2 Corinthians 7

7Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises, ^blet us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, ^ccompleting our sanctification ^din the fear of God. ^e

Joy and Repentance

²Accept us. ^fWe have wronged no one, corrupted ^gno one, defrauded no one. ³I don’t say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to live together and to die together. ⁴I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overcome with joy in all our afflictions.

⁵In fact, when we came into Macedonia, ^hwe ⁱhad no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts ^jon the outside, fears ^kinside. ⁶But God, who comforts the humble, ^lcomforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, ^mand your zeal ⁿfor me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸For even if I grieved you with my letter, ^oI do not regret it—even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a little while. ⁹Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. ¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death. ^p11For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure ^qin this matter. ¹²So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your diligence for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. ¹³For this reason we have been comforted.

In addition to our comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus ^rhad, ^sbecause his spirit was refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been embarrassed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, ^tso our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. ¹⁵And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.