Who gives us comfort in all our troubles, so that we may be able to give comfort to others who are in trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as we undergo more of the pain which Christ underwent, so through Christ does our comfort become greater.

And our hope for you is certain; in the knowledge that as you take part in the troubles, so you will take part in the comfort.

For it is our desire that you may not be without knowledge of our trouble which came on us in Asia, that the weight of it was very great, more than our power, so that it seemed that we had no hope even of life:

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;

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

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:

Even as you have been ready, in part, to say that we are your glory, in the same way that you are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

And being certain of this, it was my purpose to come to you before, so that you might have a second grace;

And by way of Corinth to go into Macedonia, and from there to come back again to you, so that you might send me on my way to Judaea.

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).

So that now, on the other hand, it is right for him to have forgiveness and comfort from you, for fear that his sorrow may be over-great.

And for the same reason I sent you a letter so that I might be certain of your desire to do my orders in all things.

So that Satan may not get the better of us: for we are not without knowledge of his designs.

I had no rest in my spirit because Titus my brother was not there: so I went away from them, and came into Macedonia.

You yourselves are our letter, whose writing is in our heart, open for every man's reading and knowledge;

For if the operation of the law, giving death, recorded in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the eyes of the children of Israel had to be turned away from the face of Moses because of its glory, a glory which was only for a time:

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:

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.

Because the god of this world has made blind the minds of those who have not faith, so that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not be shining on them.

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;

In our bodies there is ever the mark of the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies.

For, while living, we are still being given up to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our flesh, though it is under the power of death.

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

So that our spirits may not be unclothed.

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.

So, then, we are ever without fear, and though conscious that while we are in the body we are away from the Lord,

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.

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.

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.

So if any man is in Christ, he is in a new world: the old things have come to an end; they have truly become new.

So we are the representatives of Christ, as if God was making a request to you through us: we make our request to you, in the name of Christ, be at peace with God.

For him who had no knowledge of sin God made to be sin for us; so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

(For he says, I have given ear to you at a good time, and I have been your helper in a day of salvation: see, now is the good time; now is the day of salvation):

Giving no cause for trouble in anything, so that no one may be able to say anything against our work;

It is not with the purpose of judging you that I say this: for I have said before that you are in our hearts for life and death together.

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 you see what care was produced in you by this very sorrow of yours before God, what clearing of yourselves, what wrath against sin, what fear, what desire, what serious purpose, what punishment. In everything you have made it clear that you are free from sin in this business.

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.

So we have been comforted: and we had the greater joy in our comfort because of the joy of Titus, for his spirit had been made glad by you all.

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.

It gives me great joy to see you answering to my good opinion of you in every way.

So that we made a request to Titus that, as he had made a start before, so he might make this grace complete in you.

And that as you are full of every good thing, of faith, of the word, of knowledge, of a ready mind, and of love to us, so you may be full of this grace in the same way.

For you see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he had wealth, he became poor on your account, so that through his need you might have wealth.

Then make the doing of it complete; so that as you had a ready mind, you may give effect to it as you are able.

For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.

And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you:

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.

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.

So it seemed to me wise for the brothers to go before, and see that the amount which you had undertaken to give was ready, so that it might be a cause for praise, and not as if we were making profit out of you.

And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work:

For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;

Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.

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:

Yes, I make my request to you, so that when I am with you I may not have to make use of the authority which may be needed against some to whom we seem to be walking after the flesh.

Give attention to the things which are before you. If any man seems to himself to be Christ's, let him keep in mind that we are as much Christ's as he is.

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

Let those who say this keep in mind that, what we are in word by letters when we are away, so will we be in act when we are present.

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.

So that we may be able to go on and take the good news to countries still farther away than you are, and not take credit for another man's work in making things ready to our hand.

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

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.

Or did I do wrong in making myself low so that you might be lifted up, because I gave you the good news of God without reward?

I took money from other churches as payment for my work, so that I might be your servant;

And when I was present with you, and was in need, I let no man be responsible for me; for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, gave me whatever was needed; and in everything I kept myself from being a trouble to you, and I will go on doing so.

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.

So it is no great thing if his servants make themselves seem to be servants of righteousness; whose end will be the reward of their works.

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.

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.

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they of Israel? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking foolishly) I am more so; I have had more experience of hard work, of prisons, of blows more than measure, of death.

Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water;

In frequent travels, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from outlaws, in dangers from my countrymen, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the town, in dangers in the waste land, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brothers;

If I have to take credit to myself, I will do so in the things in which I am feeble.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise for ever, is witness that the things which I say are true.

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),

How he was taken up into Paradise, and words came to his ears which may not be said, and which man is not able to say.

And because the revelations were so very great, in order that I might not be overmuch lifted up, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, one sent from Satan to give me pain.

And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me.

So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.

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.

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

Make a test of yourselves, if you are in the faith; make certain of yourselves. Or are you not conscious in yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, if you are truly Christ's?

But it is my hope that you will have no doubt that we are truly Christ's.

Now our prayer to God is that you may do no evil; not in order that it may be put to our credit, but so that you may do what is right, whatever we may seem.

For this cause I am writing these things while I am away, so that there may be need for me, when I am present, to make use of sharp measures, by the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for destruction.