Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end;

Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.

But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you.

For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,

as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,

as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I will dwell in them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will welcome you.

“And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

For this reason we have been comforted.And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth.

His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.

But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.

We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches;

taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift;

otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—will be put to shame by this confidence.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all,

while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame,

But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.

and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.

As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.

Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.