Who consoles us in all our troubles, so that we may be able to console those who are in any trouble with the consolation that we ourselves receive from him.

Indeed, we had the presentiment that we must die, so that we might rely, not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.

The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we--Silas, Timothy, and I- -proclaimed among you, never wavered between 'Yes' and 'No.' With him it has always been 'Yes.'

God who brings us, with you, into close union with Christ, and who consecrated us,

If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the very person whom I am paining?

So I wrote as I did, for fear that, if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also.

The man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you;

All thanks to God, who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet odor of the knowledge of him in every place.

For we are the fragrance of Christ ascending to God--both among those who are in the path of Salvation and among those who are in the path to Ruin.

To the latter we are an odor which arises from death and tells of Death; to the former an odor which arises from life and tells of Life. But who is equal to such a task?

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or are we like some who need letters of commendation to you, or from you?

Our fitness comes from God, who himself made us fit to be ministers of a New Covenant, of which the substance is, not a written Law, but a Spirit. For the written Law means Death, but the Spirit gives Life.

Unlike Moses, who covered his face with a veil, to prevent the Israelites from gazing at the disappearance of what was passing away.

But their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted; only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away.

And, even if the Good News that we bring is veiled, it is veiled only in the case of those who are on the path to Ruin--

Men whose minds have been blinded by the God of this Age, unbelievers as they are, so that the light from the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the very incarnation of God, should not shine for them.

Indeed, the same God who said 'Out of darkness light shall shine,' has shone in upon our hearts, so that we should bring out into the light the knowledge of the glory of God, seen in the face of Christ.

Indeed, we who still live are continually being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the Life also of Jesus may be exhibited in our mortal nature.

For we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with him, and will bring us, with you, into his presence.

For we who are in this 'tent' sigh under our burden, unwilling to take it off, yet wishing to put our heavenly body over it, so that all that is mortal may be absorbed in Life.

And he who has prepared us for this change is God, who has also given us his Spirit as a pledge.

We are not "commending ourselves" again to you, but rather are giving you cause for pride in us, so that you may have an answer ready for those who pride themselves on appearances and not on character.

And that he died for all, so that the living should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose for them.

But all this is the work of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation--

Him who never knew sin God made to be Sin, on our behalf; so that we, through union with him, might become the Righteousness of God.

Do not enter into inconsistent relations with those who reject the Faith. For what partnership can there be between righteousness and lawlessness? or what has light to do with darkness?

What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial? or what can those who accept the Faith have in common with those who reject it?

But God, who encourages the downcast, has encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.

So, then, even though I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer, or of the man who was wronged, but to make you conscious, in the sight of God, of your own earnest care for us. And it is this that has encouraged us.

As Scripture says--'The man who had much had nothing over, and the man who had little did not lack!'

We are also sending with them another of our Brothers, whose earnestness we have many a time proved in many ways, and whom we now find made even more earnest by his great confidence in you.

And he who supplies 'seed to the sower, and bread for eating,' will supply you with seed, and cause it to increase, and will multiply 'the fruits of your righteousness').

Now, I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ--I who, "in your presence, am humble in my bearing towards you, but, when absent, am bold in my language to you"--

I implore you not to drive me to "show my boldness," when I do come, by the confident tone which I expect to have to adopt towards some of you, who are expecting to find us influenced in our conduct by earthly motives.

You look at the outward appearance of things! Let any one, who is confident that he belongs to Christ, reflect, for himself, again upon the fact--that we belong to Christ no less than he does.

We have not indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some of those who indulge in self-commendation! But, when such persons measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they show a want of wisdom.

'Let him who boasts make his boast of the Lord.'

For it is not the man who commends himself that stands the test, but the man who is commended by the Lord.

For, if some new-comer is proclaiming a Jesus other than him whom we proclaimed, or if you are receiving a Spirit different from the Spirit which you received, or a Good News different from that which you welcomed, then you are marvelously tolerant!

What I am doing now I shall continue to do, that I may cut away the ground from under those who are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that as regards the thing of which they boast they may appear in their true characters, just as we do.

Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led astray without my burning with indignation?

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus--he who is for ever blessed--knows that I am speaking the truth.

I know a man in union with Christ, who, fourteen years ago-- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows-- was caught up (this man of whom I am speaking) to the third Heaven.

I have been "playing the fool!" It is you who drove me to it. For it is you who ought to have been commending me! Although I am nobody, in no respect did I prove inferior to the most eminent Apostles.

Do you assert that I took advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you?

I am afraid lest, on my next visit, my God may humble me in regard to you, and that I may have to mourn over many who have long been sinning, and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality, in which they have indulged.

I have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent, I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others--that if I come again, I shall spare no one.