Forgiveness for the Offender

If anyone has caused grief,(A) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment(B) inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,(C) so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you(D) was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.(E) 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan(F) might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.(G)

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Forgiveness for the Offender

But if anyone has caused grief, he has caused it not to me but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you. This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;(A) so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by even worse grief. So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.(B) 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. In fact, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. 11 And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.

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