2 Corinthians 2
2
1 BUT I definitely made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful and distressing visit.
2 For if I cause you pain [with merited rebuke], who is there to provide me enjoyment but the [very] one whom I have grieved and made sad?
3 And I wrote the same to you so that when I came, I might not be myself pained by those who are the [very] ones who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you all and felt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you.
4 For I wrote you out of great sorrow and deep distress [with mental torture and anxiety] of heart, [yes, and] with many tears, not to cause you pain but in order to make you realize the overflowing love that I continue increasingly to have for you.
5 But if someone [the one among you who committed incest] has caused [all this] grief and pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, [he has distressed] all of you.
6 For such a one this censure by the majority [which he has received is] sufficient [punishment].
7 So [instead of further rebuke, now] you should rather turn and [graciously] forgive and comfort and encourage [him], to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and despair.
8 I therefore beg you to reinstate him in your affections and assure him of your love for him;
9 For this was my purpose in writing you, to test your attitude and see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient and altogether agreeable [to following my orders] in everything.
10 If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive that one; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sakes in the presence [and with the approval] of Christ (the Messiah),
11 To keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.
12 Now when I arrived at Troas [to preach] the good news (the Gospel) of Christ, a door of opportunity was opened for me in the Lord,
13 Yet my spirit could not rest (relax, get relief) because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave from them and departed for Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:
16 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]
17 For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God's Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity and the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight and presence of God.
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2 Corinthians 2: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
2 Corinthians 2
2
1But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you with sorrow. 2For if I make you sorry, who then is he that maketh me glad, but he that is made sorry by me? 3And I wrote this very thing, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
5But if any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I press not too heavily) to you all. 6Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many; 7so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow. 8Wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him. 9For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye are obedient in all things. 10But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it in the person of Christ; 11that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
12Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, 13I had no relief for my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia. 14But thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savour of his knowledge in every place. 15For we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, in them that are being saved, and in them that are perishing; 16to the one a savour from death unto death; to the other a savour from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ.
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