1 This letter is from Paul. I have been chosen by God to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Timothy is here with me and is writing to you also. We are writing to God’s church in the city of Corinth and to all of God’s people in the country of Greece. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father Who shows us loving-kindness and our God Who gives us comfort. ⁴ He gives us comfort in all our troubles. Then we can comfort other people who have the same troubles. We give the same kind of comfort God gives us. ⁵ As we have suffered much for Christ and have shared in His pain, we also share His great comfort.

⁶ But if we are in trouble, it is for your good. And it is so you will be saved from the punishment of sin. If God comforts us, it is for your good also. You too will be given strength not to give up when you have the same kind of trouble we have. ⁷ Our hope for you is the same all the time. We know you are sharing our troubles. And so you will share the comfort we receive.

⁸ We want you to know, Christian brothers, of the trouble we had in the countries of Asia. The load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live. ⁹ We thought we would die. This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead. ¹⁰ Yes, God kept us from what looked like sure death and He is keeping us. As we trust Him, He will keep us in the future. ¹¹ You also help us by praying for us. Many people thank God for His favor to us. This is an answer to the prayers of many people.

Paul Wants to Visit Corinth

¹² I am happy to say this. Whatever we did in this world, and for sure when we were with you, we were honest and had pure desires. We did not trust in human wisdom. Our power came from God’s loving-favor. ¹³ We write to you only what we know you can understand. I hope you will understand everything. ¹⁴ When the Lord Jesus comes again, you can be as proud of us as we will be proud of you. Right now you do not understand us real well.

¹⁵ It was because of this, I wanted to visit you first. In that way, you would be helped two times. ¹⁶ I wanted to stop to visit you on my way to the country of Macedonia. I would stop again as I came from there. Then you could help me on my way to the country of Judea. ¹⁷ Yes, I changed my mind. Does that show that I change my mind a lot? Do I plan things as people of the world who say yes when they mean no? You know I am not like that! ¹⁸ As God is true, my yes means yes. I am not the kind of person who says one thing and means another. ¹⁹ Timothy and Silvanus and I have preached to you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him there is no yes and no. In Him is yes. ²⁰ Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God. ²¹ God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. ²² He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.

²³ I call on God to look into my heart. The reason I did not come to the city of Corinth was because I did not want my strong words to hurt you. ²⁴ We are not the boss of your faith but we are working with you to make you happy. Your faith is strong.