2 Corinthians 13
English Standard Version
Final Warnings
13 (A)This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established (B)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 (C)I warned (D)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that (E)if I come again I will not spare them— 3 since you seek proof that Christ (F)is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but (G)is powerful among you. 4 For (H)he was crucified in weakness, but (I)lives by the power of God. For (J)we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you (K)we will live with him by the power of God.
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. (L)Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that (M)Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when (N)we are weak and you are strong. Your (O)restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come (P)I may not have to be (Q)severe in my use of (R)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers,[a] rejoice. (S)Aim for restoration, comfort one another,[b] (T)agree with one another, (U)live in peace; and the God of love and (V)peace will be with you. 12 (W)Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 (X)All the saints greet you.
14 (Y)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and (Z)the love of God and (AA)the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 13:11 Or brothers and sisters
- 2 Corinthians 13:11 Or listen to my appeal
2 Corinthians 13
New King James Version
Coming with Authority
13 This will be (A)the third time I am coming to you. (B)“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 (C)I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent [a]I write to those (D)who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again (E)I will not spare— 3 since you seek a proof of Christ (F)speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty (G)in you. 4 (H)For though He was crucified in weakness, yet (I)He lives by the power of God. For (J)we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.
5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, (K)that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you [b]are (L)disqualified. 6 But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.
Paul Prefers Gentleness
7 Now [c]I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though (M)we may seem disqualified. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For we are glad (N)when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, (O)that you may be made complete. 10 (P)Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the (Q)authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.
Greetings and Benediction
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. (R)Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love (S)and peace will be with you.
12 (T)Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13 All the saints greet you.
14 (U)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and (V)the [d]communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 13:2 NU omits I write
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 do not stand the test
- 2 Corinthians 13:7 NU we
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 fellowship
2 Corinthians 13
New American Standard Bible
Examine Yourselves
13 (A)This is the third time that I am coming to you. (B)On the [a]testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed. 2 I have previously said when I was present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have (C)sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that (D)if I come again I will not (E)spare anyone, 3 since you are (F)seeking proof of the (G)Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you, but (H)mighty in you. 4 For indeed He was (I)crucified because of weakness, yet He lives (J)because of the power of God. For we too are (K)weak [b]in Him, yet (L)we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.
5 (M)Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; (N)examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you [c](O)fail the test? 6 But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves [d]do not fail the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may [e]appear unapproved. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we rejoice when we ourselves are (P)weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, [f]that you (Q)become mature. 10 For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present (R)I need not use (S)severity, in accordance with the (T)authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
11 (U)Finally, brothers and sisters, [g]rejoice, (V)mend your ways, be comforted, (W)be like-minded, (X)live in peace; and (Y)the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 (Z)Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 (AA)All the [h]saints greet you.
14 (AB)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the (AC)love of God, and the (AD)fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 13:1 Lit mouth
- 2 Corinthians 13:4 One early ms with Him
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 Lit are unapproved
- 2 Corinthians 13:6 Lit are not unapproved
- 2 Corinthians 13:7 Lit be as
- 2 Corinthians 13:9 Lit your maturation
- 2 Corinthians 13:11 Or farewell
- 2 Corinthians 13:13 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
2 Corinthians 13
New Living Translation
Paul’s Final Advice
13 This is the third time I am coming to visit you (and as the Scriptures say, “The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”[a]). 2 I have already warned those who had been sinning when I was there on my second visit. Now I again warn them and all others, just as I did before, that next time I will not spare them.
3 I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you. 4 Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power.
5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you[b]; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 6 As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.
7 We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. 8 For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 9 We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.
10 I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.
Paul’s Final Greetings
11 Dear brothers and sisters,[c] I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet each other with a sacred kiss. 13 All of God’s people here send you their greetings.
14 [d]May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Footnotes
- 13:1 Deut 19:15.
- 13:5 Or in you.
- 13:11 Greek Brothers.
- 13:14 Some English translations include verse 13 as part of verse 12, and then verse 14 becomes verse 13.
2 Corinthians 13
The Message
He’s Alive Now!
13 1-4 Well, this is my third visit coming up. Remember the Scripture that says, “A matter becomes clear after two or three witnesses give evidence”? On my second visit I warned that bunch that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways that when I came back I wouldn’t go easy on them. Now, preparing for the third, I’m saying it again from a distance. If you haven’t changed your ways by the time I get there, look out. You who have been demanding proof that Christ speaks through me will get more than you bargained for. You’ll get the full force of Christ, don’t think you won’t. He was sheer weakness and humiliation when he was killed on the cross, but oh, he’s alive now—in the mighty power of God! We weren’t much to look at, either, when we were humiliated among you, but when we deal with you this next time, we’ll be alive in Christ, strengthened by God.
5-9 Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.
We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.
10 I’m writing this to you now so that when I come I won’t have to say another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not have to spend time on reprimands.
* * *
11-13 And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.
14 The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson