1 T his letter is from Paul. I have been chosen by God to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Timothy is here with me and is writing to you also. We are writing to God’s church in the city of Corinth and to all of God’s people in the country of Greece.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

2 M ay you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 W e give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father Who shows us loving-kindness and our God Who gives us comfort.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;

4 H e gives us comfort in all our troubles. Then we can comfort other people who have the same troubles. We give the same kind of comfort God gives us.

who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

5 A s we have suffered much for Christ and have shared in His pain, we also share His great comfort.

For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.

6 B ut if we are in trouble, it is for your good. And it is so you will be saved from the punishment of sin. If God comforts us, it is for your good also. You too will be given strength not to give up when you have the same kind of trouble we have.

But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.

7 O ur hope for you is the same all the time. We know you are sharing our troubles. And so you will share the comfort we receive.

Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort.

8 W e want you to know, Christian brothers, of the trouble we had in the countries of Asia. The load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live.

For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.

9 W e thought we would die. This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead.

Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,

10 Y es, God kept us from what looked like sure death and He is keeping us. As we trust Him, He will keep us in the future.

who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;

11 Y ou also help us by praying for us. Many people thank God for His favor to us. This is an answer to the prayers of many people. Paul Wants to Visit Corinth

you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.

12 I am happy to say this. Whatever we did in this world, and for sure when we were with you, we were honest and had pure desires. We did not trust in human wisdom. Our power came from God’s loving-favor.

For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.

13 W e write to you only what we know you can understand. I hope you will understand everything.

For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end;

14 W hen the Lord Jesus comes again, you can be as proud of us as we will be proud of you. Right now you do not understand us real well.

as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

15 I t was because of this, I wanted to visit you first. In that way, you would be helped two times.

In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit;

16 I wanted to stop to visit you on my way to the country of Macedonia. I would stop again as I came from there. Then you could help me on my way to the country of Judea.

and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea.

17 Y es, I changed my mind. Does that show that I change my mind a lot? Do I plan things as people of the world who say yes when they mean no? You know I am not like that!

When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?”

18 A s God is true, my yes means yes. I am not the kind of person who says one thing and means another.

But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”

19 T imothy and Silvanus and I have preached to you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him there is no yes and no. In Him is yes.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”

20 J esus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God.

For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.

21 G od is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself.

Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;

22 H e has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.

who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.

23 I call on God to look into my heart. The reason I did not come to the city of Corinth was because I did not want my strong words to hurt you.

But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you.

24 W e are not the boss of your faith but we are working with you to make you happy. Your faith is strong.

Not that we control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.