Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He is our merciful Father and the God of all comfort,

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,

I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart along with many tears not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.

But if anyone has caused grief, he didn't cause me any grief. To some extent I don't want to emphasize this too much it has affected all of you.

So forgive and comfort him, or else he will drown in his excessive grief.

But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him.

For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory?

For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless.

He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.

Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and look! all things have become new!

for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us.

For he says, "At the right time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you." Listen, now is really the "right time"! Now is the "day of salvation"!

and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing for me, your sorrow, and your eagerness to take my side, and this made me even happier.

See what great earnestness godly sorrow has produced in you! How ready you are to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how full of longing and enthusiasm, how eager to seek justice! In every way you have demonstrated that you are innocent in this matter.

His affection for you is even greater as he remembers how obedient all of you were and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

So we urged Titus to finish this work of kindness among you in the same way that he had started it.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Although he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.

He welcomed my request and eagerly went to visit you by his own free will.

More than that, he has also been selected by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this work of kindness for the glory of the Lord and as evidence of our eagerness to help.

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.

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker on your behalf. Our brothers, emissaries from the churches, are bringing glory to the Messiah.

For I know how willing you are, and I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has stimulated most of them.

As it is written, "He scatters everywhere and gives to the poor; his righteousness lasts forever."

Now he who supplies seed to the farmer and bread to eat will also supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest that results from your righteousness.

Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident that he belongs to the Messiah, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to the Messiah, so do we.

We would not dare put ourselves in the same class with, or compare ourselves to, those who recommend themselves. Whenever they measure themselves by their own standards or compare themselves among themselves, they show how foolish they are.

If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show how weak I am.

However, if I did want to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I am not going to do it in order to keep anyone from thinking more of me than what he sees and hears about me.

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.

How were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I did not bother you for help? Forgive me for this wrong!

I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent along with him the brother you know so well. Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? We conducted ourselves with the same spirit, didn't we? We took the very same steps, didn't we?

since you want proof that the Messiah is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is making his power felt among you.

Though he was crucified in weakness, he lives by God's power. We are weak with him, but by God's power we will live for you.