2 Corinthians 2

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

For my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit.

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

If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the very person whom I am paining?

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.

So I wrote as I did, for fear that, if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also.

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.

I wrote to you in sore trouble and distress of heart and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you.

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

Now whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent — not to be too severe — pained every one of you.

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

The man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you;

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

so that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain.

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

So I entreat 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.

I had this further object, also, in what I wrote — to ascertain whether you might be relied upon to be obedient in everything.

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,

When you forgive a man anything, I forgive him, too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven (if I have had to forgive anything), I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ,

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

so as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

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

When I went to the district round Troas to tell the Good News of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master,

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 could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my Brother; so I took leave of the people there, and went on 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.

All thanks to God, who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet odour of the knowledge of him 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 the fragrance of Christ ascending to God — both among those who are in the path of Salvation and among those who are in the path to Ruin.

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 latter we are an odour which arises from death and tells of Death; to the former an odour which arises from life and tells of Life. But who is equal to such a task?

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.

Unlike many people, we are not in the habit of making profit out of God’s Message; but in all sincerity, and bearing God’s commission, we speak before him in union with Christ.