2 CorinthiansChapter 1

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¹This letter is from Paul and from our brother Timothy. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus because God wanted me to be. We are writing to the church of God in Corinth. We are also writing to all God's people in all of Achaia. ²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who shows mercy. He is the God of all comfort. ⁴He comforts us in all our troubles. Then we can comfort others in any trouble they have. We give them the same comfort we ourselves got from God. ⁵The sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives. In the same way, our comfort also flows over through Christ. ⁶If we are in trouble, it is so you can be comforted and saved. If we are comforted, it is so you can be comforted. This comfort helps you be patient and hold on when you go through the same sufferings we do. ⁷Our hope for you is sure. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know you will also share in our comfort. ⁸Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the hard times we had in the province of Asia. The load on us was far too heavy for us to carry. We even gave up hope of living. ⁹In fact, we felt like we had been sentenced to die. This happened so we would not trust in ourselves. It was so we would trust in God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰He has saved us from such deadly danger, and he will save us. We have put our hope in him. We trust that he will save us again, ¹¹as you help us by praying for us. Then many people will thank God for us. They will thank him for the kindness he showed us in answer to their prayers. ¹²This is what we are proud of. Our conscience tells us that we have lived in the world in a holy and honest way that comes from God. We have lived this way most of all with you. We did not depend on worldly wisdom. We depended on the grace of God. ¹³We don't write you anything you can't read and understand. And I hope you will understand us fully, ¹⁴just as you already understand us in part. Then you can be proud of us, just as we will be proud of you on the day of our Lord Jesus. ¹⁵I was sure of this. So I planned to visit you first. Then you could be blessed two times. ¹⁶I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia. Then I wanted to come back to you from Macedonia. After that, you could help me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷When I planned this, did I do it without thinking? Or do I make my plans the way the world does? Do I say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? ¹⁸But God is faithful. Just as surely, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." ¹⁹Silvanus, Timothy, and I preached to you about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He was not "Yes" and "No." In him it has always been "Yes." ²⁰All of God's promises are "Yes" in Christ. So through Christ we say our "Amen" to bring glory to God. ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us. ²²He put his seal on us. He put his Spirit in our hearts as a promise of what is coming. ²³I call on God to be my witness. I did not come back to Corinth because I wanted to spare you. ²⁴We are not trying to rule over your faith. We work with you for your joy. For it is by faith that you stand firm.