2 CorinthiansChapter 2
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1So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2If I make you sad, who is left to cheer me up? Only the people I made sad. 3I wrote to you the way I did for a reason. I did not want to be made sad when I came by the very people who should make me glad. I was sure that all of you would share my joy. 4I wrote to you with many tears. I was very troubled and my heart was hurting. I did not write to make you sad. I wrote to let you know how much I love you. 5Now say someone has caused sadness. He has not made me sad. He has made all of you sad, at least in part. I don't want to say too much. 6Most of you agreed to punish him. That punishment is enough for him. 7So now you should forgive him and comfort him instead. Then he won't be crushed by too much sadness. 8So I urge you to show him again that you love him. 9This is why I wrote to you. I wanted to see if you would pass the test and obey in everything. 10If you forgive anyone, I forgive him too. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it for your sake, with Christ watching. 11We do this so that Satan will not outsmart us. We know what his tricks are. 12I went to Troas to preach the good news of Christ. There the Lord opened a door for me. 13But I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to the people there and went on to Macedonia. 14But thanks be to God! In Christ he always leads us as captives in his victory parade. Through us he spreads the knowledge of him everywhere, like a sweet smell. 15To God, we are the sweet smell of Christ. We are this smell among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To one group, we are a smell that brings death. To the other, we are a sweet smell that brings life. And who is able to do such a job? 17We are not like so many others who sell the word of God to make money. No, in Christ we speak with honest hearts before God. We speak as men sent from God.