Font Size
2 Corinthians 2
English Standard Version
2 Corinthians 2
English Standard Version
2 For I made up my mind (A)not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For (B)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, (C)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For (D)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Now (E)if anyone has caused pain, (F)he has caused it not to me, but (G)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, (H)this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so (I)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might (J)test you and know (K)whether you are obedient in everything. 10 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, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for (L)we are not ignorant of his designs.
Triumph in Christ
12 When (M)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though (N)a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit (O)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But (P)thanks be to God, who in Christ always (Q)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads (R)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among (S)those who are being saved and among (T)those who are perishing, 16 (U)to one a fragrance from death to death, (V)to the other a fragrance from life to life. (W)Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2
New American Standard Bible
2 Corinthians 2
New American Standard Bible
Reaffirm Your Love
2 But I decided this [a]for my own sake, that I (A)would not come to you in sorrow again. 2 For if I (B)cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? 3 This is the very thing I (C)wrote you, so that (D)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having (E)confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I (F)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.
5 But (G)if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—[b]not to say too much—for all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a person is (H)this punishment which was imposed by the majority, 7 so that on the other hand, you should rather (I)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end (J)I also wrote, so that I might [c](K)put you to the test, whether you are (L)obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes (M)in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by (N)Satan, for (O)we are not ignorant of his schemes.
12 Now when I came to (P)Troas for the (Q)gospel of Christ and when a (R)door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I (S)had no rest for my spirit, not finding (T)Titus my brother; but (U)saying goodbye to them, I went on to (V)Macedonia.
14 (W)But thanks be to God, who always (X)leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the (Y)fragrance of the (Z)knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a (AA)fragrance of Christ to God among (AB)those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 16 (AC)to the one an [d]aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is (AD)adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like the many, [e](AE)peddling the word of God, but (AF)as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ (AG)in the sight of God.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 2:1 Or as far as I am concerned
- 2 Corinthians 2:5 Lit so that I not be burdensome
- 2 Corinthians 2:9 Lit know the proof of you
- 2 Corinthians 2:16 Or odor
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 Or diluting
2 Corinthians 2
New International Version
2 Corinthians 2
New International Version
2 1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.(A) 2 For if I grieve you,(B) who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I wrote as I did,(C) so that when I came I would not be distressed(D) by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence(E) in all of you, that you would all share my joy. 4 For I wrote you(F) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 If anyone has caused grief,(G) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment(H) inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,(I) so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote you(J) was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.(K) 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan(L) might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.(M)
Ministers of the New Covenant
12 Now when I went to Troas(N) to preach the gospel of Christ(O) and found that the Lord had opened a door(P) for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind,(Q) because I did not find my brother Titus(R) there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.(S)
14 But thanks be to God,(T) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma(U) of the knowledge(V) of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma(W) of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.(X) 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death;(Y) to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?(Z) 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.(AA) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,(AB) as those sent from God.(AC)
2 Corinthians 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
2 Corinthians 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
2 1 In fact, I made up my mind about this:[a] I would not come to you on another painful visit.[b] 2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me?[c] 3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident(A) about all of you that my joy will also be yours. 4 For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.
A Sinner Forgiven
5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate(B)—to all of you. 6 The punishment inflicted by the majority is sufficient for that person. 7 As a result, you should instead forgive(C) and comfort him. Otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character(D) to see if you are obedient(E) in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for you in the presence of Christ. 11 I have done this so that we may not be taken advantage(F) of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.
A Trip to Macedonia
12 When I came to Troas(G) to preach the gospel of Christ, the Lord opened a door(H) for me. 13 I had no rest(I) in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus,(J) but I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.(K)
A Ministry of Life or Death
14 But thanks be to God,(L) who always puts us on display[d] in Christ[e] and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.(M) 15 For to God we are the fragrance(N) of Christ among those who are being saved(O) and among those who are perishing.(P) 16 To some we are an aroma of death(Q) leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life(R) leading to life. And who is competent for this? 17 For we are not like the many[f] who market God’s message(S) for profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 2:1 Lit I decided this for myself
- 2 Corinthians 2:1 Lit not again in sorrow to come to you
- 2 Corinthians 2:2 Lit the one pained
- 2 Corinthians 2:14 Or always leads us in a triumphal procession, or always causes us to triumph
- 2 Corinthians 2:14 Lit in the Christ, or in the Messiah; 1Co 15:22; Eph 1:10,12,20; 3:11
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 Other mss read the rest
2 Corinthians 2
Contemporary English Version
2 Corinthians 2
Contemporary English Version
2 I have decided not to make my next visit with you so painful. 2 If I make you feel bad, who would be left to cheer me up, except the people I had made to feel bad? 3 The reason I want to be happy is to make you happy. I wrote as I did because I didn't want to visit you and be made to feel bad, when you should make me feel happy. 4 At the time I wrote, I was suffering terribly. My eyes were full of tears, and my heart was broken. But I didn't want to make you feel bad. I only wanted to let you know how much I cared for you.
Forgiveness
5 I don't want to be hard on you. But if one of you has made someone feel bad, I am not really the one who has been made to feel bad. Some of you are the ones. 6 Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and this is punishment enough for what was done.
7 When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair. 8 You should make them sure of your love for them.
9 I also wrote because I wanted to test you and find out if you would follow my instructions. 10 I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven. 11 I have done this to keep Satan from getting the better of us. We all know what goes on in his mind.
12 (A) When I went to Troas to preach the good news about Christ, I found that the Lord had already prepared the way. 13 But I was worried when I didn't find my friend Titus there. So I left the other followers and went on to Macedonia.
14 I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume. 15-16 In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death.
No one really has what it takes to do this work. 17 A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God's message. But we are God's sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.