1 S ince we have these great promises, dear friends, let us turn away from every sin of the body or of the spirit. Let us honor God with love and fear by giving ourselves to Him in every way. His Love for the Corinthians

Having, then, these promises, beloved, may we cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God;

2 R eceive us into your hearts. We have done no wrong to anyone. We have not led anyone in the wrong way. We have not used anyone for our good.

receive us; no one did we wrong; no one did we waste; no one did we defraud;

3 I do not say this to tell you that you are wrong. As I have said before, you have a place in our hearts and always will. If we live or die, we will be together.

not to condemn you do I say, for I have said before that in our hearts ye are to die with and to live with;

4 I trust you and am proud of you. You give me much comfort and joy even when I suffer.

great my freedom of speech unto you, great my glory on your behalf; I have been filled with the comfort, I overabound with the joy on all our tribulation,

5 W hen we arrived in the country of Macedonia, we had no rest. We had all kinds of trouble. There was fighting all around us. Our hearts were afraid.

for also we, having come to Macedonia, no relaxation hath our flesh had, but on every side we are in tribulation, without fightings, within -- fears;

6 B ut God gives comfort to those whose hearts are heavy. He gave us comfort when Titus came.

but He who is comforting the cast-down -- God -- He did comfort us in the presence of Titus;

7 N ot only did his coming comfort us, but the comfort you had given him made me happy also. He told us how much you wanted to see us. He said that you were sad because of my trouble and that you wanted to help me. This made me happy.

and not only in his presence, but also in the comfort with which he was comforted over you, declaring to us your longing desire, your lamentation, your zeal for me, so that the more I did rejoice,

8 I am not sorry now if my letter made you sad. I know it made you sad, but it was only for awhile.

because even if I made you sorry in the letter, I do not repent -- if even I did repent -- for I perceive that the letter, even if for an hour, did make you sorry.

9 I am happy now. It is not because you were hurt by my letter, but because it turned you from sin to God. God used it and you were not hurt by what we did.

I now do rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry to reformation, for ye were made sorry toward God, that in nothing ye might receive damage from us;

10 T he sorrow that God uses makes people sorry for their sin and leads them to turn from sin so they can be saved from the punishment of sin. We should be happy for that kind of sorrow, but the sorrow of this world brings death.

for the sorrow toward God reformation to salvation not to be repented of doth work, and the sorrow of the world doth work death,

11 S ee how this sorrow God allowed you to have has worked in you. You had a desire to be free of that sin I wrote about. You were angry about it. You were afraid. You wanted to do something about it. In every way you did what you could to make it right.

for, lo, this same thing -- your being made sorry toward God -- how much diligence it doth work in you! but defence, but displeasure, but fear, but longing desire, but zeal, but revenge; in every thing ye did approve yourselves to be pure in the matter.

12 I sent this. It was not written only because of the man who did the wrong or because of the one who suffered.

If, then, I also wrote to you -- not for his cause who did wrong, nor for his cause who did suffer wrong, but for our diligence in your behalf being manifested unto you before God --

13 A ll this has given us comfort. More than this, we are happy for the joy Titus has. His spirit has been made stronger by all of you.

because of this we have been comforted in your comfort, and more abundantly the more did we rejoice in the joy of Titus, that his spirit hath been refreshed from you all;

14 I told him how proud I was of you. You did not make me ashamed. What we said to Titus proved to be true.

because if anything to him in your behalf I have boasted, I was not put to shame; but as all things in truth we did speak to you, so also our boasting before Titus became truth,

15 H e loves you all the more. He remembers how all of you were ready to obey and how you respected him.

and his tender affection is more abundantly toward you, remembering the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye did receive him;

16 I am happy that I can have complete trust in you.

I rejoice, therefore, that in everything I have courage in you.