2 Corinthians 1–2

Greeting

1Paul, ^aan apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and ^bTimothy our brother,

To the church of God which is at Corinth, ^cwith all the saints who are in all Achaia:

^2dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Comfort in Suffering

^3eBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴who ^fcomforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any ¹trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For as ^gthe sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our ²consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶Now if we are afflicted, ^hit is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that ⁱas you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

Delivered from Suffering

⁸For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of ^jour ³trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should ^knot trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ^10lwho delivered us from so great a death, and ⁴does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹you also ^mhelping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on ⁵our behalf ⁿfor the gift granted to us through many.

Paul’s Sincerity

¹²For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in ⁶simplicity and ^ogodly sincerity, ^pnot with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴(as also you have understood us in part), ^qthat we are your boast as ^ryou also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Sparing the Church

¹⁵And in this confidence ^sI intended to come to you before, that you might have ^ta second benefit—¹⁶to pass by way of you to Macedonia, ^uto come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan ^vaccording to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸But as God is ^wfaithful, our ⁷word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹For ^xthe Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, ^ySilvanus, and ^zTimothy—was not Yes and No, ^abut in Him was Yes. ^20bFor all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and ^chas anointed us is God, ²²who ^dalso has sealed us and ^egiven us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

²³Moreover ^fI call God as witness against my soul, ^gthat to spare you I came no more to Corinth. ²⁴Not ^hthat we ⁸have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for ⁱby faith you stand.

2But I determined this within myself, ^athat I would not come again to you in sorrow. ²For if I make you ^bsorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?

Forgive the Offender

³And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, ^cI should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, ^dhaving confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. ⁴For out of much ¹affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, ^enot that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.

⁵But ^fif anyone has caused grief, he has not ^ggrieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. ⁶This punishment which was inflicted ^hby the majority is sufficient for such a man, ⁷ⁱso that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. ⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. ⁹For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are ^jobedient in all things. ¹⁰Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For ²if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, ¹¹lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Triumph in Christ

¹²Furthermore, ^kwhen I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and ^la ³door was opened to me by the Lord, ^13mI had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.

¹⁴Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us ⁴diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵For we are to God the fragrance of Christ ⁿamong those who are being saved and ^oamong those who are perishing. ^16pTo the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And ^qwho is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For we are not, as ⁵so many, ^rpeddling ⁶the word of God; but as ^sof sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.