2 Corinthians 7

1 Having, then, these promises, beloved, may we cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God;

Loved ones, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves of everything that makes us unclean in our body and spirit. Let us pursue holiness in the fear of God.

2 receive us; no one did we wrong; no one did we waste; no one did we defraud;

Make room for us! We have not wronged anyone. We have not harmed anyone or taken advantage of anyone.

3 not to condemn you do I say [it], for I have said before that in our hearts ye are to die with and to live with;

It is not to condemn you that I say this. For I have already said that you are in our hearts, for us to die together and to live together.

4 great [is] my freedom of speech unto you, great my glory on your behalf; I have been filled with the comfort, I overabound with the joy on all our tribulation,

I have great confidence in you, and I am proud of you. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy even in all our afflictions.

5 for also we, having come to Macedonia, no relaxation hath our flesh had, but on every side we are in tribulation, without [are] fightings, within — fears;

When we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way by conflicts on the outside and fears on the inside.

6 but He who is comforting the cast-down — God — He did comfort us in the presence of Titus;

But God, who comforts the discouraged, comforted us by the arrival of Titus.

7 and not only in his presence, but also in the comfort with which he was comforted over you, declaring to us your longing desire, your lamentation, your zeal for me, so that the more I did rejoice,

It was not only by his arrival that God comforted us. It was also by the comfort that Titus had received from you. He told us of your great affection, your sorrow, and your deep concern for me. So I rejoiced even more.

8 because even if I made you sorry in the letter, I do not repent — if even I did repent — for I perceive that the letter, even if for an hour, did make you sorry.

Even though my letter made you sad, I do not regret it. But I did regret it when I saw that my letter made you sad. But you were sad just for a little while.

9 I now do rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry to reformation, for ye were made sorry toward God, that in nothing ye might receive damage from us;

Now I rejoice, not because you were distressed, but because your sadness brought you to repentance. You experienced a godly sorrow, so you suffered no loss because of us.

10 for the sorrow toward God reformation to salvation not to be repented of doth work, and the sorrow of the world doth work death,

For godly sorrow brings about repentance that accomplishes salvation without regret. Worldly sorrow, however, brings about death.

11 for, lo, this same thing — your being made sorry toward God — how much diligence it doth work in you! but defence, but displeasure, but fear, but longing desire, but zeal, but revenge; in every thing ye did approve yourselves to be pure in the matter.

See what great determination this godly sorrow produced in you. How great was the determination in you to prove you were innocent. How great was your indignation, your fear, your longing, your zeal, and your desire to see that justice should be done! In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

12 If, then, I also wrote to you — not for his cause who did wrong, nor for his cause who did suffer wrong, but for our diligence in your behalf being manifested unto you before God —

Although I wrote to you, I did not write for the sake of the wrongdoer, nor for the one who suffered the wrong, but so that your good will toward us should be made known to you in the sight of God.

13 because of this we have been comforted in your comfort, and more abundantly the more did we rejoice in the joy of Titus, that his spirit hath been refreshed from you all;

It is by this that we are encouraged. In addition to our own comfort, we also rejoiced even more because of Titus' joy, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you.

14 because if anything to him in your behalf I have boasted, I was not put to shame; but as all things in truth we did speak to you, so also our boasting before Titus became truth,

For if I boasted to him about you, I was not embarrassed. On the contrary, just as everything we said to you was true, our boasting about you to Titus proved to be true.

15 and his tender affection is more abundantly toward you, remembering the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye did receive him;

His affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of all of you, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

16 I rejoice, therefore, that in everything I have courage in you.

I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.