^3 (A)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(B)God of all comfort, ⁴ who ^(C)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in ^[a]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

^9 [a]Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,

⁵ Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but ^(A)our adequacy is from God,

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart,

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(A)do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our ^(B)inner person is ^(C)being renewed day by day.