2 Corinthians 1; 2 Corinthians 2; 2 Corinthians 3; 2 Corinthians 4

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Timothy our brother. To God's church in the city of Corinth and to all God's holy people everywhere in Greece.

2 Good will and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who is compassionate and the God who gives comfort.

4 He comforts us whenever we suffer. That is why whenever other people suffer, we are able to comfort them by using the same comfort we have received from God.

5 Because Christ suffered so much for us, we can receive so much comfort from him.

6 Besides, if we suffer, it brings you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, we can effectively comfort you when you endure the same sufferings that we endure.

7 We have confidence in you. We know that as you share our sufferings, you also share our comfort.

8 Brothers and sisters, we don't want you to be ignorant about the suffering we experienced in the province of Asia. It was so extreme that it was beyond our ability to endure. We even wondered if we could go on living.

9 In fact, we still feel as if we're under a death sentence. But we suffered so that we would stop trusting ourselves and learn to trust God, who brings the dead back to life.

10 He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will rescue us in the future. We are confident that he will continue to rescue us,

11 since you are also joining to help us when you pray for us. Then many people will thank God for the favor he will show us because many people prayed for us.

12 We are proud that our conscience is clear. We are proud of the way that we have lived in this world. We have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity, especially toward you. It was not by human wisdom that we have lived but by God's kindness.

13 We are only writing you what you already knew before you read this. I hope you will understand this as long as you live,

14 even though you now understand it only partially. We are your reason to be proud, as you will be our reason to be proud on the day of our Lord Jesus.

15 Confident of this, I had previously wanted to visit you so that you could benefit twice.

16 My plans had been to go from the city of Corinth to the province of Macedonia. Then from Macedonia I had planned to return to you again in Corinth and have you support my trip to Judea.

17 You don't think that I made these plans lightly, do you? Do you think that when I make plans, I make them in a sinful way? Why would I say that something is true when it isn't?

18 You can depend on God. Our message to you isn't false; it's true.

19 God's Son, Jesus Christ, whom I, Silvanus, and Timothy told you about, was true not false. Because of him our message was always true.

20 Certainly, Christ made God's many promises come true. For that reason, because of our message, people also honor God by saying, "Amen!"

21 God establishes us, together with you, in a relationship with Christ. He has also anointed us.

22 In addition, he has put his seal [of ownership] on us and has given us the Spirit as his guarantee.

23 I appeal to God as a witness on my behalf, that I stayed away from Corinth because I wanted to spare you.

24 It isn't that we want to have control over your Christian faith. Rather, we want to work with you so that you will be happy. Certainly, you are firmly established in the Christian faith.

1 I decided not to visit you again while I was distressed.

2 After all, if I had made you uncomfortable, how could you have cheered me up when you were uncomfortable?

3 This is the very reason I wrote to you. I didn't want to visit you and be distressed by those who should make me happy. I'm confident about all of you that whatever makes me happy also makes you happy.

4 I was deeply troubled and anguished. In fact, I had tears in my eyes when I wrote to you. I didn't write to make you uncomfortable but to let you know how much I love you.

5 If someone caused distress, I'm not the one really affected. To some extent--although I don't want to emphasize this too much--it has affected all of you.

6 The majority of you have imposed a severe enough punishment on that person.

7 So now forgive and comfort him. Such distress could overwhelm someone like that if he's not forgiven and comforted.

8 That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him.

9 I had also written to you to test you. I wanted to see if you would be obedient in every way.

10 If you forgive someone, so do I. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did in the presence of Christ for your benefit.

11 I don't want Satan to outwit us. After all, we are not ignorant about Satan's scheming.

12 When I went to the city of Troas, the Lord gave me an opportunity to spread the Good News about Christ.

13 But I didn't have any peace of mind, because I couldn't find Titus, our brother, there. So I said goodbye to the people in Troas and went to the province of Macedonia.

14 But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It's like a fragrance that fills the air.

15 To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and among those who are dying.

16 To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a life-giving fragrance. Who is qualified to tell about Christ?

17 At least we don't go around selling an impure word of God like many others. The opposite is true. As Christ's spokesmen and in God's presence, we speak the pure message that comes from God.

1 Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others?

2 You're our letter of recommendation written in our hearts that everyone knows and reads.

3 It's clear that you are Christ's letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Christ gives us confidence about you in God's presence.

5 By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified.

6 He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise, a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life.

7 The ministry that brought death was inscribed on stone. Yet, it came with such glory that the people of Israel couldn't look at Moses' face. His face was shining with glory, even though that glory was fading.

8 Won't the ministry that brings the Spirit have even more glory?

9 If the ministry that brings punishment has glory, then the ministry that brings God's approval has an overwhelming glory.

10 In fact, the ministry that brings punishment lost its glory because of the superior glory of the other ministry.

11 If that former ministry faded away despite its glory, how much more does that ministry which remains continue to be glorious?

12 Since we have confidence [in the new promise], we speak very boldly.

13 We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn't want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away.

14 However, their minds became closed. In fact, to this day the same veil is still there when they read the Old Testament. It isn't removed, because only Christ can remove it.

15 Yet, even today, when they read the books of Moses, a veil covers their minds.

16 But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

17 This Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Lord's Spirit is, there is freedom.

18 As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

1 We don't become discouraged, since God has given us this ministry through his mercy.

2 Instead, we have refused to use secret and shameful ways. We don't use tricks, and we don't distort God's word. As God watches, we clearly reveal the truth to everyone. This is our [letter of] recommendation.

3 So if the Good News that we tell others is covered with a veil, it is hidden from those who are dying.

4 The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. As a result, they don't see the light of the Good News about Christ's glory. It is Christ who is God's image.

5 Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Jesus Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake.

6 We are his servants because the same God who said that light should shine out of darkness has given us light. For that reason we bring to light the knowledge about God's glory which shines from Christ's face.

7 Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn't come from us.

8 In every way we're troubled, but we aren't crushed by our troubles. We're frustrated, but we don't give up.

9 We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned. We're captured, but we're not killed.

10 We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our bodies.

11 While we are alive, we are constantly handed over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our mortal nature.

12 Death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 The following is written, "I believed; therefore, I spoke." We have that same spirit of faith. We also believe; therefore, we also speak.

14 We know that the one who brought the Lord Jesus back to life will also bring us back to life through Jesus. He will present us to God together with you.

15 All this is for your sake so that, as God's kindness overflows in the lives of many people, it will produce even more thanksgiving to the glory of God.

16 That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day.

17 Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine.

18 We don't look for things that can be seen but for things that can't be seen. Things that can be seen are only temporary. But things that can't be seen last forever.