2 Corinthians 1; 2 Corinthians 2; 2 Corinthians 3; 2 Corinthians 4; 2 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 6; 2 Corinthians 7; 2 Corinthians 8; 2 Corinthians 9; 2 Corinthians 10; 2 Corinthians 11; 2 Corinthians 12; 2 Corinthians 13

2 Corinthians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother: To God's church at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

5 For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so our comfort overflows through Christ.

6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in the endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.

7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort.

8 For we don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in the province of Asia: we were completely overwhelmed-beyond our strength-so that we even despaired of life.

9 However, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

10 He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and He will deliver us; we have placed our hope in Him that He will deliver us again.

11 And you can join in helping with prayer for us, so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift that came to us through [the prayers of] many.

12 For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God's grace.

13 Now we are writing you nothing other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely-

14 as you have partially understood us-that we are your reason for pride, as you are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

15 In this confidence, I planned to come to you first, so you could have a double benefit,

16 and to go on to Macedonia with your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you on my journey to Judea.

17 So when I planned this, was I irresponsible? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human way so that I say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" [simultaneously]?

18 As God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes and no."

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us-by me and Silvanus and Timothy-did not become "Yes and no"; on the contrary, "Yes" has come about in Him.

20 For every one of God's promises is "Yes" in Him. Therefore the "Amen" is also through Him for God's glory through us.

21 Now the One who confirms us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God;

22 He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.

23 I call on God as a witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth.

24 Not that we have control of your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand by faith.

2 Corinthians 2

1 In fact, I made up my mind about this: not to come to you on another painful visit.

2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one hurt?

3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn't have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy is yours.

4 For out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart I wrote to you with many tears-not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

5 If anyone has caused pain, he has not caused pain to me, but in some degree-not to exaggerate-to all of you.

6 The punishment by the majority is sufficient for such a person,

7 so now you should forgive and comfort him instead; otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.

8 Therefore I urge you to confirm your love to him.

9 It was for this purpose I wrote: so I may know your proven character, if you are obedient in everything.

10 Now to whom you forgive anything, I do too. For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for you in the presence of Christ,

11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his intentions.

12 When I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, a door was opened to me by the Lord.

13 I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus, but I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him.

15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

16 To some we are a scent of death leading to death, but to others, a scent of life leading to life. And who is competent for this?

17 For we are not like the many who make a trade in God's message [for profit], but as those with sincerity, we speak in Christ, as from God and before God.

2 Corinthians 3

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or like some, do we need letters of recommendation to you or from you?

2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone,

3 since it is plain that you are Christ's letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

4 We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ:

5 not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.

6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.

7 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look directly at Moses' face because of the glory from his face-a fading [glory]-

8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory.

10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious in this case because of the glory that surpasses it.

11 For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness-

13 not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel could not look at the end of what was fading away.

14 But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside [only] in Christ.

15 However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts,

16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

18 We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4

1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up.

2 Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God's message, but in God's sight we commend ourselves to every person's conscience by an open display of the truth.

3 But if, in fact, our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4 Regarding them: 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.

5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus.

6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness"-He has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

8 We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair;

9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.

10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11 For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

12 So death works in us, but life in you.

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in accordance with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak,

14 knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and present us with you.

15 For all this is because of you, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to God's glory.

16 Therefore we do not give up; even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 5

1 For we know that if our earthly house, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 And, in fact, we groan in this one, longing to put on our house from heaven,

3 since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

4 Indeed, we who are in this tent groan, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

5 And the One who prepared us for this very thing is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

6 Therefore, though we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight-

8 yet we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord.

9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Knowing, then, the fear of the Lord, we persuade people. We are completely open before God, and I hope we are completely open to your consciences as well.

12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in the outward appearance rather than in the heart.

13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we have a sound mind, it is for you.

14 For Christ's love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died.

15 And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him like that.

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.

18 Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God."

21 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 6

1 Working together with Him, we also appeal to you: "Don't receive God's grace in vain."

2 For He says: In an acceptable time, I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you. Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation.

3 We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will not be blamed.

4 But in everything, as God's ministers, we commend ourselves: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardship, by pressures,

5 by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger,

6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,

7 by the message of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness on the right hand and the left,

8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; as deceivers yet true;

9 as unknown yet recognized; as dying and look-we live; as being chastened yet not killed;

10 as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide.

12 You are not limited by us, but you are limited by your own affections.

13 Now in like response-I speak as to children-you also should be open to us.

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

16 And what agreement does God's sanctuary have with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.

18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 7

1 Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God.

2 Take us into your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted no one, defrauded no one.

3 I don't say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

4 I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overcome with joy in all our afflictions.

5 In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were afflicted in every way: struggles on the outside, fears inside.

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

7 and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort he received from you. He announced to us your deep longing, your sorrow, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

8 For although I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it-even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, though only for a little while.

9 Now I am rejoicing, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn't experience any loss from us.

10 For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death.

11 For consider how much diligence this very thing-this grieving as God wills-has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you have commended yourselves to be pure in this matter.

12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your diligence for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

13 For this reason we have been comforted. In addition to our comfort, we were made to rejoice even more over the joy Titus had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you.

14 For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been embarrassed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.

15 And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling.

16 I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.

2 Corinthians 8

1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches of Macedonia:

2 during a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity.

