But as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by usby me and Silvanus and Timothywas not Yes and No, but in him it has always been Yes.

Now it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us;

he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measurenot to put it too severelyto all of you.

Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,

who has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness exceed it in glory.

For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.

Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians. Our heart is opened wide.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

What harmony has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

For behold what this very thing, godly sorrow, has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what readiness to see justice done! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

For if I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting before Titus has proved true.

Now, brethren, we want you to know about the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he does not have.

and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work which we are carrying on, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.

for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

Each one must give just as he has purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

As it is written, "He has scattered abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has apportioned to us, a field that reaches even to you.