For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with holiness and godly sincerity, not in worldly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and still more toward you.

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.

But I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

Not that we lord it over your faith; but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.

And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I had confidence in all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.

For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

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.

so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

in order that Satan might gain no advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

I still had no rest in my mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took my leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

For we are not, like so many, peddling the word of God; but as men of sincerity, as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?

You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of carnal hearts.

Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves; but our competence is from God,

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.

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,

will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of the radiance that was fading away.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

But we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

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 we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, yet our inner nature is being renewed day by day.

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

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

so that when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

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

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.

Working together with him, then, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed;

You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.

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

I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret itfor I see that my letter hurt you, though only for a little while

now I rejoice, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance; for you became sorrowful as God intended, so that you suffered no loss through us.

So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your zeal for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.

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.

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

I am not speaking this as a command, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire.

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

For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened;

but at the present time your abundance should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be equality.

For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.

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 we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

But I am sending the brethren so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;

So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so that it may be ready not as an exaction but as a willing gift.

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

For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

I beg you that when I am present I may not have to be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war as the flesh does.

For the weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds.

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

I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

For we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

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.

For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you; we were the first to come even as far as you with the gospel of Christ.

We do not go beyond limits by boasting in other men's labors, but our hope is that as your faith grows, our sphere among you may be greatly enlarged,

so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast of work already done in another man's territory.

For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.

I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

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

And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, 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.

Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

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

What I am saying I am not saying as the Lord would, but as a fool, in this confidence of boasting.

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the open sea.

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I do not inwardly burn?

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.

And I know that this manwhether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows

was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, which a man is not permitted to tell.

On behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.

Though if I should boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not in the least inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

For in what respect were you inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden to you, for I seek not what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.

But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!

I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not act in the same spirit and walk in the same steps?

For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you what I wish you to be, and you may not find me what you wish me to be; I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and lewdness which they have practiced.

I warned those who sinned in the past and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present the second time, that if I come again I will not spare them

since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in youunless, indeed, you fail the test?

I trust that you will realize that we have not failed the test.

Now we pray to God that you may not do wrong, not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may seem to have failed.

I write these things while I am absent, in order that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority which the Lord gave me for building you up, and not for tearing you down.