1 For I have definitely decided not to pay you another painful visit.
2 For if I make you sad, who is there to make me glad but the very man who has been made sad by me?
3 This is the very thing I wrote you, that when I did come I might not be made sad by the very people who ought to make me glad, for I had confidence in you all that my gladness would be gladness to you all.
4 For out of great sorrow and distress of heart, yes, while shedding many tears, I wrote you, not to make you sad but to make you realize that my love for you continues running over.
5 But if anyone has made anyone sad, it is not I, but you that he has made sad, at least, some of you, not to be severe on all of you.
6 To a man like that, this censure by the majority has been sufficient punishment,
7 so you must do the opposite, freely forgive and comfort him, to keep him from being overwhelmed by his excessive sadness.
8 So I beg you in your love to reinstate him entirely.
9 For this is why I wrote you, to see if you would stand the test, to see if you would be obedient in everything.
10 The man that you forgive I too forgive. For if I have forgiven him anything, it is what I have forgiven him in the very presence of Christ for your sake,
11 to keep us from being worsted by Satan, for we know what his intentions are.
12 When I went to Troas to preach the good news of Christ, although I had an opportunity in the service of the Lord,
13 I had no rest of spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, for He always leads me in His triumphal train, through union with Christ, and everywhere through me keeps spreading the perfume of the knowledge of Him.
15 Indeed, I am the fragrance of Christ to God, alike for those who are being saved and for those who are perishing;
16 to the one a deadly perfume that leads to death, to the other a living perfume that leads to life.
17 Now who is qualified for such a task? I am, for I am not a peddler of God's message, like the most of them, but like a man of sincerity, like a man that is sent from God and living in His presence, in union with Christ I speak His message.