Hence I never lose heart; though my outward man decays, my inner man is renewed day after day.

For this slight, momentary trouble is piling up for me an eternal blessedness beyond all comparison,

because I keep my eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we have known that if our earthly house of the tabernacle may be thrown down, a building from God we have, an house not made with hands -- age-during -- in the heavens,

It makes me sigh indeed, this yearning to be under the cover of my heavenly habitation,

so that by putting it on we will not be found naked.

For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.

I am prepared for this change by God, who has given me the Spirit as its pledge and instalment.

Come what may, then, I am confident; I know that while I reside in the body I am away from the Lord

(for I have to lead my life in faith, without seeing him):

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Having in mind, then, the fear of the Lord, we put these things before men, but God sees our hearts; and it is my hope that we may seem right in your eyes.

For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

For if I was out of my senses, as they say, it was between God and me; and if I am in my right mind, it is for your good.

For Christ's love for us motivates us, because we have concluded that, [since] one person [i.e., Christ] died for all people, so then all people have died. [Note: This may mean simply that Christ died for all people, who were dead in their sins].

and for all he died, that those living, no more to themselves may live, but to him who died for them, and was raised again.

It is all the doing of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation.

For in Christ God reconciled the world to himself instead of counting men's trespasses against them; and he entrusted me with the message of his reconciliation.

So I am an envoy for Christ, God appealing by me, as it were ??be reconciled to God, I entreat you on behalf of Christ.

for him who did not know sin, in our behalf He did make sin, that we may become the righteousness of God in him.

And being also co-laborers we exhort you not to receive the grace of God in vain,??2 for he says, In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you; behold, now is an acceptable time, behold, now is a day of salvation,??3 giving no offense in any thing, that the ministry may not be blamed,

for God said [Isa. 49:8], "I listened to you at the right time [i.e., when you needed my favor], and I helped you on the day of your salvation." Look, now is the right time [to accept God's favor]; now is the day of salvation.

in nothing giving any cause of offence, that the ministration may be not blamed,

On the contrary, as a servant of God I try in every way to commend myself to them, through my great endurance in troubles, difficulties, hardships,

through my purity of life, my knowledge, my patience, my kindness, my holiness of spirit, my genuine love,

the truth of my teaching, and the power of God; with the weapons of uprightness for the right hand and the left,

O Corinthians, I am keeping nothing back from you; my heart is wide open for you.

Ye have not a narrow place in my heart, but ye have a narrow place for me in yours.

Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Having, then, these promises, beloved, may we cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God;

Make a place for me in your hearts; I have wronged no one, ruined no one, taken advantage of no one.

Unto condemnation, I am not saying this , for I have before said - In our hearts, are ye, to the end we may die together and live together.

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

For I got no relief from the strain of things, even when I reached Macedonia; it was trouble at every turn, wrangling all round me, fears in my own mind.

But the God who comforts the dejected comforted me by the arrival of Titus.

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

For though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it: though I did regret it (for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though but for a season),

now I rejoice, not because you grieved, but because you grieved unto repentance: for you grieved toward God, in order that you may receive damage by us in nothing.

For your pain came from God, and so you took no harm from me. For the pain which is from God works repentance leading to salvation, a repentance never to be regretted. But the world's pain works death.

See what this pain divine has done for you, how serious it has made you, how keen to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager for me, how determined, how relentless! You have shown in every way that you were honest in the business.

So my letter was written to you, not on account of the offender nor for the sake of the injured party, but in order to let you realize before God how seriously you do care for me.

That is what comforts me. And over and above my personal comfort, I was specially delighted at the delight of Titus. You have all set his mind at rest.

For however I may have boasted to him about you, I have no reason to feel ashamed; but as we have in all respects spoken the truth to you, so also our boasting to Titus about you has turned out to be the truth.

It gives me great joy to see you answering to my good opinion of you in every way.

