Shared Word Translation
2 Corinthians 2
Paul’s Change of Plans
For I decided this for myself, not to come to you again in sorrow. For if I cause you sorrow, who then is there to make me glad but the one whom I have made sorrowful? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not have sorrow from those who ought to make me glad, because I am confident about all of you, that my joy is the joy of all of you.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears—not so that you might be grieved, but so that you might know the love that I have abundantly for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender
But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused it not to me alone, but in some measure—not to overstate it—to all of you. This punishment by the majority is enough for such a one, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest he be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, so that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not unaware of his designs.
Paul’s Anxiety at Troas
When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit had no rest because I did not find my brother Titus there; so I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
Triumph in Christ
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the fragrance of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing— to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
For we are not like so many, peddling the word of God; but as from sincerity, but as from God, in the presence of God, we speak in Christ.