2 Corinthians 1

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 the saints throughout Achaia:

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 and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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 compassion and the God of all comfort,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies 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 have received from God.

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 overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

For as we undergo more of the pain which Christ underwent, so through Christ does our comfort become greater.

6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.

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 And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.

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, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

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 we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.

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 has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,

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 help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

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 And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

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 do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely,

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, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.

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 Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.

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 return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.

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 When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”?

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 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

As God is true, our word to you is not Yes and No.

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.”

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 all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.

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 Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,

Now he who makes our faith strong together with you, in Christ, and has given us of his grace, is God;

22 placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.

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 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

But God is my witness that it was in pity for you that I did not come to Corinth at that time.

24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.

Not that we have authority over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy: for it is faith which is your support.