爱之深责之切

我已经决定了,下次到你们那里时不再使大家忧伤。 如果我使你们忧伤,那么除了因我而忧伤的你们,还有谁能使我喜乐呢? 我曾为这事写信给你们,免得我到你们那里时,那些本该使我喜乐的人反而使我忧伤。我也深信你们会以我的喜乐为你们的喜乐。 我万分难过、泪流满面地给你们写了前一封信,并非要使你们忧伤,而是要你们明白我是多么疼爱你们。

要饶恕犯罪的人

那个令人痛心的人与其说使我忧伤,倒不如说使你们大家都有几分忧伤。我只说几分忧伤,是怕说得太重,他受不了。 这样的人受了众人的谴责也就够了。 你们现在要饶恕他、安慰他,免得他忧伤过度而一蹶不振。 我劝你们要让他确实知道你们仍然爱他。 为此,我也曾写信给你们,想知道你们是否凡事顺服。 10 你们饶恕谁,我也饶恕谁。我若饶恕,是为了你们的缘故在基督面前饶恕的, 11 免得撒旦乘虚而入,因为我们并非不知道它的诡计。

基督的香气

12 我前往特罗亚传扬基督的福音时,主为我打开了传福音的大门。 13 那时,因为没有找到提多弟兄,我心里不安,便辞别众人来到马其顿。

14 感谢上帝,祂常常在基督里率领我们走在凯旋的行列中,又借着我们到处散发那因认识基督而有的香气。 15 不论是在得救的人当中还是在灭亡的人当中,对上帝来说,我们都是基督的馨香之气。 16 对灭亡的人而言,这香气是叫人死亡的香气;对得救的人来说,这香气却是叫人得生命的香气。谁能担当这样的重任呢? 17 我们并不像许多人为了谋利而出卖上帝的道。我们是上帝差遣的,在上帝面前靠着基督诚诚实实地讲道。

Por isso resolvi não entristecê-los com outra visita dolorosa. Pois, se eu lhes causar tristeza, quem me alegrará? Certamente não serão aqueles a quem entristeci. Esse foi o motivo de eu ter escrito como o fiz, para que, quando eu for, não seja entristecido por aqueles que deveriam me alegrar. Sem dúvida, vocês sabem que minha alegria vem do fato de vocês estarem alegres. Escrevi aquela carta com grande angústia, com o coração aflito e muitas lágrimas. Minha intenção não era entristecê-los, mas mostrar-lhes quanto amo vocês.

Perdão para o pecador

Não exagero quando digo que o homem que causou tantos problemas magoou não somente a mim, mas, até certo ponto, a todos vocês. A maioria de vocês se opôs a ele, e isso já foi castigo suficiente. Agora, porém, é hora de perdoá-lo e confortá-lo; do contrário, pode acontecer de ele ser vencido pela tristeza excessiva. Peço, portanto, que reafirmem seu amor por ele.

Eu lhes escrevi daquela forma para testá-los e ver se seguiriam todas as minhas instruções. 10 Se vocês perdoam esse homem, eu também o perdoo. E, quando eu perdoo o que precisa ser perdoado, faço-o na presença de Cristo, em favor de vocês, 11 para que Satanás não tenha vantagem sobre nós, pois conhecemos seus planos malignos.

12 Quando cheguei à cidade de Trôade para anunciar as boas-novas de Cristo, o Senhor me abriu uma porta de oportunidade. 13 Contudo, não tive paz em meu espírito, pois meu querido irmão Tito ainda não havia chegado com notícias de vocês. Assim, despedi-me dos irmãos dali e fui à Macedônia para procurá-lo.

Ministros da nova aliança

14 Mas graças a Deus, que, em Cristo, sempre nos conduz triunfantemente. Agora, por nosso intermédio, ele espalha o conhecimento de Cristo por toda parte, como um doce perfume. 15 Somos o aroma de Cristo que se eleva até Deus. Mas esse aroma é percebido de forma diferente por aqueles que estão sendo salvos e por aqueles que estão perecendo. 16 Para os que estão perecendo, somos cheiro terrível de morte e condenação. Mas, para os que estão sendo salvos, somos perfume que dá vida. E quem está à altura de uma tarefa como essa?

17 Não somos como muitos[a] que fazem da palavra de Deus um artigo de comércio. Pregamos a palavra de Deus com sinceridade e com a autoridade de Cristo, sabendo que Deus nos observa.

Footnotes

  1. 2.17 Alguns manuscritos trazem como os demais.

