He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. Yes, he is the one on whom we have set our hope, and he will rescue us again,

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

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.

As surely as God can be relied on, there has been no equivocation about our message to you.

The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, Timothy, and I, you have not found wavering between "Yes" and "No." With him it has always been "Yes,"

For [no matter] how many promises God has made, in Christ [the answer] is "yes" [i.e., Christ has fulfilled all of God's promises to mankind]. Also, through Christ, the "amen" [Note: This word is always translated elsewhere as "May it be so"] can be said by us in order to honor God.

But it is God who guarantees us and you to Christ; he has anointed us

who has placed his seal on us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

For if I make you sad, who is there to make me glad but the very man who has been made sad by me?

But if anyone has hurt anybody's feelings, it is not so much mine, as yours, or at least those of some of you, not to be too hard upon you all.

To a man like that, this censure by the majority has been sufficient punishment,

When you forgive a man, I forgive him too. For anything I had to forgive has been forgiven on your account, and as in the very presence of Christ,

and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.

For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, then the ministry of justification has an overwhelming glory.

For in comparison with its surpassing splendor, what was splendid has come to have no splendor at all.

For if that which has passed away was with glory, much more will that which continues be in glory.

and not as Moses put a vail on his face, that the children of Israel might not see to the end of that which has passed away;

But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged.

And, even if our Gospel has been veiled, it has been veiled in those who perish;

In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep the light of the good news of the glorious Christ, the likeness of God, from dawning upon them.

For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, that is on the face of Christ.

But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, "I believed; therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak.

knowing that he who has raised the Lord Jesus shall raise us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace, which has multiplied because of the thankfulness of the many, may abound for the glory of God.

For we know that if this poor tent, our earthly house, is taken down, we have in Heaven a building which God has provided, a house not built by human hands, but eternal.

It is God himself who has prepared me for this change, and he has given me the Spirit as his guaranty.

For we must all appear in our true characters before the tribunal of the Christ, each to be repaid with good or evil for the life he has lived in the body.

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.

It is Christ's love that controls me, for I have become convinced that as one has died for all, all have died,

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 if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being; the old state of things has passed away; there is a new state of things.

All this comes from God, who through Christ has reconciled me to himself, and has commissioned me to proclaim this reconciliation??19 how God through Christ reconciled the world to himself, refusing to count men's offenses against them, and intrusted me with the message of reconciliation.

For it was through Christ that God was reconciling the world to Himself instead of debiting men's offenses against them, and He has committed to me the message of this reconciliation.

Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness in him.

For he says, "I have listened to you at a welcome time, And helped you on a day of deliverance!" Now the welcome time has come! This is the day of deliverance!

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide to you.

Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what participation has righteousness with wickedness? or what communion has light with darkness?

How can Christ agree with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

and what agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God; as God said, I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them, and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.

Therefore: "'Come out of company with them, and separate from them,' the Lord has said, 'And stop touching what is unclean; then I will welcome you,

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,

But God, who encourages the downcast, has encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not regret, though I did regret: for I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorry, though it were but for a time.

See how earnest this God-given pain has made you! how eager to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager to see me, how zealous, how avenging! At every point you have proved that you are clear of this matter.

So, then, even though I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer, or of the man who was wronged, but to make you conscious, in the sight of God, of your own earnest care for us. And it is this that has encouraged us.

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.

If I did express some pride in you to him, I have had no reason to be ashamed of it, but just as all I said to you was true, my boasting before Titus has also proved true.

And he has great affection for you when he remembers how obedient all of you were [i.e., obedient to his or Paul's instructions to the church], and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling [i.e., with a respectful, submissive spirit].

I must tell you, brothers, how the favor of God has been shown in the churches of Macedonia,

for in spite of a severe ordeal of trouble, their extraordinary gladness, combined with their extreme poverty, has overflowed in a wealth of generosity.

This has led me to urge Titus to complete the arrangements he had formerly begun among you for this gracious undertaking.

If a man is willing to give, the value of his gift is in its proportion to what he has, not to what he has not.

As it has been written:

The person who gathered much
did not have too much,
and the person who gathered little
did not have too little.

But thanks [be] to God, who has put in the heart of Titus the same devotion {on your behalf},

for he has responded to my appeal, but he goes to you really of his own accord, he is so devoted to you.

And we have sent at the same time with him the brother whose praise in the gospel [has become known] throughout 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.

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.

We have also sent with them our brother whom we have often tested in many ways and found to be dedicated. At present he is more dedicated than ever because he has so much confidence in you.

for I know how willing you are to help in it; I boast of you for it to the people in Macedonia, telling them that Greece has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has been a stimulus to most of them.

Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go before to you, and make ready beforehand your bounty, which has been so much talked of before, that this might be ready as a bounty, and not as a gift extorted from you.

Everyone must give what he has made up his mind to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion; God loves a man who is glad to give.

God has power to shower all kinds of blessings upon you, so that, having, under all circumstances and on all occasions, all that you can need, you may be able to shower all kinds of benefits upon others.

as the Scripture says: "He has generously given to the poor; His deeds of charity go on forever."

then they will long for you and pray for you, because of the extraordinary favor God has shown you.

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

and I am fully prepared to punish every act of disobedience, when once your submission has been put beyond question.

Do ye look at what concerns appearance? If any one has confidence in himself that he is of Christ, let him think this again in himself, that even as he is of Christ, so also are we.

For and if I should boast even somewhat more abundantly of our authority, which the Lord has given to us for building up and not for your overthrowing, I shall not be put to shame;

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

But my boasting will not be extravagant, nor exceed the limits God has allowed me, which reach all the way to you.

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.

But whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

if my language is inelegant, my knowledge is not contemptible; but has been fully display'd among you on all occasions.

Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. I am talking like a man that has gone crazy -- as such I am superior! -- serving Him with labors greater by far, with far more imprisonments, with floggings vastly worse, and often at the point of death.

I have to keep on boasting. There is no good to be gotten from it, but I will go on to visions and revelations which the Lord has given me.

was actually caught up into paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no man has a right even to mention.

For if I had a desire to take credit to myself, it would not be foolish, for I would be saying what is true: but I will not, for fear that I might seem to any man more than he sees me to be, or has word from me that I am.

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 he has told me, "My grace is all you need, because my power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah's power may rest on me.

I called for Titus, and sent with a brother. Has Titus taken advantage of you? walked we not in the same spirit? not in the same steps??

since you demand a proof of my mission from Christ, who with regard to you has shown no want of power among you.

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,)

This is why I am writing this while far away from you, that when I do come, I may not have to deal harshly with you in accordance with the authority which the Lord has given me, for building you up, not for tearing you down.