2 Corinthians 7

1 Having therefore these promises, beloved friends, let us purify ourselves from all defilement of body and of spirit, and secure perfect holiness through the fear of God.

Seeing, therefore, we have these promises, my beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit; and let us work righteousness, in the fear of God.

2 Make room for us in your hearts. There is not one of you whom we have wronged, not one to whom we have done harm, not one over whom we have gained any selfish advantage.

Bear with us, my brethren; we have done evil to no one; we have corrupted no one; we have wronged no one.

3 I do not say this to imply blame, for, as I have already said, you have such a place in our hearts that we would die with you or live with you.

I speak thus, not to condemn you; for I have said before, that ye are treasured in our hearts, to die and to live together.

4 I have great confidence in you: very loudly do I boast of you. I am filled with comfort: my heart overflows with joy amid all our affliction.

I have great assurance before you, and have much glorying in you; and I am full of comfort. And joy greatly aboundeth to me, in all my afflictions.

5 For even after our arrival in Macedonia we could get no relief such as human nature craves. We were greatly harassed; there were conflicts without and fears within.

For, after we came to Macedonia, there was no rest for our body, but we were distressed in every thing; without was conflict, and within was fear.

6 But He who comforts the depressed--even God-- comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only,

But God who comforteth the depressed, comforted us by the arrival of Titus.

7 but also by the fact that he had felt comforted on your account, and by the report which he brought of your eager affection, of your grief, and of your jealousy on my behalf, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

And not merely by his arrival, but also by the refreshing with which he was refreshed by you. For he told us of your love towards us, and of your grief, and of your zeal in our behalf: and when I heard it, my joy was great.

8 For if I gave you pain by that letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it then. I see that that letter, even though for a time it gave you pain, had a salutary effect.

And although I made you sad by the epistle, I do not regret it, though I did regret it; for I see that that epistle, though for a time it made you sad,

9 Now I rejoice, not in your grief, but because the grief led to repentance; for you sorrowed with a godly sorrow, which prevented you from receiving injury from us in any respect.

yet it procured me joy, not because ye had sorrow, but because your sorrow brought you to repentance; for ye sorrowed in godly sorrow; so that ye received no detriment from us.

10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, a repentance not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world finally produces death.

For, sorrowing on account of God, worketh a conversion of the soul which is not reversed, and a turning unto life: but the sorrowing of the world worketh death.

11 For mark the effects of this very thing--your having sorrowed with a godly sorrow--what earnestness it has called forth in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing affection, what jealousy, what meting out of justice! You have completely wiped away reproach from yourselves in the matter.

For behold this same thing, that ye were distressed on account of God, what solicitude it wrought in you, and apologizing and indignation, and fear, and love, and zeal, and revenge? And in all things ye have shown, that ye are now pure in that matter.

12 Therefore, though I wrote to you, it was not to punish the offender, nor to secure justice for him who had suffered the wrong, but it was chiefly in order that your earnest feeling on our behalf might become manifest to yourselves in the sight of God.

And it will be seen that I wrote to you, not for the sake of him who did the wrong, nor for the sake of him who received the wrong, only, but that your solicitude in respect to us might be known before God.

13 For this reason we feel comforted; and--in addition to this our comfort--we have been filled with all the deeper joy at Titus's joy, because his spirit has been set at rest by you all.

Wherefore we were comforted; and with our consolation, we were the more joyful for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all:

14 For however I may have boasted to him about you, I have no reason to feel ashamed; but as we have in all respects spoken the truth to you, so also our boasting to Titus about you has turned out to be the truth.

so that I was not ashamed of that in which I had gloried to him, respecting you; but as in every thing we spoke the truth to you, so also our glorying before Titus, is found to be in truth:

15 And his strong and tender affection is all the more drawn out towards you when he recalls to mind the obedience which all of you manifested by the timidity and nervous anxiety with which you welcomed him.

and also his bowels are the more enlarged towards you, while he remembereth the submission of you all, and how ye received him with fear and trembling.

16 I rejoice that I have absolute confidence in you.

I rejoice, that in every thing I have full confidence in you.