But if we are troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which takes effect through your quiet undergoing of the same troubles which we undergo:

Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead:

Who gave us salvation from so great a death: on whom we have put our hope that he will still go on to give us salvation;

For our glory is in this, in the knowledge which we have that our way of life in the world, and most of all in relation to you, has been holy and true in the eyes of God; not in the wisdom of the flesh, but in the grace of God.

For in our letters we say no other things to you, but those which you are reading, and to which you give agreement, and, it is my hope, will go on doing so to the end:

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we were preaching among you, even I and Silvanus and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in him is Yes.

For he is the Yes to all the undertakings of God: and by him all the words of God are made certain and put into effect, to the glory of God through us.

And it is he who has put his stamp on us, even the Spirit, as the sign in our hearts of the coming glory.

But God is my witness that it was in pity for you that I did not come to Corinth at that time.

Not that we have authority over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy: for it is faith which is your support.

But it was my decision for myself, not to come again to you with sorrow.

For if I give you sorrow, who then will make me glad, but he who is made sad by me?

For out of much trouble and pain of heart and much weeping I sent my letter to you; not to give you sorrow, but so that you might see how great is the love which I have to you.

But if anyone has been a cause of sorrow, he has been so, not to me only, but in some measure to all of you (I say this that I may not be over-hard on you).

Let it be enough for such a man to have undergone the punishment which the church put on him;

But if you give forgiveness to anyone, I do the same: for if I have given forgiveness for anything, I have done it because of you, in the person of Christ;

But praise be to God who makes us strong to overcome in Christ, and makes clear through us in every place the value of the knowledge of him.

For we are not like the great number who make use of the word of God for profit: but our words are true, as from God, being said as before God in Christ.

Do we seem to be again attempting to put ourselves in the right? or have we need, as some have, of letters of approval to you or from you?

For you are clearly a letter of Christ, the fruit of our work, recorded not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in stone, but in hearts of flesh.

Not as if we were able by ourselves to do anything for which we might take the credit; but our power comes from God;

Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life.

And are not like Moses, who put a veil on his face, so that the children of Israel might not see clearly to the end of the present order of things:

But their minds were made hard: for to this very day at the reading of the old agreement the same veil is still unlifted; though it is taken away in Christ.

But to this day, at the reading of the law of Moses, a veil is over their heart.

But when it is turned to the Lord, the veil will be taken away.

But we all, with unveiled face giving back as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord who is the Spirit.

And we have given up the secret things of shame, not walking in false ways, and not making use of the word of God with deceit; but by the revelation of what is true, as before God, we have the approval of every man's sense of right and wrong.

But if our good news is veiled, it is veiled from those who are on the way to destruction:

For our preaching is not about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants through Jesus.

Seeing that it is God who said, Let light be shining out of the dark, who has put in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this wealth in vessels of earth, so that it may be seen that the power comes not from us but from God;

Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them;

We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help;

So then, death is working in us, but life in you.

But having the same spirit of faith, as it is said in the Writings, The words of my mouth came from the faith in my heart; in the same way, our words are the outcome of our faith;

For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day.

While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

For truly, we who are in this tent do give out cries of weariness, for the weight of care which is on us; not because we are desiring to be free from the body, but so that we may have our new body, and death may be overcome by life.

For we all have to come before Christ to be judged; so that every one of us may get his reward for the things done in the body, good or bad.

Having in mind, then, the fear of the Lord, we put these things before men, but God sees our hearts; and it is my hope that we may seem right in your eyes.

We are not again requesting your approval, but we are giving you the chance of taking pride in us, so that you may be able to give an answer to those whose glory is in seeming, and not in the heart.

For it is the love of Christ which is moving us; because we are of the opinion that if one was put to death for all, then all have undergone death;

And that he underwent death for all, so that the living might no longer be living to themselves, but to him who underwent death for them and came back from the dead.

But all things are of God, who has made us at peace with himself through Christ, and has given to us the work of making peace;

But in everything making it clear that we are the servants of God, in quiet strength, in troubles, in need, in sorrow,

Unnoted, but still kept fully in mind; as near to death, but still living; as undergoing punishment, but not put to death;

As full of sorrow, but ever glad; as poor, but giving wealth to others; as having nothing, but still having all things.

It is not our feelings to you which are narrow, but yours to us.

For even when we had come into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; there were fightings outside and fears inside.

But God who gives comfort to the poor in spirit gave us comfort by the coming of Titus;

And not by his coming only, but by the comfort which he had in you, while he gave us word of your desire, your sorrow, your care for me; so that I was still more glad.

For though my letter gave you pain, I have no regret for it now, though I had before; for I see that the letter gave you pain, but only for a time.

