2 Corinthians 1-4 (New American Standard Bible)

2 Corinthians 1

Introduction

 ¹Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)by the will of God, and ^(D)Timothy our brother, To ^(E)the church of God which is at ^(F)Corinth with all the saints who are throughout ^(G)Achaia:

 ^2(H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 ^3(I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(J)God of all comfort,

 ⁴who ^(K)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

 ⁵For just ^(L)as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

 ⁶But if we are afflicted, it is ^(M)for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;

 ⁷and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that ^(N)as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

 ⁸For ^(O)we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our ^(P)affliction which came to us in ^(Q)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

 ⁹indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

 ¹⁰who ^(R)delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He ^(S)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

 ¹¹you also joining in ^(T)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by ^(U)many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

Paul's Integrity

 ¹²For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of ^(V)our conscience, that in holiness and ^(W)godly sincerity, ^(X)not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

 ¹³For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand ^(Y)until the end;

 ¹⁴just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in ^(Z)the day of our Lord Jesus.

 ¹⁵In this confidence I intended at first to ^(AA)come to you, so that you might twice receive a ^(AB)blessing;

 ¹⁶that is, to ^(AC)pass your way into ^(AD)Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be ^(AE)helped on my journey to Judea.

 ¹⁷Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose ^(AF)according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

 ¹⁸But as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you is not yes and no.

 ¹⁹For ^(AI)the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us--by me and ^(AJ)Silvanus and ^(AK)Timothy--was not yes and no, but is yes ^(AL)in Him.

 ²⁰For ^(AM)as many as are the promises of God, ^(AN)in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is ^(AO)our Amen to the glory of God through us.

 ²¹Now He who ^(AP)establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AQ)anointed us is God,

 ²²who also ^(AR)sealed us and ^(AS)gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

 ²³But ^(AT)I call God as witness to my soul, that ^(AU)to spare you I did not come again to ^(AV)Corinth.

 ²⁴Not that we ^(AW)lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are ^(AX)standing firm.

2 Corinthians 2

Reaffirm Your Love

 ¹But I determined this for my own sake, that I ^(AY)would not come to you in sorrow again.

 ²For if I ^(AZ)cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful?

 ³This is the very thing I ^(BA)wrote you, so that ^(BB)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having ^(BC)confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.

 ⁴For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I ^(BD)wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

 ⁵But ^(BE)if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree--in order not to say too much--to all of you.

 ⁶Sufficient for such a one is ^(BF)this punishment which was inflicted by the majority,

 ⁷so that on the contrary you should rather ^(BG)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

 ⁸Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

 ⁹For to this end also ^(BH)I wrote, so that I might ^(BI)put you to the test, whether you are ^(BJ)obedient in all things.

 ¹⁰But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes ^(BK)in the presence of Christ,

 ¹¹so that no advantage would be taken of us by ^(BL)Satan, for ^(BM)we are not ignorant of his schemes.

 ¹²Now when I came to ^(BN)Troas for the ^(BO)gospel of Christ and when a ^(BP)door was opened for me in the Lord,

 ¹³I ^(BQ)had no rest for my spirit, not finding ^(BR)Titus my brother; but ^(BS)taking my leave of them, I went on to ^(BT)Macedonia.

 ^14(BU)But thanks be to God, who always ^(BV)leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the ^(BW)sweet aroma of the ^(BX)knowledge of Him in every place.

 ¹⁵For we are a ^(BY)fragrance of Christ to God among ^(BZ)those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

 ^16(CA)to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life And who is ^(CB)adequate for these things?

 ¹⁷For we are not like many, ^[a](CC)peddling the word of God, but ^(CD)as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ ^(CE)in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of a New Covenant

 ¹Are we beginning to ^(CF)commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^(CG)letters of commendation to you or from you?

 ^2(CH)You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

 ³being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ^(CI)cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(CJ)the living God, not on ^(CK)tablets of stone but on ^(CL)tablets of ^(CM)human hearts.

 ⁴Such ^(CN)confidence we have through Christ toward God.

 ⁵Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but ^(CO)our adequacy is from God,

 ⁶who also made us adequate as ^(CP)servants of a ^(CQ)new covenant, not of ^(CR)the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^(CS)the Spirit gives life.

 ⁷But if the ^(CT)ministry of death, ^(CU)in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, ^(CV)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,

 ⁸how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?

 ⁹For if ^(CW)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^(CX)ministry of righteousness abound in glory.

 ¹⁰For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.

 ¹¹For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

 ^12(CY)Therefore having such a hope, ^(CZ)we use great boldness in our speech,

 ¹³and are not like Moses, ^(DA)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

 ¹⁴But their minds were ^(DB)hardened; for until this very day at the ^(DC)reading of ^(DD)the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.

 ¹⁵But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;

 ^16(DE)but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

 ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^(DF)the Spirit of the Lord is, ^(DG)there is liberty.

 ¹⁸But we all, with unveiled face, ^(DH)beholding as in a mirror the ^(DI)glory of the Lord, are being ^(DJ)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^(DK)the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4

Paul's Apostolic Ministry

 ¹Therefore, since we have this ^(DL)ministry, as we ^(DM)received mercy, we ^(DN)do not lose heart,

 ²but we have renounced the ^(DO)things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or ^(DP)adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth ^(DQ)commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

 ³And even if our ^(DR)gospel is ^(DS)veiled, it is veiled to ^(DT)those who are perishing,

 ⁴in whose case ^(DU)the god of ^(DV)this world has ^(DW)blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the ^(DX)light of the gospel of the ^(DY)glory of Christ, who is the ^(DZ)image of God.

 ⁵For we ^(EA)do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.

 ⁶For God, who said, "^(EB)Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has ^(EC)shone in our hearts to give the ^(ED)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 ⁷But we have this treasure in ^(EE)earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of ^(EF)the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

 ⁸we are ^(EG)afflicted in every way, but not ^(EH)crushed; ^(EI)perplexed, but not despairing;

 ^9(EJ)persecuted, but not ^(EK)forsaken; ^(EL)struck down, but not destroyed;

 ^10(EM)always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(EN)the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

 ¹¹For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

 ¹²So death works in us, but life in you.

 ¹³But having the same ^(EO)spirit of faith, according to what is written, "^(EP)I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore we also speak,

 ¹⁴knowing that He who ^(EQ)raised the Lord Jesus ^(ER)will raise us also with Jesus and will ^(ES)present us with you.

 ¹⁵For all things are ^(ET)for your sakes, so that the grace which is ^(EU)spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

 ¹⁶Therefore we ^(EV)do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our ^(EW)inner man is ^(EX)being renewed day by day.

 ¹⁷For momentary, ^(EY)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

 ¹⁸while we ^(EZ)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.