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

[while] you also join in helping {on our behalf} by prayer, so that thanks may be given {on our behalf} by many persons for this gracious gift [given] to us through [the help] of many.

And with this confidence, I was wanting to come to you previously, in order that you may have a second proof of my goodwill,

and through you to go to Macedonia, and to come to you again from Macedonia, and to be sent on my way by you to Judea.

Therefore, [when I] was wanting [to do] this, perhaps then was I making use of vacillation? Or was I deciding what I was deciding according to the flesh, in order that with me my "yes" may be "yes" and my "no" [may be] "no" [at the same time]?

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become "yes" and "no," but has become "yes" in him.

But I call upon God [as] witness against my life, that [in order to] spare you, I did not come again to Corinth.

For if I [cause] you sorrow, then who will make me glad except the one who is caused to be sad by me?

And I wrote this very [thing] in order that [when I] came, I would not experience sorrow from those who ought to have made me glad, [because I] have confidence about you all, that my joy {belongs to all of you}.

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not so that you may be caused to be sad, but so that you may know the love that I have especially for you.

But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has not caused me sorrow, but {to some degree}--{in order not to say too much}--[to] all [of] you.

in order that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).

Now [when I] arrived in Troas for the gospel of Christ and a door was opened for me by the Lord,

I did not experience rest in my spirit, [because] I did not find Titus my brother, but saying farewell to them, I departed for Macedonia.

But we have this treasure in earthenware jars, in order that the extraordinary degree of the power may be from God and not from us.

always carrying around the death of Jesus in our body, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

For we who are alive [are] continually being handed over to death because of Jesus, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

For all [these things] {are for your sake}, in order that the grace that is increasing through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

For indeed we who are in this tent groan, being burdened {for this reason, that} we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

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

We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, in order that you may have [an answer] for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

And what agreement [does the] temple of God [have] with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk about [among them], and I will be their God and they will be my people."

and I will be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me," says the all-powerful Lord.

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

and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort [with] which he was comforted among you, [because he] reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret [it]. Even if I did regret [it] (I see that that letter grieved you, even though for {a short time}),

But just as you excel in everything--in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and with all diligence and in the love from us [that is] in you--so may you excel in this grace also.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that [although he] was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.

So now also complete the doing [of it], in order that just as [you have] the eagerness to want [to do it], thus also [you may] complete [it] from [what you] have.

For [this is] not that for others [there may be] relief, [and] for you difficult circumstances, but [as a matter] of equality.

At the present time your abundance [will be] for their need, in order that their abundance may also be for your need, so that there may be equality,

If [there is a question] concerning Titus, [he is] my partner and fellow worker for you. If [there is a question concerning] our brothers, [they are] messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

For it is unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the ministry to the saints,

But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you would not prove to be empty in this case, so that you may be prepared just as I was saying,

lest somehow if Macedonians should come with me and find you unprepared, we--{not to speak of you}--would be humiliated in connection with this project.

And God is able to cause all grace to abound to you, so that in everything at all times, [because you] have enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work.

so that I do not want to appear as if I were terrifying you by my letters,

so that we may proclaim the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, [and] not boast in the things accomplished in the [area] assigned to someone else.

I wish that you would put up with me {in something a little foolish}--but indeed you are putting up with me.

But I am afraid lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be led astray from the sincerity and the purity of [devotion] to Christ.

Or did I commit a sin [by] humbling myself in order that you may be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you without payment?

And [when I] was present with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will keep [myself from being a burden].

[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 also do, in order that I may remove the opportunity of those who want an opportunity, that they may be found just as also we [are] in what they are boasting about.

Again I say, do not let anyone think I am foolish. But indeed, if [you do], accept me even as foolish, in order that I also may boast a little.

I say [this] to [my] shame, namely, that we have been weak. But in whatever anyone dares to [boast]--I am speaking in foolishness--I also dare to [boast].

[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,

Apart from these external things, [there is] the pressure on me every day of the anxiety about all the churches.

If it is necessary to boast, I will boast [about] {the things related to my weakness}.

In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to take me into custody,

On behalf of such a person I will boast, but on behalf of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.

For if I want to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be telling the truth, but I am refraining, so that no one can credit to me more than what he sees [in] me or hears anything from me,

even because of the extraordinary degree of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, in order that it would torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would depart from me.

And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, because the power is perfected in weakness." Therefore rather I will boast most gladly in my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may reside in me.

I have become a fool! You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for [I am] in no way inferior to the preeminent apostles, even if I am nothing.

{For in what respect are you made worse off} more than the rest of the churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

For I am afraid lest somehow [when I] arrive, I will not find you as I want, and I may be found by you as you do not want. [I am afraid] lest somehow [there will be] strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, pride, disorder.

[I am afraid] lest [when I] come again my God will humiliate me {in your presence}, and I will grieve over many of those who sinned previously and have not repented because of their impurity and sexual immorality and licentiousness that they have practiced.

since you are demanding proof that Christ, who [is] not weak toward you, but is powerful among you, is speaking in me.

Because of this, I am writing these [things] [although I] am absent, in order that [when I] am present I may not have to act severely according to the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.