we have courage, and are well pleased rather to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

Therefore indeed we have as our ambition, whether at home [in the body] or absent [from the body], to be acceptable to him.

For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men, but have been manifested to God, and I hope also that we have been manifested in your consciences.

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 we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we have a sound mind, it is for you.

For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died;

and that he died for all in order to have the living live no longer for themselves but for him who died and rose for them.

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

So if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new:

And you also we, as God's fellow workers, entreat not to be found to have received His grace to no purpose.

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

[We are] giving no one an occasion for taking offense in anything, in order that our ministry will not have fault found [with it],

But as God's servants, we have commended ourselves in every way, with great endurance, in persecutions, in difficulties, in distresses,

[We have been] beaten, jailed, and mobbed. [We have] worked hard, missed sleep and gone without food.

[We have ministered] with purity, knowledge, patience and kindness. [We have done this] by [the power of] the Holy Spirit; out of genuine love;

[We have experienced] honor and dishonor; a bad reputation and a good one. [We have been viewed] as deceivers and yet are genuine;

as [both] unknown [to people] and yet well-known; [we have almost] died, and yet as you see, we are still alive; [we have been] punished and yet not killed;

{We have spoken freely and openly} to you, Corinthians; our heart is open wide.

We have not cut you off, but you have cut off your own feelings toward us.

Let us have a like return; I speak as unto children; be ye also enlarged.

Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?

And what agreement [does] Christ [have] with Beliar? Or what share [does] a believer [have] with an unbeliever?

And what agreement [does the] temple of God [have] with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk about [among them], and I will be their God and they will be my people."

Therefore [since we] have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

great is my freedom of speech unto you, great my glory on your behalf; I have been filled with the comfort, I overabound with the joy on all our tribulation,

Ever since we reached Macedonia, we have had no rest in body or mind; on every side there have been troubles--conflicts without, anxieties within.

For if also I grieved you in the letter, I do not regret it, if even I have regretted it; for I see that that letter, if even it were only for a time, grieved you.

Now I rejoice, not that ye have been grieved, but that ye have been grieved to repentance; for ye have been grieved according to God, that in nothing ye might be injured by us.

For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that did hurt, neither for his cause that was hurt: but that our good mind which we have toward you in the sight of God, might appear unto you

Therefore we have been comforted: And in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed 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 therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to the churches of Macedonia.

for during an ordeal of severe distress, their abundant joy and their deep poverty [together] overflowed in the wealth of their lavish generosity.

For I can testify that to the utmost of their power, and even beyond their power, they have of their own free will given help.

Seriously requesting us that they might have a part in this grace of being servants to the needs of the saints:

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 we urged Titus that, as he began it, he should also complete this gracious work among you as well.

Now therefore, as ye are rich in all parts, in faith, in word, in knowledge, in all ferventness, and in love, which ye have to us: even so see that ye be plenteous in this benevolence.

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 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.

I do not urge you to give in order that others may have relief while you are unduly pressed,

at this present time your surplus [over necessities] is going to supply their need, so that [at some other time] their surplus may be given to supply your need, that there may be equality;

just as it is written, "The [one] who [gathered] much did not have too much, and the [one] who [gathered] little did not have too little."

But thanks be to God, who placed in the heart of Titus the same dedication to you that I have.

And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;

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:

I mean to have no one able to find any fault with the way I handle this munificence.

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

And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.

Make clear then to them, as representatives of the churches, the quality of your love, and that the things which we have said about you are true.

for I have known your readiness of mind, which in your behalf I boast of to Macedonians, that Achaia hath been prepared a year ago, and the zeal of you did stir up the more part,

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:

I have thought it absolutely necessary therefore to request these brethren to visit you before I myself come, and to make sure beforehand that the gift of love which you have already promised may be ready as a gift of love, and may not seem to have been something which I have extorted from you.

But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.

Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to cause all grace to abound to you, so that in everything at all times, [because you] have enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work.

You will be made rich in everything so you can be generous in every way. This will result in people thanking God [for what you have done] through us.

For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;

And they will have deep affection for you in their prayers on your behalf because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.

And I, Paul, myself, do call upon you -- through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ -- who in presence, indeed am humble among you, and being absent, have courage toward you,

and I beseech you, that, being present, I may not have courage, with the confidence with which I reckon to be bold against certain reckoning us as walking according to the flesh;

For the weapons of our warfare are not those of the world. Instead, they have the power of God to demolish fortresses. We tear down arguments

and having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been 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 to have the desire of causing you fear by my letters.

For his letters, they say, have weight and are strong; but in body he is feeble, and his way of talking has little force.

We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools.

For we do not, as not reaching to you, overstretch ourselves, (for we have come to you also in the glad tidings of the 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],

I wish you could have borne with a little foolish boasting on my part. Nay, do 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.

But I have a fear, that in some way, as Eve was tricked by the deceit of the snake, your minds may be turned away from their simple and holy love for Christ.

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

for I reckon that I have been nothing behind the very chiefest apostles,

But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

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.

Why? Because I do not love you [or wish you well, or have regard for your welfare]? God knows [that I do]!

I repeat then, let no one think that I am foolish; but even if you do, at least accept me as foolish, so that I too may boast a little.

You tolerate anyone who makes you his slaves, devours what you have, takes what is yours, orders you around, or slaps your face!

To my shame, I must say, we have been too weak [in comparison to those pseudo-apostles who take advantage of you].But in whatever anyone else dares to boast—I am speaking foolishly—I also dare to boast.

Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking foolishly) I am more so; I have had more experience of hard work, of prisons, of blows more than measure, of death.

From the Jews five times have I received forty stripes, save one.

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

[I have been] on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from [my own] people, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers because of false brothers,

I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Besides everything else, I have a daily burden because of my anxiety about all the churches.

Who is weak, and I do not feel [his] weakness? Who is made to sin, and I am not on fire [with sorrow and concern]?

If I have to take credit to myself, I will do so in the things in which I am feeble.

In the city of Damascus, the governor of the people under king Aretas, laid watch in the city of the Damascenes, and would have caught me,