New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia:
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Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the purpose of God, and Timothy the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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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 consolation,
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort;
4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
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Who gives us comfort in all our troubles, so that we may be able to give comfort to others who are in trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
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For as we undergo more of the pain which Christ underwent, so through Christ does our comfort become greater.
6 If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
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But if we are troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which takes effect through your quiet undergoing of the same troubles which we undergo:
7 Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
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And our hope for you is certain; in the knowledge that as you take part in the troubles, so you will take part in the comfort.
8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.
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For it is our desire that you may not be without knowledge of our trouble which came on us in Asia, that the weight of it was very great, more than our power, so that it seemed that we had no hope even of life:
9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
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Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead:
10 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,
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Who gave us salvation from so great a death: on whom we have put our hope that he will still go on to give us salvation;
11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
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You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.
12 Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you.
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For our glory is in this, in the knowledge which we have that our way of life in the world, and most of all in relation to you, has been holy and true in the eyes of God; not in the wisdom of the flesh, but in the grace of God.
13 For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end—
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For in our letters we say no other things to you, but those which you are reading, and to which you give agreement, and, it is my hope, will go on doing so to the end:
14 as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.
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Even as you have been ready, in part, to say that we are your glory, in the same way that you are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;
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And being certain of this, it was my purpose to come to you before, so that you might have a second grace;
16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.
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And by way of Corinth to go into Macedonia, and from there to come back again to you, so that you might send me on my way to Judaea.
17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time?
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If then I had such a purpose, did I seem to be changing suddenly? or am I guided in my purposes by the flesh, saying, Yes, today, and, No, tomorrow?
18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No."
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As God is true, our word to you is not Yes and No.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes."
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For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we were preaching among you, even I and Silvanus and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in him is Yes.
20 For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes." For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God.
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For he is the Yes to all the undertakings of God: and by him all the words of God are made certain and put into effect, to the glory of God through us.
21 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,
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Now he who makes our faith strong together with you, in Christ, and has given us of his grace, is God;
22 by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
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And it is he who has put his stamp on us, even the Spirit, as the sign in our hearts of the coming glory.
23 But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.
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But God is my witness that it was in pity for you that I did not come to Corinth at that time.
24 I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith.
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Not that we have authority over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy: for it is faith which is your support.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.