2 Corinthians 1
Expanded Bible
1 From Paul, an ·apostle [messenger] of Christ Jesus. ·I am an apostle because that is what God wanted [L …by the will of God]. Also from Timothy [Acts 16:1–5; 1 Cor. 16:10–11; Phil. 2:19–24; 1–2 Timothy] our ·brother in Christ [L brother].
To the church of God in Corinth, and to all ·of God’s people [T the saints] everywhere in Achaia [C the Roman province where the city of Corinth was located, present day southern Greece]:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
3 ·Praise be to [Blessed is/be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father who is full of ·mercy [compassion] and all ·comfort [encouragement]. 4 He ·comforts [encourages] us ·every time we have [L in all our] ·troubles [trials; tribulation], so when others have ·trouble [any trials/tribulation], we can ·comfort [encourage] them with the same ·comfort [encouragement] God gives us. 5 [L For just as] ·We share in the many sufferings of Christ [L Christ’s sufferings abound in us]. In the same way, ·much comfort comes to us [L our comfort abounds] through Christ. 6 If we have ·troubles [trials; tribulation], it is for your ·comfort [encouragement] and salvation, and if we ·have comfort [are encouraged], ·you also have comfort [or it is for your comfort/encouragement]. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings we have. 7 Our hope for you is ·strong [unshaken; firm], knowing that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the ·comfort [encouragement] we receive.
8 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the ·trouble [trial; tribulation] we suffered in Asia [C a Roman province in present-day western Turkey]. We had great burdens there that were beyond our own strength, so that we even ·gave up hope of living [L despaired of life]. 9 Truly, in our own hearts we believed we ·would die [L had been sentenced to death]. But this happened so we would not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises people from the dead. 10 God ·saved [rescued; delivered] us from these great dangers of death, and he will continue to ·save [rescue; deliver] us. We have put our hope in him, and he will ·save [rescue; deliver] us again. 11 ·And you can [or …as you] help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—·that God blessed [for the gift/favor given to] us because of their many prayers.
The Change in Paul’s Plans
12 This is ·what we are proud of [L our boast], ·and I can say it with a clear conscience [L the testimony/witness of our conscience]: In everything we have done in the world, and especially with you, we have had an ·honest[a] [or generous] and sincere heart from God. We did this by God’s grace, not by ·the kind of wisdom the world has [worldly/fleshly wisdom].
15 I was so sure of all this that I made plans to visit you first so you could ·be blessed twice [L have a second grace]. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia [C the northern part of present-day Greece; Acts 19:21; 20:1, 2] and again on my way back [C the visit anticipated in 1 Cor. 16:5]. I wanted to ·get help from you for my trip [L be sent by you] to Judea. 17 [L So; Therefore] Do you think that I made these plans ·without really meaning it [lightly; with vacillation]? Or maybe you think I make plans ·as the world does [or using only human standards/reason; L according to the flesh], so that I say yes, yes and at the same time no, no.
18 But ·since you can believe God [L God is trustworthy/faithful], you can believe that what we tell you is never both yes and no. 19 [L For] The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I preached to you, was not yes and no. [L But; Rather] In ·Christ [L him] it has always been yes. 20 The yes to all of God’s promises is in ·Christ [L him], and through Christ we say ·yes [L amen; C from a Hebrew term meaning “yes,” or “it is true”] to the glory of God. 21 Remember, God is the One who makes you and us ·strong [stand firm; established] in Christ. God ·made us his chosen people [or commissioned us; L anointed us]. 22 He put his ·mark on us to show that we are his [L seal on us; C of ownership], and he put his Spirit in our hearts ·to be a guarantee for all he has promised [L as a pledge/deposit/downpayment].
23 Now I ·ask [call on; appeal to] God to be my witness ·that this is true [or staking my life on it; L against my soul/life; C a very serious vow or oath]: The reason I did not come back to Corinth was to ·keep you from being punished or hurt [L spare you]. 24 We are not trying to ·control [rule; lord it over] your faith. You ·are strong [stand firm; are well established] in faith. But we are workers with you for your own joy.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 honest Some Greek copies read “holy.”
2 Corinthians 1
New King James Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and (B)Timothy our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, (C)with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
2 (D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comfort in Suffering
3 (E)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who (F)comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any [a]trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as (G)the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our [b]consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, (H)it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that (I)as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
Delivered from Suffering
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of (J)our [c]trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should (K)not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 (L)who delivered us from so great a death, and [d]does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also (M)helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on [e]our behalf (N)for the gift granted to us through many.
Paul’s Sincerity
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in [f]simplicity and (O)godly sincerity, (P)not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end 14 (as also you have understood us in part), (Q)that we are your boast as (R)you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Sparing the Church
15 And in this confidence (S)I intended to come to you before, that you might have (T)a second benefit— 16 to pass by way of you to Macedonia, (U)to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. 17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan (V)according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? 18 But as God is (W)faithful, our [g]word to you was not Yes and No. 19 For (X)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, (Y)Silvanus, and (Z)Timothy—was not Yes and No, (AA)but in Him was Yes. 20 (AB)For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and (AC)has anointed us is God, 22 who (AD)also has sealed us and (AE)given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
23 Moreover (AF)I call God as witness against my soul, (AG)that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. 24 Not (AH)that we [h]have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for (AI)by faith you stand.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 1:4 tribulation
- 2 Corinthians 1:5 comfort
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 tribulation
- 2 Corinthians 1:10 NU shall
- 2 Corinthians 1:11 M your behalf
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 The opposite of duplicity
- 2 Corinthians 1:18 message
- 2 Corinthians 1:24 rule
2 Corinthians 1
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God, and (C)Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, (D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God of All Comfort
3 (F)Blessed be the (G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and (H)God of all comfort, 4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in (J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 (K)If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you (L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[b] of (M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us (N)rely not on ourselves (O)but on God (P)who raises the dead. 10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. (R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf (T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
Paul's Change of Plans
12 For our boast is this, (U)the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity[c] and (V)godly sincerity, (W)not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did (X)partially understand us—that (Y)on the day of our Lord Jesus (Z)you will boast of us as (AA)we will boast of you.
15 Because I was sure of this, (AB)I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have (AC)a second (AD)experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you (AE)on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans (AF)according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as (AG)God is faithful, (AH)our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For (AI)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, (AJ)Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but (AK)in him it is always Yes. 20 For (AL)all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our (AM)Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and (AN)has anointed us, 22 and who has also (AO)put his seal on us and (AP)given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.[d]
23 But (AQ)I call God to witness against me—it was (AR)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we (AS)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm (AT)in your faith.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 1:5 Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 Or down payment
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
