2 Corinthians 2

1 For my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit.

But, so far as I am concerned, I have resolved not to have a painful visit the next time I come to see you.

2 If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the person whom I am paining?

For if I of all men give you pain, who then is there to gladden my heart, but the very persons to whom I give pain?

3 So I wrote as I did because I was afraid that if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also.

And I write this to you in order that when I come I may not receive pain from those who ought to give me joy, confident as I am as to all of you that my joy is the joy of you all.

4 I wrote to you in sore trouble and distress of heart and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you.

For with many tears I write to you, and in deep suffering and depression of spirit, not in order to grieve you, but in the hope of showing you how brimful my heart is with love for you.

5 Now whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent – not to be too severe – pained every one of you.

Now if any one has caused sorrow, it has been caused not so much to me, as in some degree--for I have no wish to exaggerate--to all of you.

6 The man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you;

In the case of such a person the punishment which was inflicted by the majority of you is enough.

7 so that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain.

So that you may now take the opposite course, and forgive him rather and comfort him, for fear he should perhaps be driven to despair by his excess of grief.

8 So I entreat you to assure him of your love.

I beg you therefore fully to reinstate him in your love.

9 I had this further object, also, in what I wrote – to find out whether you might be relied on to be obedient in everything.

For in writing to you I have also this object in view--to discover by experience whether you are prepared to be obedient in every respect.

10 Anyone you forgive, I forgive them, too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven (if I have had to forgive anything), I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ,

When you forgive a man an offence I also forgive it; for in fact what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has always been for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

11 so as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

for fear Satan should gain an advantage over us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.

12 When I went to the district round Troas to tell the good news of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master,

Now when I came into the Troad to spread there the Good News about the Christ, even though in the Lord's providence a door stood open before me,

13 I could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my friend; so I took leave of the people there, and went on to Macedonia.

yet, obtaining no relief for my spirit because I did not find our brother Titus, I bade them farewell and went on into Macedonia.

14 All thanks to God, who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet perfume of the knowledge of him in every place.

But to God be the thanks who in Christ ever heads our triumphal procession, and by our hands waves in every place that sweet incense, the knowledge of Him.

15 For we are the fragrance of Christ ascending to God – both among those who are in the path of salvation and among those who are in the path to ruin.

For we are a fragrance of Christ grateful to God in those whom He is saving and in those who are perishing;

16 To the latter we are a stench which arises from death and tells of death; to the former a fragrance which arises from life and tells of life. But who is equal to such a task?

to the last-named an odor of death predictive of death, and to the others an odor of life predictive of life. And for such service as this who is competent?

17 Unlike many people, we are not in the habit of making profit out of God’s message; but in all sincerity, and bearing God’s commission, we speak before him in union with Christ.

We are; for, unlike most teachers, we are not fraudulent hucksters of God's Message; but with transparent motives, as commissioned by God, in God's presence and in communion with Christ, so we speak.