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.

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 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.

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.

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.

And I said this very thing in my letter, for fear that when I came I might have sorrow from those from whom it was right for me to have joy; being certain of this, that my joy is the joy of you all.

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.

For which cause my desire is that you will make your love to him clear by your acts.

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.

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:

For the glory of the first no longer seems to be glory, because of the greater glory of that which comes after.

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:

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.

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;

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.

Because we are certain that he who made the Lord Jesus come back from the dead, will do the same for us, and will give us a place in his glory with you.

For we are conscious that if this our tent of flesh is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in heaven.

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.

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.

That is, that God was in Christ making peace between the world and himself, not putting their sins to their account, and having given to us the preaching of this news of peace.

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.

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

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

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.

For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts,

Seriously requesting us that they might have a part in this grace of being servants to the needs of the saints:

And going even farther than our hope, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us after the purpose of God.

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.

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.

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.

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:

Make clear then to them, as representatives of the churches, the quality of your love, and that the things which we have said about you are true.

For I have before made clear to those of Macedonia my pride in your ready mind, saying to them that Achaia has been ready for a year back; and a great number have been moved to do the same by your example.

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:

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.

Being ready to give punishment to whatever is against his authority, after you have made it clear that you are completely under his control.

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.

That I may not seem to have the desire of causing you fear by my letters.

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 have no need to make ourselves seem more than we are, as if our authority did not come as far as to you: for we came even as far as you with the good news of Christ:

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,

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.

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 in my opinion, I am in no way less than the most important of the Apostles.

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;

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.

Seeing that there are those who take credit to themselves after the flesh, I will do the same.

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.

In addition to all the other things, there is that which comes on me every day, the care of all the churches.

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.

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.

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 about this thing I made request to the Lord three times that it might be taken away from me.

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.

I have been forced by you to become foolish, though it was right for my praise to have come from you: for in no way was I less than the chief of the Apostles, though I am nothing.

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.

For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

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.

This is the third time that I am coming to you. From the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be made certain.

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;

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.

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.