3 I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability,

4 they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,

5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God's will.

6 So we urged Titus that, just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you.

7 Now as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us-excel also in this grace.

8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: although He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

10 Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it.

11 But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have.

12 For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

13 It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality-

14 at the present time your surplus is [available] for their need, so that their abundance may also become [available] for your need, that there may be equality.

15 As it has been written: The person who gathered much did not have too much, and the person who gathered little did not have too little.

16 Thanks be to God who put the same diligence for you into the heart of Titus.

17 For he accepted our urging and, being very diligent, went out to you by his own choice.

18 With him we have sent the brother who is praised throughout the churches for his gospel ministry.

19 And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness [to help].

20 We are taking this precaution so no one can find fault with us concerning this large sum administered by us.

21 For we are making provision for what is honorable, not only before the Lord but also before men.

22 We have also sent with them our brother whom we have often tested, in many circumstances, and found diligent-and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

23 As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker serving you; as for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

24 Therefore, before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our boasting about you.

2 Corinthians 9

1 Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you.

2 For I know your eagerness, and I brag about you to the Macedonians: "Achaia has been prepared since last year," and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

3 But I sent the brothers so our boasting about you in the matter would not prove empty, and so you would be prepared just as I said.

4 For if any Macedonians should come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be embarrassed in that situation.

5 Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not an extortion.

6 Remember this: the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart-not out of regret or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

9 As it is written: He has scattered; He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.

10 Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness,

11 as you are enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God.

13 Through the proof of this service, they will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others.

14 And in their prayers for you they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God on you.

15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

2 Corinthians 10

1 Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ-I who am humble among you in person, but bold toward you when absent.

2 I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are walking in a fleshly way.

3 For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way,

4 since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments

5 and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

7 Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

8 For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed.

9 I don't want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters.

10 For it is said, "His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak, and his public speaking is despicable."

11 Such a person should consider this: what we are in the words of our letters when absent, we will be in actions when present.

12 For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but according to the measure of the area [of ministry] that God has assigned to us, [which] reaches even to you.

14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.

15 We are not bragging beyond measure about other people's labors. But we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area [of ministry] will be greatly enlarged,

16 so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else's area [of ministry].

17 So the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.

18 For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 11

1 I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me.

2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband-to present a pure virgin to Christ.

3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

4 For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!

5 Now I consider myself in no way inferior to the "super-apostles."

6 Though untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not [untrained] in knowledge. Indeed, we have always made that clear to you in everything.

7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

8 I robbed other churches by taking pay [from them] to minister to you.

9 When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.

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

11 Why? Because I don't love you? God knows I do!

12 But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to cut off the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in what they are boasting about.

13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

14 And no wonder! For Satan himself is disguised as an angel of light.

15 So it is no great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their destiny will be according to their works.

16 I repeat: no one should consider me a fool. But if [you do], at least accept me as a fool, so I too may boast a little.

17 What I say in this matter of boasting, I don't speak as the Lord would, but foolishly.

18 Since many boast from a human perspective, I will also boast.

19 For you gladly put up with fools since you are so smart!

20 In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone captures you, if someone dominates you, or if someone hits you in the face.

21 I say this to [our] shame: we have been weak. But in whatever anyone dares [to boast]-I am talking foolishly-I also dare:

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.

23 Are they servants of Christ? I'm talking like a madman-I'm a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, near death many times.

24 Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one.

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea.

26 On frequent journeys, [I faced] dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers;

27 labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.

28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches.

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

30 If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses.

31 The eternally blessed One, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, knows I am not lying.

32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas 40), a Nabatean Arab king guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me,

33 so I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

2 Corinthians 12

1 It is necessary to boast; it is not helpful, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven 14 years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don't know; God knows.

3 I know that this man-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-

4 was caught up into paradise. He heard inexpressible words, which a man is not allowed to speak.

5 I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

6 For if I want to boast, I will not be a fool, because I will be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,

7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.

8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.

9 But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.

10 So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

11 I have become a fool; you forced it on me. I ought to have been recommended by you, since I am in no way inferior to the "super-apostles," even though I am nothing.

12 The signs of an apostle were performed among you in all endurance-not only signs but also wonders and miracles.

13 So in what way were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

14 Look! I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, for I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

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

16 Now granted, I have not burdened you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit!

17 Did I take advantage of you by anyone I sent you?

18 I urged Titus [to come], and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Didn't we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

19 You have thought all along that we were defending ourselves to you. [No], in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and I may not be found by you to be what you want; there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, sexual immorality, and promiscuity they practiced.

2 Corinthians 13

1 This is the third time I am coming to you. On the testimony of two or three witnesses every word will be confirmed.

2 I gave warning, and I give warning-as when I was present the second time, so now while I am absent-to those who sinned before and to all the rest: if I come again, I will not be lenient,

3 since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is not weak toward you, but powerful among you.

4 In fact, He was crucified in weakness, but He lives by God's power. For we also are weak in Him, yet toward you we will live with Him by God's power.

5 Test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless you fail the test.

6 And I hope you will recognize that we are not failing the test.

7 Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong, not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we [may appear] to fail.

8 For we are not able to do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

9 In fact, we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray for this: your maturity.

10 This is why I am writing these things while absent, that when I am there I will not use severity, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be restored, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

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