For it is our desire that you may not be without knowledge of our trouble which came on us in Asia, that the weight of it was very great, more than our power, so that it seemed that we had no hope even of life:

Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead:

For our glory is in this, in the knowledge which we have that our way of life in the world, and most of all in relation to you, has been holy and true in the eyes of God; not in the wisdom of the flesh, but in the grace of God.

As God is true, our word to you is not Yes and No.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we were preaching among you, even I and Silvanus and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in him is Yes.

But God is my witness that it was in pity for you that I did not come to Corinth at that time.

Not that we have authority over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy: for it is faith which is your support.

But it was my decision for myself, not to come again to you with sorrow.

For out of much trouble and pain of heart and much weeping I sent my letter to you; not to give you sorrow, but so that you might see how great is the love which I have to you.

But if anyone has been a cause of sorrow, he has been so, not to me only, but in some measure to all of you (I say this that I may not be over-hard on you).

So that Satan may not get the better of us: for we are not without knowledge of his designs.

I had no rest in my spirit because Titus my brother was not there: so I went away from them, and came into Macedonia.

For we are not like the great number who make use of the word of God for profit: but our words are true, as from God, being said as before God in Christ.

Do we seem to be again attempting to put ourselves in the right? or have we need, as some have, of letters of approval to you or from you?

For you are clearly a letter of Christ, the fruit of our work, recorded not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in stone, but in hearts of flesh.

Not as if we were able by ourselves to do anything for which we might take the credit; but our power comes from God;

Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life.

Will not the operation of the Spirit have a much greater glory?

And are not like Moses, who put a veil on his face, so that the children of Israel might not see clearly to the end of the present order of things:

And we have given up the secret things of shame, not walking in false ways, and not making use of the word of God with deceit; but by the revelation of what is true, as before God, we have the approval of every man's sense of right and wrong.

Because the god of this world has made blind the minds of those who have not faith, so that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not be shining on them.

For our preaching is not about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants through Jesus.

But we have this wealth in vessels of earth, so that it may be seen that the power comes not from us but from God;

Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them;

We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help;

For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day.

While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

For we are conscious that if this our tent of flesh is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in heaven.

So that our spirits may not be unclothed.

For truly, we who are in this tent do give out cries of weariness, for the weight of care which is on us; not because we are desiring to be free from the body, but so that we may have our new body, and death may be overcome by life.

(For we are walking by faith, not by seeing,)

We are not again requesting your approval, but we are giving you the chance of taking pride in us, so that you may be able to give an answer to those whose glory is in seeming, and not in the heart.

That is, that God was in Christ making peace between the world and himself, not putting their sins to their account, and having given to us the preaching of this news of peace.

We then, working together with God, make our request to you not to take the grace of God to no purpose.

But in everything making it clear that we are the servants of God, in quiet strength, in troubles, in need, in sorrow,

Unnoted, but still kept fully in mind; as near to death, but still living; as undergoing punishment, but not put to death;

It is not our feelings to you which are narrow, but yours to us.

Do not keep company with those who have not faith: for what is there in common between righteousness and evil, or between light and dark?

And what agreement is there between Christ and the Evil One? or what part has one who has faith with one who has not?

It is not with the purpose of judging you that I say this: for I have said before that you are in our hearts for life and death together.

And not by his coming only, but by the comfort which he had in you, while he gave us word of your desire, your sorrow, your care for me; so that I was still more glad.

Now I am glad, not that you had sorrow, but that your sorrow was the cause of a change of heart; for yours was a holy sorrow so that you might undergo no loss by us in anything.

So though I sent you a letter, it was not only because of the man who did the wrong, or because of him to whom the wrong was done, but so that your true care for us might be made clear in the eyes of God.

For I was not put to shame in anything in which I may have made clear to him my pride in you; but as we said nothing to you but what was true, so the good things which I said to Titus about you were seen by him to be true.

How while they were undergoing every sort of trouble, and were in the greatest need, they took all the greater joy in being able to give freely to the needs of others.

I am not giving you an order, but using the ready mind of others as a test of the quality of your love.

For you see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he had wealth, he became poor on your account, so that through his need you might have wealth.

