| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: | 1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece. |
| 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. God Offers Comfort to All |
| 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, | 3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. |
| 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. | 4He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. |
| 5For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. | 5For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. |
| 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. | 6Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. |
| 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. | 7We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. |
| 8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. | 8We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. |
| 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. | 9In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. |
| 10He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. | 10And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. |
| 11You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. | 11And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety. Paul’s Change of Plans |
| 12For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. | 12We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. |
| 13For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— | 13Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, |
| 14just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. | 14even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you. |
| 15Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. | 15Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice— |
| 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. | 16first on my way to Macedonia and again when I returned from Macedonia. Then you could send me on my way to Judea. |
| 17Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? | 17You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”? |
| 18As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. | 18As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” |
| 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. | 19For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. |
| 20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. | 20For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. |
| 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, | 21It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, |
| 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. | 22and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us. |
| 23But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. | 23Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke. |
| 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. | 24But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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