1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
5 For as we share abundantly in Christs sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
6 If 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.
7 Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
9 Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead;
9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
10 he delivered us from so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to many prayers.
11 as 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.
12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God.
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to Gods grace.
13 For we write you nothing but what you can read and understand; I hope you will understand fully,
13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
14 as you have understood in part, that you can be proud of us as we can be of you, on the day of the Lord Jesus.
14 as 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.
15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double pleasure;
15 Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice.
16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.
16 I planned 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.
17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans like a worldly man, ready to say Yes and No at once?
17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no"?
18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes."
20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God.
20 For 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.
21 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us;
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
22 he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 But I call God to witness against me -- it was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth.
23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
24 Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.