2 Corinthians 7–10

7^aHaving therefore these promises, dearly beloved, ^blet us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of ^cthe flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

^2dReceive us; ^ewe have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have ^fdefrauded no man. ³I speak not this to condemn you: for ^gI have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. ⁴Great is my ^hboldness of speech toward you, great is ⁱmy glorying of you: ^jI am filled with comfort, ^kI am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. ⁵For, ^lwhen we were come into Macedonia, ^lour flesh had no rest, but we were ^mtroubled on every side; ⁿwithout were fightings, within were fears. ⁶Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us ^oby the coming of ^lTitus; ⁷And not by his coming only, but ^kby the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your ^pearnest desire, ^qyour mourning, your ^rfervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. ⁸For ^sthough I made you sorry with a letter, I do not ^trepent, ^ttthough I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but ^ufor a season. ⁹Now I rejoice, ^vnot that ye were made sorry, but ^vthat ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry ^||after a godly manner, that ye might ^wreceive damage by us in nothing. ¹⁰For ^qxgodly sorrow worketh ^yrepentance to salvation ^znot to be repented of: but ^athe sorrow of the world worketh death. ¹¹For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed ^bafter a godly sort, what ^ccarefulness it wrought in you, yea, what ^dclearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what ^efear, yea, what ^fvehement desire, yea, what ^fgzeal, yea, what ^grevenge! In all things ye have ^happroved yourselves to be clear ⁱin this matter. ¹²Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor ^kfor his cause that suffered wrong, ^lbut that our ^ccare for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. ¹³Therefore ^mwe were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of ^mTitus, because his spirit ⁿwas refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For ^oif I have boasted any thing to him of you, ^oI am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you ^pin truth, even so our boasting, which I made before ^mTitus, is found a truth. ¹⁵And his ^†inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth ^qthe obedience of you all, how with ^efear and trembling ye received him. ¹⁶I rejoice therefore that ^rI have confidence in you in all things.

8Moreover, brethren, ^awe do you to wit of ^aathe grace of God bestowed on the churches of ^bMacedonia; ²How that in a great ^ctrial of affliction ^dthe abundance of their joy and ^dtheir deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their ^†liberality. ³For ^eto their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were ^fwilling of themselves; ⁴Praying us with much intreaty ^gthat we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of ^hthe ministering to the saints. ⁵And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us ⁱby the will of God. ⁶Insomuch that ^jwe desired ^kTitus, that as he had ^xbegun, so he would also finish in you the same ^||grace also. ⁷Therefore, as ^lye abound in every thing, in faith, and ^mutterance, and ^mknowledge, and in all ⁿdiligence, and in ^oyour love to us, see ^pthat ye abound in this grace also. ^8qI speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the ⁿforwardness of others, and ^qqto prove the sincerity of ^oyour love. ⁹For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, ^rthough he was rich, yet ^rsfor your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty ^tmight be rich. ¹⁰And herein ^uI give my advice: for ^wthis is expedient for you, who have ^xbegun before, not only to do, but also to be ^†forward ^ya year ago. ¹¹Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a ^zreadiness to will, so there may be a performance also ^eout of ^athat which ye have. ¹²For ^bif there be first ^za willing mind, it is ^caccepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. ¹³For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: ¹⁴But by an ^dequality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply ^efor their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be ^dequality: ¹⁵As it is written, ^fHe that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

¹⁶But thanks be to God, ^gwhich put the same ^hearnest care into the heart of Titus for you. ¹⁷For indeed he accepted ⁱthe exhortation; but being ^hmore forward, ^jof his own accord he went unto you. ¹⁸And we have sent with him ^kthe brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout ^kkall the churches; ¹⁹And not that only, but who was also ^lchosen of the churches ^mto travel with us with this ^||grace, which is ⁿadministered by us ^oto the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ^zready mind: ^20pAvoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is ⁿadministered by us: ^21qProviding for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²²And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved ^hdiligent in many things, but now much ^hmore diligent, ^rupon the great confidence which ^||I have in you. ²³Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my ^spartner and ^tfellowhelper concerning you: or ^uour brethren be inquired of, they are ^wthe messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ. ²⁴Wherefore shew ye to them, and ^xbefore the churches, the proof of ^yyour love, and of ^zour boasting on your behalf.

9For as touching ^athe ministering to ^bthe saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: ²For I know ^cthe forwardness of your mind, ^dfor which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that ^eAchaia was ready ^fa year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. ³Yet have I sent ^gthe brethren, lest ^hour boasting of you should be in vain ⁱin this behalf; that, ^jas I said, ye may be ready: ⁴Lest haply if ^kthey of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in ^lthis same ^mconfident boasting. ⁵Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort ^gthe brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your ^†bounty, ^||whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, ⁿas a matter of ^||bounty, and ^onot as of covetousness. ⁶But this I say, ^pHe which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. ⁷Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; ^qnot ^rgrudgingly, or of necessity: for ^sGod loveth a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^ptGod is able to make all ^ugrace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every ^xgood work: ⁹(As it is written, ^yHe hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. ¹⁰Now he that ^zministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase ^athe fruits of your ^brighteousness;) ¹¹Being enriched in every thing to all ^||†bountifulness, which causeth ^cthrough us thanksgiving to God. ¹²For ^adthe administration of this service not only supplieth ^ethe want of the saints, but is abundant also ^cfby many thanksgivings unto God; ¹³Whiles by the ^gexperiment of this ^dministration they ^hglorify God for your professed ⁱsubjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your ^jliberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; ¹⁴And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding ^lgrace of God in you. ¹⁵Thanks be unto ^lGod for his unspeakable gift.

10Now I Paul myself ^abeseech you by the ^aameekness and ^bgentleness of Christ, ^cwho ^||din presence am ^ddbase among you, but being absent am bold toward you: ²But I beseech you, ^ethat I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I ^||think to be bold against ^fsome, which ^||think of us as if we walked ^gaccording to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war ^gafter the flesh: ⁴(For ^hthe ⁱweapons of our ^kwarfare are not carnal, but ^lmighty ^||through God ^mto the ⁿpulling down of ^ostrong holds;) ^5pCasting down ^||imaginations, and ^qevery high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every ^rthought to ^sthe obedience of Christ; ⁶And ^ehaving in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, ^twhen your obedience is fulfilled.

^7uDo ye look on things after the outward appearance? ^vIf any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as ^whe is Christ’s, even so are ^xwe Christ’s. ⁸For though I should ^yboast somewhat more of ^zour authority, which the Lord hath given us for ^zzedification, and not for your ⁿdestruction, ^aI should not be ashamed: ⁹That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. ¹⁰For his letters, ^†say they, are ^bweighty and powerful; but ^chis bodily presence is weak, and ^dhis speech contemptible. ¹¹Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.

¹²For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or ^ecompare ourselves with some that ^fcommend themselves: but ^gthey measuring themselves by themselves, and ^ecomparing themselves among themselves, ^||are not wise. ¹³But we will not ^hboast of things without our measure, but according to ⁱthe measure of the ^||rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. ¹⁴For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for ^kwe are ^lcome as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: ¹⁵Not ^hboasting of things without our measure, that is, ^mof other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be ^||enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, ¹⁶To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast ^min…