Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:

who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful?

This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.

But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?

who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.

Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.

and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

as it is written, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.

We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!

I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.

For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord.

For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.

For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven.

Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I?

I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.

I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone,

since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.