deliver us. We have put our hope in Him that He will deliver us again ¹¹while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our ^zbehalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.

A Clear Conscience

¹²For this is our confidence: The testimony ^aof our conscience ^bis that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly ^cwisdom ^dbut by God’s grace. ^e13Now we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely— ¹⁴as you have partially understood us—that we are your reason for pride, ^fas you are ours, ^gin the day of our ^hLord Jesus. ⁱ

A Visit Postponed

¹⁵I planned with this confidence to come to you first, ^jso you could have a double benefit, ^k16and to go on to Macedonia ^lwith your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you ^mon my journey ⁿto Judea. ^o17So when I planned this, was I irresponsible? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human ^pqway so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” simultaneously? ¹⁸As God is faithful, ^rour message to you is not “Yes and no.” ¹⁹For the Son of God, ^sJesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus ^tuand Timothy—did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him. ^v20For every one of God’s promises ^wis “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” ^xis also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory. ^y21Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed ^zus. ²²He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment ^ain our hearts. ^b

²³I call on God as a witness, ^con my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth. ^d24I do not mean that we have control of ^eyour faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand ^fby faith. 2¹In fact, I made up my mind about this: ^gI would not come to you on another painful visit. ^h2For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me? ⁱ³I 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 ^jabout all of you that my joy will also be yours. ⁴For 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

⁵If 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. ⁶The punishment inflicted by the majority is sufficient for that person. ⁷As a result, you should instead forgive ^land comfort him. Otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. ⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. ⁹I wrote for this purpose: to test your character ^mto see if you are obedient ⁿin everything. ¹⁰If 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. ¹¹I have done this so that we may not be taken advantage ^oof by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

A Trip to Macedonia

¹²When I came to Troas ^pto preach the gospel of Christ, the Lord opened a door ^qfor me. ¹³I had no rest ^rin my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus, ^sbut I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia. ^t

A Ministry of Life or Death

¹⁴But thanks be to God, ^uwho always puts us on display ^vin Christ ^wand through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. ^x15For to God we are the fragrance ^yof Christ among those who are being saved ^zand among those who are perishing. ^a16To some we are an aroma of death ^bleading to death, but to others, an aroma of life ^cleading to life. And who is competent for this? ¹⁷For we are not like the many ^dwho market God’s message ^efor profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.