2 Corinthians 1-4

New American Standard Bible

Introduction

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)by the will of God, and our brother ^(D)Timothy,

To ^(E)the church of God which is at ^(F)Corinth with all the ^[a]saints who are throughout ^(G)Achaia:

^2 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

^3 (I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(J)God of all comfort, ⁴ who ^(K)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in ^[b]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For just ^(L)as the sufferings of Christ are ^[c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ⁶ But if we are afflicted, it is ^(M)for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; ⁷ and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that ^(N)as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

⁸ For ^(O)we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our ^(P)affliction which occurred in ^[d](Q)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. ^9 [e]Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰ who ^(R)rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He ^[f](S)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, ¹¹ if you also join in ^(T)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by ^(U)many persons in our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Integrity

¹² For our ^[g]proud confidence is this: the testimony of ^(V)our conscience, that in holiness and ^(W)godly sincerity, ^(X)not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. ¹³ For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand ^(Y)until the end; ¹⁴ just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on ^(Z)the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ In this confidence I intended at first to ^(AA)come to you, so that you might ^[h]twice receive a ^[i](AB)blessing; ^16 [j]that is, to ^(AC)pass ^[k]your way into ^(AD)Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be ^(AE)helped on my journey to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide ^(AF)according to the flesh, so that with me there will be ^[l]yes, yes and no, no at the same time? ¹⁸ But as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you is not yes and no. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and ^(AJ)Silvanus and ^(AK)Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes ^(AL)in Him. ²⁰ For ^(AM)as many as the promises of God are, ^(AN)in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is ^(AO)our Amen to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who ^(AP)establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AQ)anointed us is God, ²² who also ^(AR)sealed us and ^(AS)gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a ^[m]pledge.

²³ But ^(AT)I call God as witness to my soul, that it was ^(AU)to spare you that I did not come again to ^(AV)Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(AW)domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are ^(AX)standing firm.

Reaffirm Your Love

2 But I decided this ^[n]for my own sake, that I ^(AY)would not come to you in sorrow again. ² For if I ^(AZ)cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? ³ This is the very thing I ^(BA)wrote you, so that ^(BB)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having ^(BC)confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all. ⁴ For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I ^(BD)wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

⁵ But ^(BE)if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—^[o]not to say too much—for all of you. ⁶ Sufficient for such a person is ^(BF)this punishment which was imposed by the majority, ⁷ so that on the other hand, you should rather ^(BG)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For to this end ^(BH)I also wrote, so that I might ^[p](BI)put you to the test, whether you are ^(BJ)obedient in all things. ¹⁰ But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes ^(BK)in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that no advantage would be taken of us by ^(BL)Satan, for ^(BM)we are not ignorant of his schemes.

¹² Now when I came to ^(BN)Troas for the ^(BO)gospel of Christ and when a ^(BP)door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ I ^(BQ)had no rest for my spirit, not finding ^(BR)Titus my brother; but ^(BS)saying goodbye to them, I went on to ^(BT)Macedonia.

^14 (BU)But thanks be to God, who always ^(BV)leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the ^(BW)fragrance of the ^(BX)knowledge of Him in every place. ¹⁵ For we are a ^(BY)fragrance of Christ to God among ^(BZ)those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: ^16 (CA)to the one an ^[q]aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is ^(CB)adequate for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not like the many, ^[r](CC)peddling the word of God, but ^(CD)as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ ^(CE)in the sight of God.

Ministers of a New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to ^(CF)commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^(CG)letters of commendation to you or from you? ^2 (CH)You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, ³ revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, ^[s](CI)delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(CJ)the living God, not on ^(CK)tablets of stone but on ^(CL)tablets of ^[t](CM)human hearts.

⁴ Such is the ^(CN)confidence we have toward God through Christ. ⁵ Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but ^(CO)our adequacy is from God, ⁶ who also made us adequate as ^(CP)servants of a ^(CQ)new covenant, not of ^(CR)the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^(CS)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ But if the ^(CT)ministry of death, engraved ^(CU)in letters on stones, came ^[u]with glory ^(CV)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? ⁹ For if ^(CW)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^(CX)ministry of righteousness excel in glory. ¹⁰ For indeed what had glory in this case has no glory, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if that which fades away was ^[v]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

^12 (CY)Therefore, having such a hope, ^(CZ)we use great boldness in our speech, ¹³ and we are not like Moses, ^(DA)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not stare at the end of what was fading away. ¹⁴ But their minds were ^(DB)hardened; for until this very day at the ^(DC)reading of ^(DD)the old covenant the same veil ^[w]remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. ¹⁵ But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts; ^16 (DE)but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^(DF)the Spirit of the Lord is, ^(DG)there is freedom. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled faces, ^(DH)looking as in a mirror at the ^(DI)glory of the Lord, are being ^(DJ)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^(DK)the Lord, the Spirit.

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(DL)ministry, as we ^(DM)received mercy, we ^(DN)do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced the ^(DO)things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor ^(DP)distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth ^(DQ)commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our ^(DR)gospel is ^(DS)veiled, it is veiled ^[x]to ^(DT)those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case ^(DU)the god of ^(DV)this ^[y]world has ^(DW)blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that ^[z]they will not see the ^(DX)light of the gospel of the ^(DY)glory of Christ, who is the ^(DZ)image of God. ⁵ For we ^(EA)do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[aa]on account of Jesus. ⁶ For God, who said, “^(EB)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(EC)shone in our hearts to give the ^(ED)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^[ab](EE)earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of ^(EF)the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are ^(EG)afflicted in every way, but not ^(EH)crushed; ^(EI)perplexed, but not despairing; ^9 (EJ)persecuted, but not ^(EK)abandoned; ^(EL)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (EM)always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(EN)the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death works in us, but life in you.

¹³ But having the same ^(EO)spirit of faith, according to what is written: “^(EP)I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that He who ^(EQ)raised the Lord Jesus ^(ER)will also raise us with Jesus, and will ^(ES)present us with you. ¹⁵ For all things are ^(ET)for your sakes, so that grace, having ^[ac](EU)spread to more and more people, will cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(EV)do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our ^(EW)inner person is ^(EX)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our momentary, ^(EY)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we ^(EZ)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.