| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia. | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia: |
| 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! | 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 3Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, | 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, |
| 4who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. | 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. |
| 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. | 5For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. |
| 6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. | 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. |
| 7And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort. | 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. |
| 8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. | 8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. |
| 9Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. | 9Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. |
| 10He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, | 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, |
| 11as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many. | 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. |
| 12For our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God--not by human wisdom but by the grace of God--we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you. | 12Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God's grace. |
| 13For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely | 13For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, |
| 14just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. | 14as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus. |
| 15And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us, | 15Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. |
| 16and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you. | 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. |
| 17Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? | 17Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both "Yes, yes" and "No, no"? |
| 18But as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." | 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." |
| 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us--by me and Silvanus and Timothy--was not "Yes" and "No," but it has always been "Yes" in him. | 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us--by me and Silas and Timothy--was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." |
| 20For every one of God's promises are "Yes" in him; therefore also through him the "Amen" is spoken, to the glory we give to God. | 20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. |
| 21But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, | 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, |
| 22who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment. | 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. |
| 23Now I appeal to God as my witness, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. | 23I call God as my witness--and I stake my life on it--that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. |
| 24I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm. | 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm. |
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