He saved me from a death so horrible, and He will save me again! He it is on whom I have set my hope that He will still save me,

For if I make you sad, who is there to make me glad but the very man who has been made sad by me?

This is the very thing I wrote you, that when I did come I might not be made sad by the very people who ought to make me glad, for I had confidence in you all that my gladness would be gladness to you all.

For out of great sorrow and distress of heart, yes, while shedding many tears, I wrote you, not to make you sad but to make you realize that my love for you continues running over.

But if anyone has made anyone sad, it is not I, but you that he has made sad, at least, some of you, not to be severe on all of you.

I had no rest of spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.

On the other hand, I have renounced all underhanded, disgraceful methods; I neither practice cunning nor do I tamper with God's message, but by clear and candid statements of truth I try to commend myself to every human conscience in God's sight.

For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.

On every side I am ever hard-pressed, but never hemmed in; always perplexed, but never to the point of despair;

Now since I have the same spirit of faith as he who said in the Scriptures, "I believed, and so I spoke," I too believe, and so I speak,

sad but always glad, poor but making many people rich, penniless but really possessing everything.

And what agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: "I will live in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they will be my people."

Therefore: "'Come out of company with them, and separate from them,' the Lord has said, 'And stop touching what is unclean; then I will welcome you,

I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters of mine,' The Lord Almighty said."

I do not mean this for your condemnation, because, as I have said before, you have such a place in my heart that I would live with you or die with you.

So, although I did write to you, it was not for the offender's sake, nor for the offended party's sake, but in the sight of God for the sake of having your enthusiasm for me made perfectly clear to you. This is why I am so comforted.

In addition to my own comfort, I was made so glad that my cup ran over at the gladness Titus felt, because his spirit has been set at rest by you.

Indeed, if I have been doing some boasting of you to him, I have never been ashamed of it; but just as all I said to him was true, so now my boasting before Titus has been shown to be true.

For I am taking the precaution to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

He who always supplies the sower with seed and the eater with bread will supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest which your deeds of charity yield.

Such people should consider this: When I arrive for action I shall do exactly what I said I would in my letters when far away.

But I shall never go too far in my boasting; no, I shall stay within the limits of the sphere which God apportioned me, so as to reach even you.

but He said to me, "My spiritual strength is sufficient, for it is only by means of conscious weakness that perfect power is developed."