And in this I give my opinion: for it is to your profit, who were the first to make a start a year before, not only to do this, but to make clear that your minds were more than ready to do it.

For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.

And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you:

But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal.

And not only so, but he was marked out by the churches to go with us in the grace of this giving which we have undertaken to the glory of the Lord and to make clear that our mind was ready:

For the business has been so ordered by us as to have the approval, not only of the Lord, but of men.

But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints:

For fear that, if any from Macedonia come with me, and you are not ready, we (not to say, you) might be put to shame in this thing.

So it seemed to me wise for the brothers to go before, and see that the amount which you had undertaken to give was ready, so that it might be a cause for praise, and not as if we were making profit out of you.

Let every man do after the purpose of his heart; not giving with grief, or by force: for God takes pleasure in a ready giver.

For this work of giving not only takes care of the needs of the saints, but is the cause of much praise to God;

Yes, I make my request to you, so that when I am with you I may not have to make use of the authority which may be needed against some to whom we seem to be walking after the flesh.

For though we may be living in the flesh, we are not fighting after the way of the flesh

(For the arms with which we are fighting are not those of the flesh, but are strong before God for the destruction of high places);

For though I might take pride in our authority (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for your destruction), it will not be a cause of shame to me:

That I may not seem to have the desire of causing you fear by my letters.

For we will not make comparison of ourselves with some of those who say good things about themselves: but these, measuring themselves by themselves, and making comparison of themselves with themselves, are not wise.

We will not give glory to ourselves in over-great measure, but after the measure of the rule which God has given us, a measure which comes even to you.

For we have no need to make ourselves seem more than we are, as if our authority did not come as far as to you: for we came even as far as you with the good news of Christ:

Not taking credit to ourselves for what is not our business, that is, for the work of others; but having hope that, with the growth of your faith, we may get the credit for an increase which is the effect of our work,

So that we may be able to go on and take the good news to countries still farther away than you are, and not take credit for another man's work in making things ready to our hand.

For the Lord's approval of a man is not dependent on his opinion of himself, but on the Lord's opinion of him.

But though I am rough in my way of talking, I am not so in knowledge, as we have made clear to all by our acts among you.

And when I was present with you, and was in need, I let no man be responsible for me; for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, gave me whatever was needed; and in everything I kept myself from being a trouble to you, and I will go on doing so.

I say again, Let me not seem foolish to anyone; but if I do, put up with me as such, so that I may take a little glory to myself.

What I am now saying is not by the order of the Lord, but as a foolish person, taking credit to myself, as it seems.

Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water;

In hard work and weariness, in frequent watchings, going without food and drink, cold and in need of clothing.

Who is feeble and I am not feeble? who is in danger of falling, and I am not angry?

As it is necessary for me to take glory to myself, though it is not a good thing, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

I have knowledge of a man in Christ, fourteen years back (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only), who was taken up to the third heaven.

And I have knowledge of such a man (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only),

How he was taken up into Paradise, and words came to his ears which may not be said, and which man is not able to say.

For if I had a desire to take credit to myself, it would not be foolish, for I would be saying what is true: but I will not, for fear that I might seem to any man more than he sees me to be, or has word from me that I am.

And because the revelations were so very great, in order that I might not be overmuch lifted up, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, one sent from Satan to give me pain.

For what is there in which you were made less than the other churches, but in the one thing that I was not a trouble to you? Let me have forgiveness for this wrong.

This is now the third time that I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a trouble to you: my desire is for you, not for your property: for it is not the children's business to make store for their fathers, but the fathers for the children.

But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but (someone may say) being false, I took you with deceit.

I gave orders to Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus make any profit out of you? were we not guided by the same Spirit, in the same ways?

For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

Seeing that you are looking for a sign of Christ giving out his word in me; who is not feeble in relation to you, but is strong in you:

Make a test of yourselves, if you are in the faith; make certain of yourselves. Or are you not conscious in yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, if you are truly Christ's?

Now our prayer to God is that you may do no evil; not in order that it may be put to our credit, but so that you may do what is right, whatever we may seem.

For this cause I am writing these things while I am away, so that there may be need for me, when I am present, to make use of sharp measures, by the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for destruction.