I am staying on for the present at Ephesus till Pentecost,

If Timothy comes, see to it that [you put him at ease, so that] he has nothing to fear in regard to you, for he is [devotedly] doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

So allow no one to treat him with disdain [as if he were inconsequential]. But send him off [cordially, and speed him on his way] in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him [to come along] with the other brothers.

I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.

who comforts me in all my distress, so that I am able to comfort people who are in any distress by the comfort with which I myself am comforted by God.

If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort and salvation; if I am comforted, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same sufferings as I suffer myself.

For what I am writing to you is only what you can read and understand, and I hope that you will understand it fully,

as you have partly understood the meaning of my life, namely that I am your source of pride (as you are mine) on the Day of our Lord Jesus.

But I appeal to God as my witness [i.e., to verify that I am telling the truth]; it was in order to spare you [i.e., from a disciplinary action] that I decided not to return to Corinth.

(not that I am attempting to lord it over your faith, but rather to work with you for your happiness); for your faith is stedfast.

But, so far as I am concerned, I have resolved not to have a painful visit the next time I come to see you.

After all, if I were to grieve you, who should make me happy but the person I am making sad?

I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.

If a certain individual has been causing pain, he has been causing pain not so much to me as to all of you ??at anyrate (for I am not going to overstate the case) to a section of you.

Now whomever you forgive [for doing] anything [wrong], I will forgive also. For indeed, whatever I have forgiven, if I have [actually] forgiven anything, has been for your sakes in the sight of Christ. [Note: Paul seems to be saying "Since my forgiveness depends on your forgiveness of the man, I am not sure of my forgiveness because I am not sure of yours"].

for your sakes, that I may not be overreached by Satan, for I am not ignorant of his devices.

Yes, I am the fragrance of Christ to God, diffused among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing alike;

to the one, a deathly, deadly odor, to the other a vital, life-giving one. Who is qualified for this task? I am!

I am, for I am not like most, adulterating the word of God; like a man of sincerity, like a man of God, I speak the word in Christ before the very presence of God.

It is not that I am personally qualified to form any judgment by myself; my qualifications come from God,

Such being my hope then, I am quite frank and open ??13 not like Moses, who used to hang a veil over his face to keep the children of Israel from gazing at the last rays of a fading glory.

So since by the mercy of God I am engaged in this service, I never lose heart.

(It is Christ Jesus as Lord, not myself, that I proclaim; I am simply a servant of yours for Jesus' sake.)

But I am keeping this jewel in an earthen jar, to prove that its surpassing power is God's, not mine.

on every side I am harried but not hemmed in, perplexed but not despairing,

persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed ??10 wherever I go, I am being killed in the body as Jesus was, so that the life of Jesus may come out in my body:

Wherever I go, I am always carrying about in my body the dying of Jesus, in order that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in this body of mine.

every day of my life I am being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may come out within my mortal flesh.

for which cause I am not discouraged, but tho' my body decays, yet my mind is daily renewed.

while I am gazing not at things seen, but at things unseen; for things seen are temporal, but things unseen are eternal.

For in this tent I am groaning, earnestly longing to be under the cover of my heavenly habitation; if so be that being so covered,

since I am sure that once so covered I shall not be 'naked' at the hour of death.

For I who am still in my tent sigh with anxiety, because I do not want to be stripped of it, but to put on the other over it, so that what is only mortal may be absorbed in 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 guide my steps by faith, not by what is seen)??8 yet I am confident, and I prefer to leave my home in the body and make my home with the Lord.

and yet I am cheerful and confident, but really I prefer to be away from home in the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Hence also I am eager to satisfy him, whether in the body or away from it;

If I 'appeal to the interests of men,' then, it is with the fear of the Lord before my mind. What I am is plain to God without disguise, plain also, I trust, to your own conscience.

I am not trying to recommend myself to you again. I am giving you cause to be proud of me, to use in answering men who pride themselves on external advantages and not on sincerity of heart.

