2 ¹ So I decided that, for my own sake, I wouldn’t visit you again while I was upset. ² If I make you sad, who will be there to make me glad when you are sad because of me?

Paul’s former letter

³ That’s why I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t be made sad by the ones who ought to make me happy. I have confidence in you, that my happiness means your happiness. ⁴ I wrote to you in tears, with a very troubled and anxious heart. I didn’t write to make you sad but so you would know the overwhelming love that I have for you.

⁵ But if someone has made anyone sad, that person hasn’t hurt me but all of you to some degree (not to exaggerate). ⁶ The punishment handed out by the majority is enough for this person. ⁷ This is why you should try your best to forgive and to comfort this person now instead, so that this person isn’t overwhelmed by too much sorrow. ⁸ So I encourage you to show your love for this person.

⁹ This is another reason why I wrote you. I wanted to test you and see if you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ If you forgive anyone for anything, I do too. And whatever I’ve forgiven (if I’ve forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Christ. ¹¹ This is so that we won’t be taken advantage of by Satan, because we are well aware of his schemes.

Paul’s ministry

¹² When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, the Lord gave me an opportunity to preach. ¹³ But I was worried because I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But thank God, who is always leading us around through Christ as if we were in a parade. He releases the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere through us. ¹⁵ We smell like the aroma of Christ’s offering to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are on the road to destruction. ¹⁶ We smell like a contagious dead person to those who are dying, but we smell like the fountain of life to those who are being saved.

Who is qualified for this kind of ministry? ¹⁷ We aren’t like so many people who hustle the word of God to make a profit. We are speaking through Christ in the presence of God, as those who are sincere and as those who are sent from God.