as you have understood us in part, that you can be proud of us just as we can be of you, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by usby me and Silvanus and Timothywas not Yes and No, but in him it has always been Yes.

And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I had confidence in all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.

Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority,

so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men.

You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of carnal hearts.

will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

But we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

always carrying about in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, yet our inner nature is being renewed day by day.

Here indeed we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

so that when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

We are confident, I say, and would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

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

We are therefore ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.

And I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

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

and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

For behold what this very thing, godly sorrow, has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what readiness to see justice done! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your zeal for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.

Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

And they did not do as we expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

I am not speaking this as a command, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

Now finish the work, so that your readiness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened;

but at the present time your abundance should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be equality.

But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.

And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his preaching of the gospel;

and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work which we are carrying on, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.

But I am sending the brethren so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;

lest if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, wenot to say anything about you would be ashamed of having been so confident.

So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so that it may be ready not as an exaction but as a willing gift.

You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Because of the test of this service, you will glorify God by your obedience in your confession of the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others;

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

I, Paul, myself urge you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold to you when I am away!

I beg you that when I am present I may not have to be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I shall not be put to shame.

I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

Let such people realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

For we do not dare 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.

We do not go beyond limits by boasting in other men's labors, but our hope is that as your faith grows, our sphere among you may be greatly enlarged,

But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?

I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.

As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

And what I am doing, I will also continue to do, in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things of which they boast.

Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their deeds.

I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Though if I should boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not in the least inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden to you, for I seek not what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less?

But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!

For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you what I wish you to be, and you may not find me what you wish me to be; I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

For he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God for you.

I write these things while I am absent, in order that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority which the Lord gave me for building you up, and not for tearing you down.

Finally, brethren, farewell. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we preached to you, let him be accursed!

As we have said before, so I say again now, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed!

Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.

I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;

But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.

And from those who were reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me;

and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

"We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,

yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law will no flesh be justified.

But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not!

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you will all the nations be blessed."

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them."

Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith."

But the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who does them shall live by them."

What I mean is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given which could impart life, then righteousness would indeed have come by the law.

But the Scripture has bound everyone under sin, so that that what was promised by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were bound under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed.