For all God's promises are "Yes" in him. And so through him we can say "Amen," to the glory of God.

For if I caused you sorrow, who can make me glad except the one I have grieved? [See verse 6].

for fear Satan should gain an advantage over us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.

For we are not as many, who adulterate the word of God, [for gain]; but as of sincerity, but as of God, we speak before God in Christ.

You yourselves are our letter--a letter written on our hearts, and one which everybody can read and understand.

For all can see that you are a letter of Christ entrusted to our care, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the ever-living God--and not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts as tablets.

not that we can of ourselves reckon upon any thing as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.

But whenever a person [i.e., the Jews] turn to the Lord, the veil is removed [i.e., so they can understand the meaning of God's promises to them through Christ].

because we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.

So, since I know what the fear of God can do, I am trying to win men. My inner self is perfectly known to God, and I hope, to your consciences too.

We are not recommending ourselves to you again but are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who are proud of outward things rather than inward character.

There is a new creation whenever a man comes to be in Christ; what is old is gone, the new has come.

[We have been] beaten, jailed, and mobbed. [We have] worked hard, missed sleep and gone without food.

Can you not in return--I appeal to you as I should to children--open your hearts to us?

Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial (Satan)? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said:“I will dwell among them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

So since we have promises like these, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves of everything that can defile body or spirit, and by reverence for God make our consecration complete.

Receive us: we have injured no one, we have ruined no one, we have made gain of no one.

For [you can look back and] see what an earnestness and authentic concern this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves [against charges that you tolerate sin], what indignation [at sin], what fear [of offending God], what longing [for righteousness and justice], what passion [to do what is right], what readiness to punish [those who sin and those who tolerate sin]! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.

For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily,

to finish what you started, so that just as you wanted to do it eagerly, you can also complete it according to your means.

but that there will be equality [i.e., in everyone's giving]. Your abundance can now supply their need, so that their abundance can [later] supply your need. [That way] there can be equality,

I thank God for inspiring Titus with the same keen interest in your welfare that I have;

For Titus not only accepted our appeal, but was so very interested in you that he has gone to visit you of his own accord.

And with him we have sent a brother whose praise in the good news has gone through all the churches;

We are taking this precaution so no one can criticize us about this large sum administered by us.

Along with them I am also sending our brother: I have had ample proof of his keen interest on many occasions, and it is specially keen on this occasion, as he has absolute confidence in you.

So let them have proof of how you can love, and of my reasons for being proud of you; it will be a proof read by the churches.

God has power to shower all kinds of blessings upon you, so that, having, under all circumstances and on all occasions, all that you can need, you may be able to shower all kinds of benefits upon others.

He who furnishes the sower with seed and with bread to eat will supply seed for you and multiply it; he will increase the crop of your charities ??11 you will be enriched on all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God;

You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, and this [generosity, administered] through us is producing thanksgiving to God [from those who benefit].

We do not exceed our due limits, and take credit for other men's labours; but we entertain the hope that, as your faith grows, we shall gain promotion among you--still keeping within our own sphere--promotion to a larger field of labour,

Then we can preach the gospel in the regions far beyond you without boasting about things already accomplished by someone else.

But what I am doing, I will continue to do, so that I can cut off the opportunity from those who want an occasion [to receive financial support for themselves because of my example of receiving it]. They want to boast [that they are preaching] on the same terms as I do. [Note: Paul's argument seems to be that one reason for his foregoing financial support was so those "super apostles" in Corinth (see verse 5) would not be able to use his example to wrongfully exact financial support from the church].

And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light.

I will say it again: No one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, then treat me like a fool so that I can also boast a little.

if a man impose upon you, if he preys upon you, if he makes a gain of you, if a man insults you, if he disgracefully assaults you, I mean it as to their reproaches, you take it all;

I am ashamed to admit it, but we have been too weak for that. Whatever anyone else dares to claim I am talking like a fool I can claim it, too.

Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. I am talking like a man that has gone crazy -- as such I am superior! -- serving Him with labors greater by far, with far more imprisonments, with floggings vastly worse, and often at the point of death.

I have worked and suffered. I have often gone without sleep, been hungry and thirsty, often gone without food [i.e., for spiritual reasons], been cold and had inadequate clothing.

And I know that this man?? do not know whether it was in the body or out of it, God knows??4 was caught up into Paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no human being can repeat.

how that he was taken up into paradise, and heard words not to be spoken, which no man can utter.