'I am beside myself,' am I? Well, that is between myself and God. I am 'sane,' am I? Well, that is in your interests;

for I am controlled by the love of Christ, convinced that as One has died for all, then all have died,

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.

I am giving no one a cause of stumbling in order that my ministry may not be discredited;

but in every way I am striving to commend myself as God's minister by stedfast endurance, by afflictions, by troubles, by distresses,

in honor or dishonor, in praise or blame; considered an imposter, when I am true,

'unknown' but well-known, dying but here I am alive, chastened but not killed,

pained, when I am always glad, poor, when I make many others rich, penniless, when really I own everything.

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

It is not that I am cramping you, it is your own affections.

Now the same [way] [in] exchange (I am speaking as to children), you open wide [your hearts] also.

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.

And it is not only by his arrival that we are encouraged, but also by the encouragement which he received from you; for he tells us of your strong affection, your penitence, and your zeal on my behalf--so that I am happier still.

Because even though I grieved you in the letter, I am not remorseful (even though I was remorseful), for I perceive that that letter grieved you, even though for an hour.

yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account.

So, although I did write to you, it was not for the offender's sake, nor for the offended party's sake, but in the sight of God for the sake of having your enthusiasm for me made perfectly clear to you. This is why I am so comforted.

That is why I am so comforted. With all my own comfort, I was still more overjoyed at the gladness of Titus, for his mind has been set at rest by you all.

For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia,

I am not saying [this] as a command, but proving the genuineness of your love by means of the diligence of others.

And I am giving an opinion in this [matter], because this is profitable for you who not only began previously, a year ago, to do [something], but also to want [to do it].

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

Along with him I am sending that brother whose services to the gospel are praised by all the churches;

What is more, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me in the interests of this generous undertaking, which I am superintending to honor the Lord and to show our readiness to help.

because I am on my guard in this, that no one should blame me, in respect to this bounty which I am administering.

For I am taking the precaution to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

Along with them I am also sending our brother: I have had ample proof of his keen interest on many occasions, and it is specially keen on this occasion, as he has absolute confidence in you.

for I know your eagerness [to promote this cause], and I have [proudly] boasted to the people of Macedonia about it, telling them that Achaia has been prepared since last year [for this contribution], and your enthusiasm has inspired the majority of them [to respond].

Still, I am sending the brothers [on to you], so that our pride in you may not be an empty boast in this case, and so that you may be prepared, just as I told them you would be;

He who furnishes the sower with seed and with bread to eat will supply seed for you and multiply it; he will increase the crop of your charities ??11 you will be enriched on all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God;

You yourselves will be enriched with all good things, that you may give ungrudgingly; and your gifts, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God.

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward 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 I do live an earthly life, I am not carrying on an earthly war,

For I am demolishing arguments and every barrier that is raised against the genuine knowledge of God, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,

I am prepared to court-martial anyone who remains insubordinate, once your submission is complete.

For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed.

I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters.

Let him understand that I will act when I arrive, as forcibly as I express myself by letter when I am absent.

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.

I am not "boasting beyond measure in the labors of others," but it is my hope that, as your faith goes on increasing among yourselves, by the enlargement of my appointed limits,

Put up with me if I am a little foolish: but, truly, you do put up 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.

But I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ.

For I reckon that I am not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

But if I am a simple person in speech, yet not in knowledge, but in everything making the truth manifest in all things to you.

As surely as I know anything of the Truth of Christ, this boast, as far as I am concerned, shall not be stopped in any part of Greece.

But what I am doing I will keep doing, [for I am determined to keep this independence] in order to cut off the claim of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things they brag about.

Again I say, do not let anyone think I am foolish. But indeed, if [you do], accept me even as foolish, in order that I also may boast a little.

What I am saying in this project of boasting, I am not saying as the Lord [would say], but as in foolishness.

I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

And beside the things which outwardly happen unto me, I am cumbered daily and do care for all congregations.

Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that reveal my weakness [the things by which I am made weak in the eyes of my opponents].

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed {forever}, knows that I am not lying.

It is necessary to boast, though nothing is gained by it; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.