1 Y o, Pablo, apóstol de Jesucristo por la voluntad de Dios, y el hermano Timoteo, saludamos a la iglesia de Dios que está en Corinto, con todos los santos que están en toda Acaya.

Paul, an apostle (a special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy brother, to the church (assembly) of God which is at Corinth, and to all the saints (the people of God) throughout Achaia (most of Greece):

2 Q ue la gracia y la paz de Dios nuestro Padre, y del Señor Jesucristo, sean con todos ustedes. Aflicciones de Pablo

Grace (favor and spiritual blessing) to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

3 B endito sea el Dios y Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, Padre de misericordias y Dios de toda consolación,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),

4 q uien nos consuela en todas nuestras tribulaciones, para que también nosotros podamos consolar a los que están sufriendo, por medio de la consolación con que nosotros somos consolados por Dios.

Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God.

5 P orque así como abundan en nosotros las aflicciones de Cristo, así también por el mismo Cristo abunda nuestra consolación.

For just as Christ’s '> own] sufferings fall to our lot abundantly, so through Christ comfort (consolation and encouragement) is also abundantly by us.

6 S i nosotros sufrimos, es para que ustedes reciban consolación y salvación; si somos consolados, es para que ustedes reciban consuelo y puedan soportar como nosotros cuando pasen por los mismos sufrimientos.

But if we are troubled (afflicted and distressed), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement) and salvation; and if we are comforted (consoled and encouraged), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement), which works when you patiently endure the same evils (misfortunes and calamities) that we also suffer and undergo.

7 F irme es nuestra esperanza respecto a ustedes, pues sabemos que así como participan en nuestras aflicciones, también participan en nuestra consolación.

And our hope for you is ever unwavering (assured and unshaken); for we know that just as you share and are partners in sufferings and calamities, you also share and are partners in comfort (consolation and encouragement).

8 H ermanos, no queremos que ustedes ignoren nada acerca de los sufrimientos que padecimos en Asia; porque fuimos abrumados de manera extraordinaria y más allá de nuestras fuerzas, de tal modo que hasta perdimos la esperanza de seguir con vida.

For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us in Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life.

9 P ero la sentencia de muerte que pendía sobre nosotros fue para que no confiáramos en nosotros mismos, sino en Dios que resucita a los muertos;

Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead.

10 y él nos libró, y nos libra, y aún tenemos la esperanza de que él seguirá librándonos de tal peligro de muerte,

Who rescued and saved us from such a perilous death, and He will still rescue and save us; in and on Him we have set our hope (our joyful and confident expectation) that He will again deliver us '> draw us to Himself],

11 s i ustedes nos apoyan con sus oraciones por nosotros. Si muchos oran por nosotros, también serán muchos los que den gracias a Dios por el don concedido a nosotros por tantas oraciones. Pablo pospone su visita a Corinto

While you also cooperate by your prayers for us. Thus many persons give thanks on our behalf for the grace (the blessing of deliverance) granted us at the request of the many who have prayed.

12 N uestro motivo de orgullo es el testimonio de nuestra conciencia ante Dios, que nos dice que en este mundo, y especialmente con ustedes, nos hemos comportado no con sabiduría humana, sino con la sencillez y la sinceridad que proviene de Dios.

It is a reason for pride and exultation to which our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially toward you, with devout and pure motives and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God (the unmerited favor and merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, and keeps, strengthens, and increases them in Christian virtues).

13 P orque no les escribimos nada que no pudieran leer y entender, y espero que al final puedan comprenderlo todo,

For we write you nothing else but simply what you can read and understand, and I hope that you will become thoroughly acquainted '> divine things] and know and understand accurately and well to the end,

14 a sí como ya en parte han entendido que pueden estar orgullosos de nosotros, y que nosotros estaremos orgullosos de ustedes en el día del Señor Jesús.

as you have partially known and understood and acknowledged us and recognized that you can be proud of us, even as we of you on the day of our Lord Jesus.

15 S eguro de esto, quise antes que nada ir a visitarlos, para que tuvieran una doble bendición;

It was with assurance of this that I wanted and planned to visit you first, so that you might have a double favor and token of grace (goodwill).

16 e s decir, quise visitarlos de camino a Macedonia, y visitarlos nuevamente a mi regreso, para que me ayudaran a continuar mi viaje a Judea.

to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come again to you from Macedonia and have you send me forward on my way to Judea.

17 C uando quise hacer esto, ¿fue acaso algo decidido a la ligera? ¿Acaso lo que pienso hacer, lo pienso como toda la gente, que está lista para decir «Sí» y «No» al mismo tiempo?

Now because I changed my original plan, was I being unstable and capricious? Or what I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, ready to say Yes, yes, No, no?

18 D ios es testigo fiel de que nosotros no les decimos a ustedes «Sí» y «No» al mismo tiempo.

As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes No.

19 P orque Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios, que Silvano, Timoteo y yo les hemos predicado, no ha sido «Sí» y «No»; sino que siempre ha sido «Sí» en él.

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No; but in Him it is Yes.

20 P orque todas las promesas de Dios en él son «Sí». Por eso, por medio de él también nosotros decimos «Amén», para la gloria de Dios.

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes in Him. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him to the glory of God.

21 Y es Dios el que nos confirma con ustedes en Cristo, y es Dios el que nos ha ungido,

But it is God Who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us with you in Christ, and has consecrated and anointed us '> enduing us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit];

22 y es Dios el que también nos ha marcado con su sello, y el que, como garantía, ha puesto al Espíritu en nuestros corazones.

putting His seal upon us and giving us His Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee.

23 A sí que pongo a Dios por testigo de que, si aún no he pasado por Corinto, ha sido por consideración a ustedes.

But I call upon God as my soul’s witness: it was to avoid hurting you that I refrained from coming to Corinth—

24 N o es nuestra intención dirigir la fe de ustedes, sino colaborar con ustedes para que tengan gozo, pues por la fe se mantienen firmes.

Not that we have dominion and lord it over your faith, but fellow laborers your joy, for in faith ( in your strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through Whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God) you stand firm.