Now I am glad, not that you had sorrow, but that your sorrow was the cause of a change of heart; for yours was a holy sorrow so that you might undergo no loss by us in anything.

For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death.

So though I sent you a letter, it was not only because of the man who did the wrong, or because of him to whom the wrong was done, but so that your true care for us might be made clear in the eyes of God.

For I was not put to shame in anything in which I may have made clear to him my pride in you; but as we said nothing to you but what was true, so the good things which I said to Titus about you were seen by him to be true.

I am not giving you an order, but using the ready mind of others as a test of the quality of your love.

And in this I give my opinion: for it is to your profit, who were the first to make a start a year before, not only to do this, but to make clear that your minds were more than ready to do it.

But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal.

But praise be to God, who puts the same care for you into the heart of Titus.

And not only so, but he was marked out by the churches to go with us in the grace of this giving which we have undertaken to the glory of the Lord and to make clear that our mind was ready:

And so that no man might be able to say anything against us in the business of this giving which has been put into our hands:

For the business has been so ordered by us as to have the approval, not only of the Lord, but of men.

And we have sent with them our brother, whose ready spirit has been made clear to us at times and in ways without number, but it is now all the more so because of the certain faith which he has in you.

But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints:

But I have sent the brothers, so that the good things we said about you may be seen to be true, and that, as I said, you may be ready:

For fear that, if any from Macedonia come with me, and you are not ready, we (not to say, you) might be put to shame in this thing.

But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.

For this work of giving not only takes care of the needs of the saints, but is the cause of much praise to God;

Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:

(For the arms with which we are fighting are not those of the flesh, but are strong before God for the destruction of high places);

For his letters, they say, have weight and are strong; but in body he is feeble, and his way of talking has little force.

For we will not make comparison of ourselves with some of those who say good things about themselves: but these, measuring themselves by themselves, and making comparison of themselves with themselves, are not wise.

We will not give glory to ourselves in over-great measure, but after the measure of the rule which God has given us, a measure which comes even to you.

Not taking credit to ourselves for what is not our business, that is, for the work of others; but having hope that, with the growth of your faith, we may get the credit for an increase which is the effect of our work,

But whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

For the Lord's approval of a man is not dependent on his opinion of himself, but on the Lord's opinion of him.

Put up with me if I am a little foolish: but, truly, you do put up with me.

But I have a fear, that in some way, as Eve was tricked by the deceit of the snake, your minds may be turned away from their simple and holy love for Christ.

For if anyone comes preaching another Jesus from the one whose preachers we are, or if you have got a different spirit, or a different sort of good news from those which came to you, how well you put up with these things.

But though I am rough in my way of talking, I am not so in knowledge, as we have made clear to all by our acts among you.

But what I do, that I will go on doing, so that I may give no chance to those who are looking for one; so that, in the cause of their pride, they may be seen to be the same as we are.

I say again, Let me not seem foolish to anyone; but if I do, put up with me as such, so that I may take a little glory to myself.

What I am now saying is not by the order of the Lord, but as a foolish person, taking credit to myself, as it seems.

For you put up with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves.

You put up with a man if he makes servants of you, if he makes profit out of you, if he makes you prisoners, if he puts himself in a high place, if he gives you blows on the face.

I say this by way of shaming ourselves, as if we had been feeble. But if anyone puts himself forward (I am talking like a foolish person), I will do the same.

Five times the Jews gave me forty blows but one.

I have knowledge of a man in Christ, fourteen years back (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only), who was taken up to the third heaven.

And I have knowledge of such a man (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only),

On account of such a one I will have glory: for myself I will take no glory, but only in my feeble body.

For if I had a desire to take credit to myself, it would not be foolish, for I would be saying what is true: but I will not, for fear that I might seem to any man more than he sees me to be, or has word from me that I am.

For what is there in which you were made less than the other churches, but in the one thing that I was not a trouble to you? Let me have forgiveness for this wrong.

This is now the third time that I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a trouble to you: my desire is for you, not for your property: for it is not the children's business to make store for their fathers, but the fathers for the children.

But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but (someone may say) being false, I took you with deceit.

It may seem to you that all this time we have been attempting to put ourselves in the right; but we are saying these things before God in Christ. For all things, dear brothers, are for your profit.

And that when I come again, my God may put me to shame among you, and I may have grief for those who have done wrong before and have had no regret for their unclean ways, and for the evil desires of the flesh to which they have given way.

Seeing that you are looking for a sign of Christ giving out his word in me; who is not feeble in relation to you, but is strong in you:

For he was feeble in that he was put to death on the cross, but he is living by the power of God. And we are feeble in him, but we will be living with him through the power of God in relation to you.