Category: 2 Corinthians

[7:2] Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one; we have ruined no one, nor tried to take advantage of anyone.

[7:3] I do not say this to condemn you; for, as I have said before, you are so dear to us that we are always together, whether we live or die.

[7:4] I am so sure of you; I take such pride in you! In all our troubles I am still full of courage; I am running over with joy.

[7:5] Even after we arrived in Macedonia, we did not have any rest. There were troubles everywhere, quarrels with others, fears in our hearts.

[7:6] But God, who encourages the downhearted, encouraged us with the coming of Titus.

[7:7] It was not only his coming that cheered us, but also his report of how you encouraged him. He told us how much you want to see me, how sorry you are, how ready you are to defend me; and so I am even happier now.

[7:8] For even if that letter of mine made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote it. I could have been sorry when I saw that it made you sad for a while.

[7:9] But now I am happy—not because I made you sad, but because your sadness made you change your ways. That sadness was used by God, and so we caused you no harm.

[7:10] For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation—and there is no regret in that! But sadness that is merely human causes death.

[7:11] See what God did with this sadness of yours: how earnest it has made you, how eager to prove your innocence! Such indignation, such alarm, such feelings, such devotion, such readiness to punish wrongdoing! You have shown yourselves to be without fault in the whole matter.

[7:12] So, even though I wrote that letter, it was not because of the one who did wrong or the one who was wronged. Instead, I wrote it to make plain to you, in God's sight, how deep your devotion to us really is.

[7:13] That is why we were encouraged. Not only were we encouraged; how happy Titus made us with his happiness over the way in which all of you helped to cheer him up!

[7:14] I did boast of you to him, and you have not disappointed me. We have always spoken the truth to you, and in the same way the boast we made to Titus has proved true.

[7:15] And so his love for you grows stronger, as he remembers how all of you were ready to obey his instructions, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

[7:16] How happy I am that I can depend on you completely!

[8:1] Our friends, we want you to know what God's grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia.

[8:2] They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor.

[8:3] I can assure you that they gave as much as they could, and even more than they could. Of their own free will

[8:4] they begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God's people in Judea.

[8:5] It was more than we could have hoped for! First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God's will they gave themselves to us as well.

[8:6] So we urged Titus, who began this work, to continue it and help you complete this special service of love.

[8:7] You are so rich in all you have: in faith, speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to help and in your love for us. And so we want you to be generous also in this service of love.

[8:8] I am not laying down any rules. But by showing how eager others are to help, I am trying to find out how real your own love is.

[8:9] You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

[8:10] My opinion is that it is better for you to finish now what you began last year. You were the first, not only to act, but also to be willing to act.

[8:11] On with it, then, and finish the job! Be as eager to finish it as you were to plan it, and do it with what you now have.

[8:12] If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.

[8:15] As the scripture says, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

[8:16] How we thank God for making Titus as eager as we are to help you!

[8:17] Not only did he welcome our request; he was so eager to help that of his own free will he decided to go to you.

[8:18] With him we are sending the brother who is highly respected in all the churches for his work in preaching the gospel.

[8:19] And besides that, he has been chosen and appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this service of love for the sake of the Lord's glory and in order to show that we want to help.

[8:20] We are being careful not to stir up any complaints about the way we handle this generous gift.

[8:21] Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.

[8:22] So we are sending our brother with them; we have tested him many times and found him always very eager to help. And now that he has so much confidence in you, he is all the more eager to help.

[8:23] As for Titus, he is my partner and works with me to help you; as for the other brothers who are going with him, they represent the churches and bring glory to Christ.

[8:24] Show your love to them, so that all the churches will be sure of it and know that we are right in boasting about you.

[9:1] There is really no need for me to write you about the help being sent to God's people in Judea.

[9:2] I know that you are willing to help, and I have boasted of you to the people in Macedonia. “The believers in Achaia,” I said, “have been ready to help since last year.” Your eagerness has stirred up most of them.

[9:3] Now I am sending these believers, so that our boasting about you in this matter may not turn out to be empty words. But, just as I said, you will be ready with your help.

[9:4] However, if the people from Macedonia should come with me and find out that you are not ready, how ashamed we would be—not to speak of your shame—for feeling so sure of you!

[9:5] So I thought it was necessary to urge these believers to go to you ahead of me and get ready in advance the gift you promised to make. Then it will be ready when I arrive, and it will show that you give because you want to, not because you have to.

[9:6] Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop.

[9:7] You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly.

[9:8] And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.

[9:9] As the scripture says, “He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever.”

[9:10] And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.

[9:11] He will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times, so that many will thank God for your gifts which they receive from us.

[9:12] For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God's people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.

[9:13] And because of the proof which this service of yours brings, many will give glory to God for your loyalty to the gospel of Christ, which you profess, and for your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.

[9:14] And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.

[9:15] Let us thank God for his priceless gift!

[10:1] I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you—I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ

[10:2] I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives.

[10:3] It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives.