For if I want to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be telling the truth, but I am refraining, so that no one can credit to me more than what he sees [in] me or hears anything from me,

But God said to me, "My unearned favor is enough for you, for my power is made complete in [your] weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast, so that the power of Christ can rest on me.

For my part, I will most gladly spend, and be spent, for your welfare. Can it be that the more intensely I love you the less I am to be loved?

Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?

I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

But I hope that you will recognize that we can stand the test.

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

from me, who called you by the grace of Christ; this can be

Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!

But when I saw that they were not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas (Peter) in front of everyone, “If you, being a Jew, live [as you have been living] like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you are [now virtually] forcing the Gentiles to live like Jews [if they want to eat with you]?”

yet we know that a man is not justified [and placed in right standing with God] by works of the Law, but [only] through faith in [God’s beloved Son,] Christ Jesus. And even we [as Jews] have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. By observing the Law no one will ever be justified [declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty].

But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are also found sinners, is Christ, there fore, the minister of sin? It can not be.

I never can nullify the unmerited favor of God. For if right standing with God could come through law, then Christ died for nothing.

Are you so foolish [as to believe that after] having begun [your Christian lives] through [the power of] the Holy Spirit, you can [now] become complete by [living according to your human strength]?

Have you had all that experience for nothing (if it has really gone for nothing)?

It is evident, too, that no one can find acceptance with God simply by obeying the Law, because "the righteous shall live by faith,"

Brothers, let me use an example from everyday life. Once an agreement has been ratified, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it.

For if the inheritance [of never ending life] can be obtained by [obeying the requirements of] the law of Moses, it would not come from the promise [of God]; but God provided [this inheritance] for Abraham according to [His] promise.

Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both].

Is the law, then, against the promises of God? It can not be. For if a law had been given which could have given life, surely righteousness would have been by law.

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.

Now, however, since you have come to know [the true] God [through personal experience], or rather to be known by God, how is it that you are turning back again to the weak and worthless elemental principles [of religions and philosophies], to which you want to be enslaved all over again?

Now where are those good feelings you had for me? For I can [honestly] testify that [at one time] you would have even gouged out your eyes and given them to me [for sight] if that had been possible.

Can it be that I have become your enemy through speaking the truth to you?

Now it is fine for you to be made much of honestly and all the time ??not simply when I can be with you.

Tell me, you who are keen to be under the Law, will you not listen to the Law?

Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation].

Ye are gone quite from Christ as many as are justified by the law, and are fallen from grace.

A little bit of yeast permeates the whole batch of dough [i.e., a few people can influence everyone else to do the wrong thing in this matter].

For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.

For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, "You must love your neighbor as yourself."

For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the desire of the Spirit is against flesh; and these are opposed, the one to the other, so that you can not do what you would.

gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another.

These men who are keen upon you getting circumcised are just men who want to make a grand display in the flesh ??it is simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

Why, not even those who are circumcised obey the Law! They simply want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your external appearance.

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you a spirit [i.e., a disposition] of wisdom and revelation [or, "give you the spiritual gifts of wisdom and revelation"], so you can have full knowledge of God.

And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people),

and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion [whether angelic or human], and [far above] every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and world but also in the one to come.

not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;

May you be so fixed and founded in love that you can grasp with all the saints what is the meaning of 'the Breadth,' 'the Length,' 'the Depth' and 'the Height,'

Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us

wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' --

(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had previously descended [from the heights of heaven] into the lower parts of the earth?

It is he who went down who has also gone up above all the heavens, to fill the universe.

But [instead], we should speak [and practice] truth in a loving way, so that we can, in all respects, grow up [spiritually] into [union with] Christ, who is the head [i.e., of His body, the church].

He who has been a thief must steal no more, but, instead of that, should work with his own hands in honest industry, so that he may have something of which he can give the needy a share.

Do not allow unwholesome [Note: The Greek word for "unwholesome" is "rotten, diseased"] language to come from your mouth, but only what is helpful for building up those who need it, so that you can impart favor [i.e., benefit] to those who listen [to you].

For be sure of this: no immoral, impure, or greedy person—for that one is [in effect] an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a person places a higher value on something other than God].

Take no part in deeds of Darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them.

But everything can be tested by the light and thus be shown in its true colors; for whatever shines of itself is light.

Do not serve them only when you are being watched, just to gain their approval, but as slaves of Christ, doing what God wants from your heart.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that you can withstand [the devil, See verse 11] when the evil day comes. And, after you have done everything you can, still remain standing firm [in the faith].