2 Corinthians 1:1-24
1 "Paul,
an apostle of CHRIST
JESUS by the will of GOD, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of GOD in Corinth, together with all HIS holy people
throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from GOD OUR FATHER and the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
3 Praise be to the GOD and FATHER
of OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST, THE FATHER OF COMPASSION and THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT,
4 WHO comforts us in all our
troubles, so that WE can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort WE
ourselves receive from GOD.
5 For just as we share abundantly in
the sufferings of CHRIST, so
also our comfort abounds through CHRIST.
6 If we are distressed, it is for YOUR COMFORT AND SALVATION; if
we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient
endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And OUR HOPE for you is firm, because we
know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in OUR COMFORT.
8 We do not want you to be
uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in
the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability
to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.
9 Indeed, we felt we had received
the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves
but on GOD, who
raises the dead.
10 HE has delivered us from such a
deadly peril, and HE will deliver us again. On HIM we have set OUR HOPE that HE
will continue to deliver us,
11 as you help us by your
prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious
favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
12 Now this is our boast: Our
conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and
especially in our relations with you, with integrity and GODLY
sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on GOD’S GRACE.
13 For we do not write you anything
you cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
14 as you have understood us in part,
you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will
boast of you in the day of THE LORD JESUS.
15 Because I was confident of this, I
wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice.
16 I wanted to visit you on my
way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to
have you send me on my way to Judea.
17 Was I fickle when I intended to do
this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath
I say both
“Yes,
yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as surely 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 Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes”
and “No,” but in HIM it has always been “Yes.”
20 For no matter how many
promises GOD has made, they are “Yes” in CHRIST. And so through HIM the
“Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of GOD.
21 Now it is GOD WHO makes both us
and you stand firm in CHRIST. HE anointed us,
22 set HIS SEAL OF OWNERSHIP on us,
and put HIS SPIRIT in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call GOD as MY WITNESS—and I stake my life on it—that it
was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
24 Not that we lord it over YOUR FAITH, but we
work with you for YOUR
JOY, because it is by FAITH you stand firm.”