So[a] I made up my own mind[b] not to pay you another painful visit.[c] For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad[d] but the one I caused to be sad? And I wrote this very thing to you,[e] so that when I came[f] I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.[g] But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate)[h] he has saddened all of you as well. This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, so that now instead[i] you should rather forgive and comfort him.[j] This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.[k] Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.[l] For this reason also I wrote you:[m] to test you to see[n] if you are obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be exploited[o] by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes). 12 Now when I arrived in Troas[p] to proclaim the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord had opened[q] a door of opportunity[r] for me, 13 I had no relief in my spirit,[s] because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them[t] and set out[u] for Macedonia.

Apostolic Ministry

14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession[v] in Christ[w] and who makes known[x] through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing— 16 to the latter an odor[y] from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?[z] 17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit,[aa] but we are speaking in Christ before[ab] God as persons of sincerity,[ac] as persons sent from God.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 2:1 tc Although usually δέ (de, “now”; found in א A C D1 F G Ψ 0285 M lat) should take precedent over γάρ (gar) in textually disputed places in the corpus Paulinum, the credentials for γάρ here are not easily dismissed (P46 B 0223 0243 33 1739 1881 al); here it is the preferred reading, albeit slightly.
  2. 2 Corinthians 2:1 tn Or “I decided this for myself.”
  3. 2 Corinthians 2:1 tn Grk “not to come to you again in sorrow.”sn Paul was not speaking absolutely about not making another visit, but meant he did not want to come to the Corinthians again until the conflict he mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4-11 was settled.
  4. 2 Corinthians 2:2 tn Or “to cheer me up.” L&N 25.131 translates this “For if I were to make you sad, who would be left to cheer me up?”
  5. 2 Corinthians 2:3 tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
  6. 2 Corinthians 2:3 sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.
  7. 2 Corinthians 2:4 tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”
  8. 2 Corinthians 2:5 tn Or “(not to say too much)”; Grk “(not to burden you [with words]).”
  9. 2 Corinthians 2:7 tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”
  10. 2 Corinthians 2:7 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.
  11. 2 Corinthians 2:7 tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  12. 2 Corinthians 2:8 tn Or “I urge you to show that your love for him is real.”
  13. 2 Corinthians 2:9 tn The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied (as an understood direct object).
  14. 2 Corinthians 2:9 tn Grk “to know the proof of you,” that is, to know if the Corinthians’ obedience to Paul as an apostle was genuine (L&N 72.7).
  15. 2 Corinthians 2:11 tn Or “be taken advantage of.”
  16. 2 Corinthians 2:12 sn Troas was a city and region in the northwest corner of Asia Minor.
  17. 2 Corinthians 2:12 tn This has been translated as a concessive participle (“even though”). The passive construction (“a door of opportunity had been opened for me by the Lord”) has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity.
  18. 2 Corinthians 2:12 tn Grk “a door”; the phrase ἀνοίγω θύραν (anoigō thuran, “to open a door”) is an idiom meaning “to make possible some opportunity” (L&N 71.9).
  19. 2 Corinthians 2:13 tn Or “I had no peace of mind.”
  20. 2 Corinthians 2:13 tn Or “I took my leave of them.”
  21. 2 Corinthians 2:13 tn Since this refers to the outset of a journey, the aorist ἐξῆλθον (exēlthon) is taken ingressively.
  22. 2 Corinthians 2:14 tn Or “who always causes us to triumph.”
  23. 2 Corinthians 2:14 tn Or “in the Messiah.”
  24. 2 Corinthians 2:14 tn Or “who reveals.”
  25. 2 Corinthians 2:16 tn The same Greek word (ὀσμή, osmē) translated “odor” here (in relation to the stench of death) has been translated “fragrance” in 2:14 and in the next phrase of the present verse. The word itself can describe a smell or odor either agreeable or disagreeable depending on the context (L&N 79.45).
  26. 2 Corinthians 2:16 sn These things refer to the things Paul is doing in his apostolic ministry.
  27. 2 Corinthians 2:17 tn The participle καπηλεύοντες (kapēleuontes) refers to those engaged in retail business, but with the negative connotations of deceptiveness and greed—“to peddle for profit,” “to huckster” (L&N 57.202). In the translation a noun form (“hucksters”) has been used in combination with the English verb “peddle…for profit” to convey the negative connotations of this term.
  28. 2 Corinthians 2:17 tn Or “in the presence of.”
  29. 2 Corinthians 2:17 tn Or “persons of pure motives.”