The Corinthians’ Repentance

² Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, ^(A)we have cheated no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn; for ^(B)I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ^4 (C)Great is my boldness of speech toward you, ^(D)great is my boasting on your behalf. ^(E)I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.

⁵ For indeed, ^(F)when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but ^(G)we were troubled on every side. ^(H)Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. ⁶ Nevertheless ^(I)God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by ^(J)the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming, but also by the ^[a]consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

⁸ For even if I made you ^(K)sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; ^(L)though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. ⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For ^(M)godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; ^(N)but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what ^(O)clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be ^(P)clear in this matter. ¹² Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, ^(Q)but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.