Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I know that as you share the sufferings you share the comfort also.

Now I would like you to know about the distress which befell me in Asia, brothers. I was crushed, crushed far more than I could stand, so much so that I despaired even of life;

Such was my intention. Now, have I shown myself 'fickle'? When I propose some plan, do I propose it in a worldly way, ready to mean 'no' as well as 'yes'?

By the good faith of God, my word to you was not 'yes and no';

for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by us (by myself and Silvanus and Timotheus) was not 'yes and no' ??the divine 'yes' has at last sounded in him,

(Not that we lord it over your faith ??no, we co-operate for your joy: you have a standing of your own in the faith.)

so that instead of censuring you should now forgive him and comfort him, in case the man is overwhelmed by excessive remorse.

in case Satan should take advantage of our position ??for I know his man?uvres!

and he has further qualified me to be the minister of a new covenant ??a covenant not of written law but of spirit; for the written law kills but the Spirit makes alive.

Now if the administration of death which was engraved in letters of stone, was invested with glory ??so much so, that the children of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses on account of the dazzling glory that was fading from his face;

(indeed, in view of the transcendent glory, what was glorious has thus no glory at all);

I know that if this earthly tent of mine is taken down, I get a home from God, made by no human hands, eternal in the heavens.

I do sigh within this tent of mine with heavy anxiety ??not that I want to be stripped, no, but to be under the cover of the other, to have my mortal element absorbed by life.

Come what may, then, I am confident; I know that while I reside in the body I am away from the Lord

and that he died for all in order to have the living live no longer for themselves but for him who died and rose for them.

Once convinced of this, then, I estimate no one by what is external; even though I once estimated Christ by what is external, I no longer estimate him thus.

There is a new creation whenever a man comes to be in Christ; what is old is gone, the new has come.

For our sakes He made him to be sin who himself knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I put no obstacle in the path of any, so that my ministry may not be discredited;

A fair exchange now, as the children say! Open your hearts wide to me.

Make a place for me in your hearts; I have wronged no one, ruined no one, taken advantage of no one.

For I got no relief from the strain of things, even when I reached Macedonia; it was trouble at every turn, wrangling all round me, fears in my own mind.

but I am glad now ??not glad that you were pained but glad that your pain induced you to repent. For you were pained as God meant you to be pained, and so you got no harm from what I did;

I told him of my pride in you, and I have not been disappointed. No, just as all I have had to say to you has been true, so all I said about you to Titus, all my pride in you, has also proved true.

Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to the churches of Macedonia.

Now then, you are to the front in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all zeal, and in love for us ??do come to the front in this gracious enterprise as well.

(You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.)

Now, carry it through, so that your readiness to take it up may be equalled by the way you carry it through ??so far as your means allow.

I know how willing you are, I am proud of it, I have boasted of you to the Macedonians: "Achaia," I tell them, "was all ready last year." And your zeal has been a stimulus to the majority of them.

Everyone is to give what he has made up his mind to give; there is to be no grudging or compulsion about it, for God loves the giver who gives cheerfully.

I am no speaker, perhaps, but knowledge I do possess; I never failed to make myself intelligible to you.

even when I ran short, during my stay with you, I was no encumbrance to anybody, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my wants. Thus I kept myself, as I intend to keep myself, from being a burden to you in any way.

No, I intend to go on as I am doing, in order to checkmate those who would fain make out that in the apostolate of which they boast they work on the same terms as I do.

No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

So it is no surprise if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their doom will answer to their deeds.

I repeat, no one is to think me a fool; but even so, pray bear with me, fool as I am, that I may have my little boast as well as others!

(What I am now going to say is not inspired by the Lord: I am in the role of a 'fool,' now, on this business of boasting.

You put up with fools so readily, you who know so much!

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. In the body or out of the body? That I do not know: God knows.

I simply know that in the body or out of the body (God knows which)

this man was caught up to paradise and heard sacred secrets which no human lips can repeat.

(If I did care to boast of other things, I would be no 'fool,' for I would have a true tale to tell; however, I abstain from that ??I want no one to take me for more than he can see in me or make out from me.)

Now this is playing the fool! But you forced me to it, instead of coming forward yourselves and vouching for me. That was what I deserved; for, 'nobody' as I am, I am not one whit inferior to these precious 'apostles.'

But let that pass, you say; I was not a burden to you, no, but I was clever enough to dupe you with my tricks? Was I?

You think all this time I am defending myself to you? No, I am speaking in Christ before the presence of God, and speaking every word, beloved, in order to build you up.

I warned you already, on my second visit, and I warn you now before I come, both you who sinned some time ago and the rest of you as well, that I will spare no one if I come back.

That will prove to you that I am indeed a spokesman of Christ. It is no weak Christ you have to do with, but a Christ of power.

But I trust you will find I am no failure,

Now brothers, goodbye; mend your ways, listen to what I have told you, live in harmony, keep the peace; then the God of love and peace will be with you.