For as we undergo more of the pain which Christ underwent, so through Christ does our comfort become greater.

For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, of the tribulation which came to us in Asia, that above measure we have been burdened beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life:

Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

while you on your part lend us your aid in entreaty for us, so that from many lips thanksgivings may rise on our behalf for the boon granted to us at the intercession of many.

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.

Even as you have been ready, in part, to say that we are your glory, in the same way that you are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

and to have passed by you into Macedonia, and to have come again out of Macedonia unto you, and to have been led forth to Jewry ward of you.

But [as surely as] God is faithful and means what He says, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No” [at the same time].

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus), did not become yea and nay, but yea is in him.

But as for me, as my soul shall answer for it, I appeal to God as my witness, that it was to spare you pain that I gave up my visit to Corinth.

It is not that we are trying to rule over your faith, but rather to work with you for your joy, because you have been standing firm in the faith.

For if I cause you grief [by a well-deserved rebuke], who then provides me enjoyment but the very one whom I have made 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.

For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.

But if someone has caused [all this] sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely—[he has distressed and grieved] all of you.

Sufficient to such a one is this rebuke which has been inflicted by the many;

So that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain.

If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ,

And having come to Troas for the good news of the Christ, and a door to me having been opened in the Lord,

our letter ye are, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men,

it having been made plain that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not having been written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of the heart.

But if the ministry of death, having been engraved in letters in stone was with glory (so that the sons of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses because of the glory of his face), which was being done away;

For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth.

For if that which has been done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious.

and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away.

But their thoughts have been darkened, for unto this day the same veil remains in reading the old covenant, unremoved, which in Christ is annulled.

But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.

Because of this, [since we] have this ministry, just as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart,

If, however, the meaning of our Good News has been veiled, the veil has been on the hearts of those who are on the way to perdition,

Men whose minds have been blinded by the God of this Age, unbelievers as they are, so that the light from the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the very incarnation of God, should not shine for them.

in every way having been troubled, but not having been hemmed in; having been perplexed, but not utterly at a loss;

having been persecuted, but not having been forsaken; having been thrown down, but not having been destroyed;

And having the same spirit of the faith, according to that which hath been written, 'I believed, therefore I did speak;' we also do believe, therefore also do we speak;

for the all things are because of you, that the grace having been multiplied, because of the thanksgiving of the more, may abound to the glory of God;

if indeed having been invested, we shall not be found unclothed.

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 if we have been beside ourselves, it has been for God's glory; or if we are now in our right senses, it is in order to be of service to you.

and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised.

So that, we, henceforth, know, no one, after the flesh: if we have even been gaining, after the flesh, a knowledge of Christ,

(For he says, I have given ear to you at a good time, and I have been your helper in a day of salvation: see, now is the good time; now is the day of salvation):

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

[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;

Our mouth hath been open unto you, O Corinthians, our heart hath been enlarged!

Let your hearts be open to us: we have done no man wrong, no man has been damaged by us, we have made no profit out of any man,

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.

Not, however, by his presence alone, but also by the encouragement wherewith he had been encouraged over you: recounting unto us your earnest desire, your lamentation, your zeal in my behalf. So that I the more rejoiced.

For even though I did grieve you with my letter, I do not regret it [now]; though I did regret it —for I see that the letter hurt you, though only for a little while—

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 [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces 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.

Consequently, even if I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong or because of the one who had been wronged, but in order that your diligence {on our behalf} might be revealed to you before God.

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.

Because if I boasted to him anything about you, I have not been put to shame; but as we have spoken to you all things in truth, so also our boasting to Titus has been the truth;

Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been given in the churches of Macedonia;

This led us to urge Titus that, as he had previously been the one who commenced the work, so he should now go and complete among you this act of beneficence also.

according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'

and not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in regard to this gracious offering which we are administering for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our eagerness [as believers to help one another].

And so that no man might be able to say anything against us in the business of this giving which has been put into our hands:

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, whose ready spirit has been made clear to us at times and in ways without number, but it is now all the more so because of the certain faith which he has in you.

for I know your readiness, of which I glory on your behalf to them of Macedonia, that Achaia hath been prepared for a year past; and your zeal hath stirred up very many of them.

Still I send the brethren in order that in this matter our boast about you may not turn out to have been an idle one; so that, as I have said, you may be ready;

For if any Macedonians come with me and learn that you are not prepared, we, not to mention you, will be ashamed for having been so over confident.

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 God is able to make all grace abound unto you; in order that, always having all sufficiency in every thing, you may abound unto every good work: as has been written,

(according as it hath been written, 'He dispersed abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness doth remain to the age,')

and having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled.

so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

For I have a very great care for you: because you have been married by me to one husband, and it is my desire to give you completely holy to Christ.

For if he that cometh to you preach another Jesus than him whom we preached, or if ye receive another spirit than that which ye have received, either another gospel than that ye have received; ye might right well have been content.

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.

and being present with you, and having been in want, I was chargeable to no one, for my lack did the brethren supply -- having come from Macedonia -- and in everything burdenless to you I did keep myself, and will keep.

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 the Messiah's servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.

Five times I have been given one less than forty lashes, by the Jews.

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.

I knew a man in Christ, fourteen years ago, whether in the body, I know not; whether out of the body, I know not, such a one having been caught up even to the third heaven.

And judging by the stupendous grandeur of the revelations--therefore lest I should be over-elated there has been sent to me, like the agony of impalement, Satan's angel dealing blow after blow, lest I should be over-elated.

but His reply has been, "My grace suffices for you, for power matures in weakness." Most gladly therefore will I boast of my infirmities rather than complain of them--in order that Christ's power may overshadow me.

I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

Indeed, the signs of an apostle have been done among you with all patient endurance, both signs and wonders and deeds of power.

For in what is it that ye have been inferior to the other assemblies, unless that I myself have not been in laziness a charge upon you? Forgive me this injury.

Now, this is the third time I have been ready to come to you, and I will not be a [financial] burden to you. For I do not want your possessions but you yourselves, because children should not [have to] save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

But let [it] be. I have not been a burden to you, but [because I] was crafty, I took you by cunning.

Ye have long been supposing that we excuse ourselves to you: we speak before God in Christ; and all things, beloved, for your building up.

and that upon re-visiting you I may be humbled by my God in your presence, and may have to mourn over many whose hearts still cling to their old sins, and who have not repented of the impurity, fornication, and gross sensuality, of which they have been guilty.

I have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent, I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others--that if I come again, I shall spare no one.

for if indeed he has been crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power; for indeed we are weak in him, but we shall live with him by God's power towards you,)