who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

[I do this] so that Satan cannot take advantage of us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.

We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ.

Not that we are sufficiently qualified in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency and qualifications come from God.

For if the ministering of death, by means of a covenant that was written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the sons of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses, on ac count of the glory of his face, which glory was to come to an end:

In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

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.

All this comes from God, who through Christ has reconciled me to himself, and has commissioned me to proclaim this reconciliation??19 how God through Christ reconciled the world to himself, refusing to count men's offenses against them, and intrusted me with the message of reconciliation.

In a clean heart, in knowledge, in long waiting, in being kind, in the Holy Spirit, in true love,

O Corinthians, my heart is so full, my tongue cannot be silent:

Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak as unto my children), be ye also enlarged.

For even if I did hurt your feelings with that letter, I cannot regret it; even if I did regret it, when I saw that the letter had hurt your feelings perhaps for a while,

And we have sent [i.e., are sending] with him the brother who is praised throughout all the churches for [his work in] preaching the Gospel [Note: This "brother" cannot be identified with any certainty].

Moreover God is able to cause, every gracious gift, to superabound unto you, in order that, having in every thing, at every time, every kind of sufficiency of your own, ye may be superabounding unto every good work;

In every thing, being enriched, unto every kind of liberality, - which, indeed, worketh out, through us, thanksgiving unto God;

yea, I beseech you, that I may not when present show courage with the confidence wherewith I count to be bold against some, who count of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

Let such a one count upon this, that such as we are in word by letters when absent, such will we be also in deed when present.

For we cannot find in our hearts to make ourselves of the number of them, or to compare ourselves to them, which laud themselves. Nevertheless, while they measure themselves with themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they understand nought.

We will not boast about what cannot be evaluated. Instead, we will stay within the field that God assigned us, so as to reach even you.

We are not boasting about work done by others that cannot be evaluated. On the contrary, we cherish the hope that your faith may continue to grow and enlarge our sphere of action among you until it overflows.

I count myself indeed to be in no respect inferior to the very greatest of the apostles.

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

was snatched away to Paradise and heard things that cannot be expressed in words, things that no human being has a right even to mention.

Put yourselves to the proof, to see whether you are holding to the Faith. Test yourselves. Surely you recognize this fact about yourselves--that Jesus Christ is in you! Unless indeed you cannot stand the test!

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.