2 Corinthians 2
Common English Bible
2 1 So I decided that, for my own sake, I wouldn’t visit you again while I was upset. 2 If I make you sad, who will be there to make me glad when you are sad because of me?
Paul’s former letter
3 That’s why I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t be made sad by the ones who ought to make me happy. I have confidence in you, that my happiness means your happiness. 4 I wrote to you in tears, with a very troubled and anxious heart. I didn’t write to make you sad but so you would know the overwhelming love that I have for you.
5 But if someone has made anyone sad, that person hasn’t hurt me but all of you to some degree (not to exaggerate). 6 The punishment handed out by the majority is enough for this person. 7 This is why you should try your best to forgive and to comfort this person now instead, so that this person isn’t overwhelmed by too much sorrow. 8 So I encourage you to show your love for this person.
9 This is another reason why I wrote you. I wanted to test you and see if you are obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I do too. And whatever I’ve forgiven (if I’ve forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Christ. 11 This is so that we won’t be taken advantage of by Satan, because we are well aware of his schemes.
Paul’s ministry
12 When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, the Lord gave me an opportunity to preach. 13 But I was worried because I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thank God, who is always leading us around through Christ as if we were in a parade. He releases the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere through us. 15 We smell like the aroma of Christ’s offering to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are on the road to destruction. 16 We smell like a contagious dead person to those who are dying, but we smell like the fountain of life to those who are being saved.
Who is qualified for this kind of ministry? 17 We aren’t like so many people who hustle the word of God to make a profit. We are speaking through Christ in the presence of God, as those who are sincere and as those who are sent from God.
2 Corinthians 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 1
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has caused it not to me but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you. 6 This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;(C) 7 so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by even worse grief. 8 So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.(D) 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. In fact, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. 11 And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Paul’s Anxiety in Troas
12 When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news[a] of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord,(E) 13 but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.[b] 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:(F) 16 to the one group a fragrance from death[c] to death, to the other a fragrance from life[d] to life. Who is qualified for these things?(G) 17 For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many,[e] but as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God, we are speaking in Christ before God.(H)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.