Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:

To God’s church at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.

He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him.

Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us.

For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me?

I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.

If you forgive anyone, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for you in the presence of Christ.

But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. And who is competent for this?

For we are not like the many who market God’s message for profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.

We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away,

We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you.

Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

And the One who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in the outward appearance rather than in the heart.

And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your diligence for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it.

As it has been written:

The person who gathered much
did not have too much,
and the person who gathered little
did not have too little.

Thanks be to God who put the same concern for you into the heart of Titus.

We have sent with him the brother who is praised throughout the churches for his gospel ministry.

We have also sent with them our brother. We have often tested him in many circumstances and found him to be diligent—and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent.

I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way.

For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

So the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.

For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!

When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.

But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as our equals in what they boast about.

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven 14 years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know, God knows.

I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity they practiced.

I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient,