2 Corinthians 7

1 My friends, whom I love, because [God] has promised [to accept us(inc) as his children], we [(inc)] must stop doing anything that is sinful. We must not do sinful things with our bodies, and we must not [think] sinful thoughts. [Because] we greatly revere God, we must strive to [live] a completely pure life. By doing that we will become the kind of people that he wants us to be.

Ayant donc ces promesses, purifions-nous, mes bien-aimés, de toute souillure de la chair et de l’esprit, et achevons notre sanctification dans la crainte de Dieu.

2 So, as I just wrote, I want you to love me (OR, us [IDM] [who are true apostles of Christ]). I/we [(exc)] have never done anything wrong to any of you. I/we have not done anything to harm any one of you spiritually or financially. And I/we have not tried to get money from [you] (for myself/for ourselves).

Donnez-nous place. Nous n’avons lésé personne, corrompu personne, fraudé personne.

3 [It is true that some people among you have said that I have done such things. Nevertheless], I am not trying to make you all feel ashamed because, as I wrote before, I will continue to love you all very much [IDM], whether I live with you or die with you. I am very confident about you.

Ce n’est pas pour vous condamner que je vous parle ainsi; car je vous ai déjà dit que vous êtes dans nos cœurs à la mort et à la vie.

4 I am very pleased with you. You have greatly encouraged me, so that I am now very joyful in spite of all the hardships that I have endured.

J’use d’une grande liberté envers vous; je me glorifie beaucoup de vous; Je suis rempli de consolation, je surabonde de joie dans toutes nos tribulations.

5 Now [I will write more about what I was saying about Titus]. When I [left Troas and] came [here to] Macedonia [province], I still did not get any rest. Everywhere we [(exc)] went, [people were constantly] causing us trouble. [And not only were] people [constantly causing us] trouble, but I was greatly concerned [about you all].

Car, lorsque nous sommes venus en Macédoine, notre chair n’a eu aucun repos, mais nous avons souffert toute sorte d’afflictions: au dehors, combats; au dedans, frayeurs.

6 But God, who always encourages his people when they are discouraged, encouraged us by [sending] Titus back to us.

Mais celui qui console les humbles, Dieu, nous a consolés par l’arrivée de Tite;

7 I was encouraged by [seeing] Titus, [but when I heard how] you had encouraged him, that encouraged me even more. He told me how much you wanted [to see me. He told me] that you were very sorry [that you had made me so unhappy. He also told me] that you are very eager for me [to continue to serve as your apostle. When Titus told me those things], I was very, very happy.

Non-seulement par son arrivée, mais encore par la consolation qu’il a reçue de vous; nous ayant raconté votre désir, vos pleurs, votre zèle pour moi, de sorte que ma joie en a été plus grande.

8 Even though what [I wrote] in my letter (distressed you/made you sad), I am not sorry [that I wrote it]. For a while I was sorry that I had written it, [because I knew that it would distress you]. Now [Titus has also told] me that it did distress you [when you read it], but you were distressed only for a short time.

Car quoique je vous aie contristés par ma lettre, je ne m’en repens point; et si je m’en suis repenti, en voyant que cette lettre vous avait (bien que pour peu de temps) causé de la tristesse,

9 [So now] I am happy [that I wrote it]. I am not happy that you were distressed {that [I] distressed you}, but [I am happy] because, when you became distressed, you felt sorry for what you had done and [you asked God to forgive you. What I mean is that you felt sorry in the way that God wanted you to feel sorry, so my making] you feel sorry did not harm you at all.

Maintenant je me réjouis, non de ce que vous avez été contristés, mais de ce que vous avez été contristés de manière à faire pénitence; car vous avez été contristés selon Dieu, de sorte que vous n’avez reçu de nous aucun dommage.

10 [The fact is that] when God causes [us to feel] truly sorry for having sinned and we turn from our sinful behavior, then God saves us [and will not punish us for the sinful things that we have done]. And no one is ever sorry about that. [However], the people who do not trust [in God] [MTY] may be sorry [for the sinful things that they have done]. But [if they do not turn from their sinful behavior and ask God to forgive them], they will remain separated from him forever.

Car la tristesse qui est selon Dieu produit pour le salut une pénitence stable; mais la tristesse du siècle produit la mort.

11 But [think about what happened when you read my letter]: God caused you to be truly sorry [for what you had done]. You eagerly [wanted to do what was right], and you wanted to show [God] (OR, [me]) that you had done the right thing. You were angry [about what had happened], and you were worried [that God would punish you if the situation continued]. You also wanted me [to visit you to encourage and help you]. You wanted me to know [that you really do accept me as your apostle, and that you punished the man who had sinned, as I told you to do. By doing] all of those things, you have shown [me] that you have done what is right in this matter.

Voyez, en effet, combien cette tristesse selon Dieu que vous avez ressentie a produit en vous non-seulement de vigilance, mais de soin de vous justifier, mais d’indignation, mais de crainte, mais de désir, mais de zèle, mais de vengeance; de toute manière, vous avez montré que vous étiez purs dans cette affaire.

12 So, even though I wrote that [severe] letter to you, I did not [write it just] so that [you would punish] the man who had done what was wrong. Also, I [did not write it] for the benefit of the person whom [he] had wronged. Instead, [I wrote it] so that, when you [read the letter], God would enable you to realize how much you really do respect [my authority].

Si donc je vous ai écrit, ce n’était, ni à cause de celui qui a commis l’injure, ni à cause de celui qui l’a soufferte, mais pour vous faire connaître la sollicitude que nous avons pour vous

13 So, [because you listened to me and did what I asked you to do], (I was/we [(exc)] were all) encouraged. Not only (was I/were we) encouraged, but (I was/we [(exc)] were) [also] very happy to see how happy Titus was [when he arrived here. He told me/us that] he did not need to worry any more, because [he saw] that you all [had a good attitude toward me].

Devant Dieu; c’est pourquoi nous avons été consolés. Or dans notre consolation, notre joie s’est accrue de celle de Tite, parce que vous avez tous contribué au repos de son esprit.

14 I had told Titus that I was pleased about you. And I did not need to be ashamed [for feeling that way about you, because you did what I knew that you would do]. Just like everything that I have taught you [and written to you] has been the truth, the good things that I told Titus about you were also true.

Et si je me suis glorifié de vous auprès de lui, je n’ai pas eu à en rougir; mais comme nous vous avions dit toutes choses selon la vérité, aussi le témoignage glorieux que nous avions rendu à Tite a été justifié.

15 Now he happily remembers how you all [were willing to] do [what I asked you to do]. He is [also happy about the way you] treated him with great respect. [When he thinks about those things], [it makes] him love you even more [than he did when he was with you].

C’est pourquoi, dans le fond de ses entrailles, il redouble d’affection pour vous, lorsqu’il se ressouvient de l’obéissance de vous tous, et avec quelle crainte et quel tremblement vous l’avez reçu.

16 [As for me], I am very happy [because now] I am certain that I can depend on you [to do what you know God wants you to do].