2 Corinthians 2:5-3:6

English Standard Version

Forgive the Sinner

⁵Now ^(A)if anyone has caused pain, ^(B)he has caused it not to me, but ^(C)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶For such a one, ^(D)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷so ^(E)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(F)test you and know ^(G)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰Anyone 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, ¹¹so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(H)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹²When ^(I)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(J)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³my spirit ^(K)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But ^(L)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(M)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(N)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(O)those who are being saved and among ^(P)those who are perishing, ¹⁶^(Q)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(R)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(S)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For 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.

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 ^(T)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ^(U)as some do, ^(V)letters of recommendation to you, or from you? ²^(W)You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our^[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. ³And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(X)the living God, not on ^(Y)tablets of stone but on ^(Z)tablets of ^(AA)human hearts.^[b]

⁴^(AB)Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ⁵^(AC)Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but ^(AD)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who has made us sufficient to be ^(AE)ministers of ^(AF)a new covenant, not of ^(AG)the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ^(AH)the Spirit gives life.