2 Corinthians 2
2
1 But* I made this decision for my own sake—not to come to you again in grief. 2 For if I cause you grief, then who will make me glad except the one who has been grieved by me? 3 And I wrote this very thing so that when I came, I would not have grief from those who ought to make me rejoice, trusting in you all that my joy is the joy* of you all. 4 For out of much distress and agony of heart I wrote to you with many tears—not to cause you grief, but so that you might know the love which I have for you in a greater measure.
Reaffirming Love for the Offender
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but to some extent—not to put it too harshly—he has grieved* all of you. 6 This punishment, administered* by the majority, is sufficient for such an individual, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and console him, lest somehow such an individual be consumed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore, I encourage you to reassert* your love for him. 9 For this purpose, I also wrote, so that I might know your proven character,* whether you are obedient in everything. 10 And anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive;* for indeed, what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for the sake of you in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his intentions.
12 Now when I arrived in Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus, my brother; but taking leave of them, I left for Macedonia.
Triumphal Procession in Christ and the New Covenant Ministers
14 But thanks be to God, the One who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us manifests the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one, a fragrance from death to death; to the other,* a fragrance from life to life. And who is competent for these things? 17 For we are not like the many who exchange the word of God for material profit, but as from purity, but as from God, we speak in the presence of God in Christ.
Notes
1 Some ancient manuscripts read For
3 The noun phrase the joy is understood from the context, though it is not part of the Greek text
5 The expression he has grieved is supplied to the text on a contextual basis for clarification
6 The verb administered is supplied to the text on a contextual basis for clarification
8 Or reaffirm
9 Greek the proof of you
10 The verb forgive is supplied to the text on a contextual basis for clarification
16 Greek to the one
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