[10:4] The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments;

[10:5] we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.

[10:6] And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.

[10:7] You are looking at the outward appearance of things. Are there some there who reckon themselves to belong to Christ? Well, let them think again about themselves, because we belong to Christ just as much as they do.

[10:8] For I am not ashamed, even if I have boasted somewhat too much about the authority that the Lord has given us—authority to build you up, not to tear you down.

[10:9] I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters.

[10:10] Someone will say, “Paul's letters are severe and strong, but when he is with us in person, he is weak, and his words are nothing!”

[10:11] Such a person must understand that there is no difference between what we write in our letters when we are away and what we will do when we are there with you.

[10:12] Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!

[10:13] As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you.

[10:14] And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ.

[10:15] So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set.

[10:16] Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.

[10:17] But as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done.”

[10:18] For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.

[11:1] I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do!

[11:2] I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.

[11:3] I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ—in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies.

[11:4] For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!

[11:5] I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called “apostles” of yours!

[11:6] Perhaps I am an amateur in speaking, but certainly not in knowledge; we have made this clear to you at all times and in all conditions.

[11:7] I did not charge you a thing when I preached the Good News of God to you; I humbled myself in order to make you important. Was that wrong of me?

[11:8] While I was working among you, I was paid by other churches. I was robbing them, so to speak, in order to help you.

[11:9] And during the time I was with you I did not bother you for help when I needed money; the believers who came from Macedonia brought me everything I needed. As in the past, so in the future: I will never be a burden to you!

[11:10] By Christ's truth in me, I promise that this boast of mine will not be silenced anywhere in all of Achaia.

[11:11] Do I say this because I don't love you? God knows I love you!

[11:12] I will go on doing what I am doing now, in order to keep those other “apostles” from having any reason for boasting and saying that they work in the same way that we do.

[11:13] Those men are not true apostles—they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ.

[11:14] Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!

[11:15] So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.

[11:16] I repeat: no one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, just so I will have a little to boast of.

[11:17] Of course what I am saying now is not what the Lord would have me say; in this matter of boasting I am really talking like a fool.

[11:18] But since there are so many who boast for merely human reasons, I will do the same.

[11:19] You yourselves are so wise, and so you gladly tolerate fools!

[11:20] You tolerate anyone who orders you around or takes advantage of you or traps you or looks down on you or slaps you in the face.

[11:21] I am ashamed to admit that we were too timid to do those things! But if anyone dares to boast about something—I am talking like a fool—I will be just as daring.

[11:22] Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.

[11:23] Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman—but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often.

[11:24] Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews;

[11:25] three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water.

[11:26] In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends.

[11:27] There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing.

[11:28] And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

[11:29] When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.

[11:30] If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.

[11:31] The God and Father of the Lord Jesus—blessed be his name forever!—knows that I am not lying.

[11:32] When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me.

[11:33] But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.

[12:1] I have to boast, even though it doesn't do any good. But I will now talk about visions and revelations given me by the Lord.

[12:2] I know a certain Christian man who fourteen years ago was snatched up to the highest heaven (I do not know whether this actually happened or whether he had a vision—only God knows).

[12:5] So I will boast about this man—but I will not boast about myself, except the things that show how weak I am.

[12:6] If I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will not boast, because I do not want any of you to have a higher opinion of me than you have as a result of what you have seen me do and heard me say.

[12:7] But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.

[12:8] Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away.

[12:9] But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me.

[12:10] I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

[12:11] I am acting like a fool—but you have made me do it. You are the ones who ought to show your approval of me. For even if I am nothing, I am in no way inferior to those very special “apostles” of yours.

[12:12] The many miracles and wonders that prove that I am an apostle were performed among you with much patience.

[12:13] How were you treated any worse than the other churches, except that I did not bother you for financial help? Please forgive me for being so unfair!

[12:14] This is now the third time that I am ready to come to visit you—and I will not make any demands on you. It is you I want, not your money. After all, children should not have to provide for their parents, but parents should provide for their children.

[12:15] I will be glad to spend all I have, and myself as well, in order to help you. Will you love me less because I love you so much?

[12:16] You will agree, then, that I was not a burden to you. But someone will say that I was tricky, and trapped you with lies.

[12:17] How? Did I take advantage of you through any of the messengers I sent?

[12:18] I begged Titus to go, and I sent the other believer with him. Would you say that Titus took advantage of you? Do not he and I act from the very same motives and behave in the same way?

[12:19] Perhaps you think that all along we have been trying to defend ourselves before you. No! We speak as Christ would have us speak in the presence of God, and everything we do, dear friends, is done to help you.

[12:20] I am afraid that when I get there I will find you different from what I would like you to be and you will find me different from what you would like me to be. I am afraid that I will find quarreling and jealousy, hot tempers and selfishness, insults and gossip, pride and disorder.

[12:21] I am afraid that the next time I come my God will humiliate me in your presence, and I shall weep over many who sinned in the past and have not repented of the immoral things they have done—their lust and their sexual sins.