2 Korinther 7

1 Weil wir nun solche Verheißungen haben, Geliebte, wollen wir uns reinhalten von aller Befleckung des Fleisches und des Geistes, und in der Furcht Gottes die Heiligung zur Vollendung bringen.

My friends, whom I love, because [God] has promised [to accept us(inc) as his children], we [(inc)] must stop doing anything that is sinful. We must not do sinful things with our bodies, and we must not [think] sinful thoughts. [Because] we greatly revere God, we must strive to [live] a completely pure life. By doing that we will become the kind of people that he wants us to be.

2 Fasset uns wohl! wir haben niemand Unrecht getan, niemand beschädigt, niemand übervorteilt.

So, as I just wrote, I want you to love me (OR, us [IDM] [who are true apostles of Christ]). I/we [(exc)] have never done anything wrong to any of you. I/we have not done anything to harm any one of you spiritually or financially. And I/we have not tried to get money from [you] (for myself/for ourselves).

3 Dies sage ich nicht, um euch zu verurteilen; denn ich habe euch oben gesagt, daß wir euch in unseren Herzen tragen, und mit euch leben und sterben möchten.

[It is true that some people among you have said that I have done such things. Nevertheless], I am not trying to make you all feel ashamed because, as I wrote before, I will continue to love you all very much [IDM], whether I live with you or die with you. I am very confident about you.

4 Ich habe viel freudige Zuversicht zu euch, viel Rühmens über euch, bin voll des Trostes und über die Maßen mit Freuden erfüllt, trotz all unserer Drangsal.

I am very pleased with you. You have greatly encouraged me, so that I am now very joyful in spite of all the hardships that I have endured.

5 Denn da wir nach Mazedonien kamen, hatte unser Fleisch keine Ruhe; alles drängte auf uns ein, von außen Kämpfe, von innen Anfechtungen.

Now [I will write more about what I was saying about Titus]. When I [left Troas and] came [here to] Macedonia [province], I still did not get any rest. Everywhere we [(exc)] went, [people were constantly] causing us trouble. [And not only were] people [constantly causing us] trouble, but I was greatly concerned [about you all].

6 Aber Gott, Der die Niedrigen aufrichtet, hat auch uns durch Titus Ankunft getröstet.

But God, who always encourages his people when they are discouraged, encouraged us by [sending] Titus back to us.

7 Aber nicht bloß durch seine Ankunft, sondern auch durch den Trost, der ihm zuteil ward über euch, indem er uns Meldung tat von eurem Verlangen, Bedauern und eurem Eifer für mich, so daß ich mich noch mehr freute.

I was encouraged by [seeing] Titus, [but when I heard how] you had encouraged him, that encouraged me even more. He told me how much you wanted [to see me. He told me] that you were very sorry [that you had made me so unhappy. He also told me] that you are very eager for me [to continue to serve as your apostle. When Titus told me those things], I was very, very happy.

8 Darum, wenn ich euch auch in dem Brief betrübt habe, so reut es mich jetzt doch nicht, wenn es mich auch gereut hätte; denn ich sehe, daß jener Brief euch nur eine Zeitlang betrübt hat.

Even though what [I wrote] in my letter (distressed you/made you sad), I am not sorry [that I wrote it]. For a while I was sorry that I had written it, [because I knew that it would distress you]. Now [Titus has also told] me that it did distress you [when you read it], but you were distressed only for a short time.

9 Ich freue mich nun, nicht, daß ihr betrübt worden, sondern daß ihr betrübt worden seid zur Sinnesänderung; denn ihr seid betrübt worden nach dem Willen Gottes, auf daß ihr von uns aus ja in keinem Stücke Schaden nähmet.

[So now] I am happy [that I wrote it]. I am not happy that you were distressed {that [I] distressed you}, but [I am happy] because, when you became distressed, you felt sorry for what you had done and [you asked God to forgive you. What I mean is that you felt sorry in the way that God wanted you to feel sorry, so my making] you feel sorry did not harm you at all.

10 Denn die Betrübnis nach Gottes Willen wirkt Reue zur Seligkeit, die niemand zu bereuen hat, die Betrübnis der Welt aber bewirkt den Tod.

[The fact is that] when God causes [us to feel] truly sorry for having sinned and we turn from our sinful behavior, then God saves us [and will not punish us for the sinful things that we have done]. And no one is ever sorry about that. [However], the people who do not trust [in God] [MTY] may be sorry [for the sinful things that they have done]. But [if they do not turn from their sinful behavior and ask God to forgive them], they will remain separated from him forever.

11 Siehe, eben das, daß ihr nach dem Willen Gottes betrübt worden seid, welchen Eifer hat es in euch angeregt, ja Entschuldigung, ja Unwillen, Furcht, Verlangen, Eifer, Ahndung! Ihr habt euch in allen Stücken erwiesen, daß ihr rein seid in der Sache.

But [think about what happened when you read my letter]: God caused you to be truly sorry [for what you had done]. You eagerly [wanted to do what was right], and you wanted to show [God] (OR, [me]) that you had done the right thing. You were angry [about what had happened], and you were worried [that God would punish you if the situation continued]. You also wanted me [to visit you to encourage and help you]. You wanted me to know [that you really do accept me as your apostle, and that you punished the man who had sinned, as I told you to do. By doing] all of those things, you have shown [me] that you have done what is right in this matter.

12 Darum, wenn ich euch auch geschrieben habe, so ist es doch nicht geschehen wegen dessen, der unrecht getan, noch wegen dessen, dem Unrecht getan worden ist, sondern deswegen, daß unser Eifer für euch bei euch vor Gott geoffenbart würde.

So, even though I wrote that [severe] letter to you, I did not [write it just] so that [you would punish] the man who had done what was wrong. Also, I [did not write it] for the benefit of the person whom [he] had wronged. Instead, [I wrote it] so that, when you [read the letter], God would enable you to realize how much you really do respect [my authority].

13 Darum sind wir über eurer Tröstung getröstet worden, unsere Freude aber ward noch ungemein erhöht über der Freude des Titus, daß sein Gemüt an euch allen erquickt worden ist;

So, [because you listened to me and did what I asked you to do], (I was/we [(exc)] were all) encouraged. Not only (was I/were we) encouraged, but (I was/we [(exc)] were) [also] very happy to see how happy Titus was [when he arrived here. He told me/us that] he did not need to worry any more, because [he saw] that you all [had a good attitude toward me].

14 Denn ich bin in dem, was ich gegen ihn von euch gerühmt habe, nicht zuschanden geworden, vielmehr ist alles, was ich in Wahrheit zu euch geredet habe, somit auch unser Rühmen bei Titus, Wahrheit geworden.

I had told Titus that I was pleased about you. And I did not need to be ashamed [for feeling that way about you, because you did what I knew that you would do]. Just like everything that I have taught you [and written to you] has been the truth, the good things that I told Titus about you were also true.

15 Und sein Innerstes ist euch noch mehr zugetan, wenn er euer aller Gehorsam gedenkt, wie ihr ihn mit Furcht und Zittern aufgenommen habt.

Now he happily remembers how you all [were willing to] do [what I asked you to do]. He is [also happy about the way you] treated him with great respect. [When he thinks about those things], [it makes] him love you even more [than he did when he was with you].

16 Ich freue mich, daß ich mich in allem auf euch verlassen kann.

[As for me], I am very happy [because now] I am certain that I can depend on you [to do what you know God wants you to do].