New International Version | New Living Translation |
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: | 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 and peace to you 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 |
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the 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 troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from 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 just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. | 5For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. |
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. | 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. |
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. | 7We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. |
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. | 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 we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely 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 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, | 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. |
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. | 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 |
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. | 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 do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, | 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, |
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. | 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 confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. | 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 then to 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 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"? | 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”? |
18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "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, 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." | 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 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. | 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. |
21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, | 21It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, |
22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. | 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. |
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. | 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, because it is by faith you stand firm. | 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. |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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. |
|