2 Corinthians 2

1 So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.

But I have judged this with myself, not to come back to you in grief.

2 For if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved?

For if I grieve you, who also [is] it that gladdens me, if not he that is grieved through me?

3 I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be saddened by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.

And I have written this very [letter] [to you], that coming I may not have grief from those from whom I ought to have joy; trusting in you all that my joy is [that] of you all.

4 For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

For out of much tribulation and distress of heart I wrote to you, with many tears; not that ye may be grieved, but that ye may know the love which I have very abundantly towards you.

5 Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you—to some degree, not to overstate it.

But if any one has grieved, he has grieved, not me, but in part (that I may not overcharge [you]) all of you.

6 The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

Sufficient to such a one [is] this rebuke which [has been inflicted] by the many;

7 So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

so that on the contrary ye should rather shew grace and encourage, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with excessive grief.

8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

Wherefore I exhort you to assure him of [your] love.

9 My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

For to this end also I have written, that I might know, by putting you to the test, if as to everything ye are obedient.

10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,

But to whom ye forgive anything, I also; for I also, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, [it is] for your sakes in [the] person of Christ;

11 in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

that we might not have Satan get an advantage against us, for we are not ignorant of his thoughts.

12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,

Now when I came to Troas for the [publication of the] glad tidings of the Christ, a door also being opened to me in [the] Lord,

13 I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

I had no rest in my spirit at not finding Titus my brother; but bidding them adieu, I came away to Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

But thanks [be] to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and makes manifest the odour of his knowledge through us in every place.

15 For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

For we are a sweet odour of Christ to God, in the saved and in those that perish:

16 To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

to the one an odour from death unto death, but to the others an odour from life unto life; and who [is] sufficient for these things?

17 For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

For we do not, as the many, make a trade of the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, before God, we speak in Christ.