For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret it. Even if I did regret it (I see[a] that that letter grieved you, even though for a short time[b]), now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to the will of God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us. 10 For grief according to the will of God brings about a repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death. 11 For behold how much diligence this very thing, being grieved according to the will of God, has brought about in you: what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! In everything you have demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 Consequently, even if I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong or because of the one who had been wronged, but in order that your diligence on our behalf[c] might be revealed to you before God. 13 Because of this we have been encouraged, and in addition to our encouragement, we rejoiced much more over the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been refreshed by all of you.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 7:8 Some manuscripts have “for I see”
  2. 2 Corinthians 7:8 Literally “an hour”
  3. 2 Corinthians 7:12 Literally “on behalf of us”