I can testify that up to their means, aye and beyond their means, they have given ??4 begging me of their own accord, most urgently, for the favour of contributing to the support of the saints.

and begged me most earnestly, of their own accord, to let them share in the support of their fellow-Christians.

They have done more than I expected; they gave themselves to the Lord, to begin with, and then (for so God willed it) they put themselves at my disposal.

so that we exhorted Titus, that, according as he did begin before, so also he may finish to you also this favour,

but even as ye abound in every way, in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all diligence, and in love from you to us, that ye may abound in this grace also.

I don't mean to prescribe to you, but that the zeal of others may show you are as sincerely well-affected.

for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that because of you he became poor -- being rich, that ye by that poverty may become rich.

And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

For if the readiness be there, a man is accepted according to what he may have, not according to what he has not.

For I say not this that others may be eased and ye distressed;

But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

Thanks be to God who has inspired Titus with an interest in you equal to my own;

He welcomed my request and eagerly went to visit you by his own free will.

besides, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me on the business of administering this fund to the glory of the Lord. His appointment has my full consent,

avoiding this, lest any one may blame us in this abundance that is ministered by us,

Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

Wherefore show unto them the proof of your love, and of the rejoicing that we have of you, that the congregations may see it.

For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

For I have before made clear to those of Macedonia my pride in your ready mind, saying to them that Achaia has been ready for a year back; and a great number have been moved to do the same by your example.

Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

I thought it necessary therefore to beg the brethren that they would come to you, and complete beforehand your fore-announced blessing, that this may be ready thus as blessing, and not as got out of you.

Now [remember] this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to others] will also reap generously [and be blessed].

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

and may He who is supplying seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

May you be abundantly enriched so as to show all liberality, such as through our instrumentality brings thanksgiving to God.

But as for me Paul, I entreat you by the gentleness and self-forgetfulness of Christ--I who when among you have not an imposing personal presence, but when absent am fearlessly outspoken in dealing with you.

But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

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

the weapons of my warfare are not weapons of the flesh, but divinely strong to demolish fortresses ??5 I demolish theories and any rampart thrown up to resist the knowledge of God, I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ,

and being in readiness to avenge every disobedience, whenever your obedience may be fulfilled.

You look at me and measure me by outward appearances. If anyone is confident in himself that he belongs to Christ, let him have another thought about himself, that just as he belongs to Christ, so do I.

If, however, I were to boast more loudly of our Apostolic authority, which the Lord has given us that we may build you up, not pull you down, I should have no reason to feel ashamed.

That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

My opponent says, 'Paul's letters are weighty and telling, but his personality is weak and his delivery is beneath contempt.'

Such people had better understand that when I arrive and take action I will do just as I say I will in my letters when I am far away.

I do not venture to class myself or to compare myself with certain exalted individuals! They belong to the class of self-praisers; while I limit myself to my own sphere, I compare myself with my own standard,

But we will not boast beyond our proper boundaries [Note: This may mean that Paul was not attempting to exercise apostolic authority outside the parameters assigned to him by God], but will restrict our boasting to the area assigned to us by God as a field of service, which includes you people [there in Corinth].

I am not overstepping the limit, as if you lay beyond my sphere; I was the very first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.

We do not go beyond our proper limit, boasting in the work of other men, but we have the hope that as your faith [in Christ and His divine power] continues to grow, our field among you may be greatly expanded [but still within the limits of our commission],

so that we may preach the gospel even in the lands beyond you, but not to boast in work already accomplished in another one’s field of activity.

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

and I fear, lest, as the serpent did beguile Eve in his subtilty, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in the Christ;

You put up with it all right, when some interloper preaches a second Jesus (not the Jesus I preached), or when you are treated to a Spirit different from the Spirit you once received, and to a different gospel from what I gave you! Why not put up with me?

For in my opinion, I am in no way less than the most important of the Apostles.

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.

Or did I commit a sin [by] humbling myself in order that you may be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you without payment?

I robbed other churches by accepting [more than their share of] financial support for my ministry to you.

And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.