[1] For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. [2] For if
I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have
pained? [3] And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer
pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of
you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. [4] For I wrote you out of
much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you
pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. [5] But if
any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some
measure--not to put it too severely-- to you all. [6] For such a one this
punishment by the majority is enough; [7] so you should rather turn to
forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. [8]
So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. [9] For this is why I wrote,
that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. [10]
Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have
forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, [11]
to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant
of his designs. [12] When I came to Tro'as to preach the gospel of Christ,
a door was opened for me in the Lord; [13] but my mind could not rest
because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and
went on to Macedo'nia. [14] But thanks be to God, who in Christ always
leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge
of him everywhere. [15] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those
who are being saved and among those who are perishing, [16] to one a
fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
Who is sufficient for these things? [17] For we are not, like so many,
peddlers of God's word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in
the sight of God we speak in Christ.
