23 I call on God as a witness,au on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth.av 24 I do not mean that we lord it over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in youraw faith. 2 In fact, I made up my mind about this: I would not come to you on another painful visit.B 2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me?C 3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confidentax about all of you that my joy will also be yours. 4 For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

A SINNER FORGIVEN

5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggeratea—to all of you. 6 This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. 7 As a result, you should instead forgiveb and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your characterc to see if you are obedientd in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be taken advantagee of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

A TRIP TO MACEDONIA

12 When I came to Troasf to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a doorg for me, 13 I had no resth in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus.i Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.i

A MINISTRY OF LIFE OR DEATH

14 But thanks be to God,k who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.l 15 For to God we are the fragrancem of Christ among those who are being savedn and among those who are perishing.o 16 To some we are an aroma of deathp leading to death, but to others, an aroma of lifeq leading to life. Who is adequate for these things? 17 For we do not market the wordDr of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.

LIVING LETTERS

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.s 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter,t deliveredA by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living Godu—not on tablets of stonev but on tablets of human hearts.B,w

PAUL’S COMPETENCE

4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent inC ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.x 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant,y not of the letter,z but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

NEW COVENANT MINISTRY

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory,aa so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set asideab was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

12 Since, then, we have such a hope,ac we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his facead to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the endD of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened.ae For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant,af the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ.ag 15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turnsah to the Lord, the veil is removed.ai 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror atE,aj the glory of the Lordak and are being transformedal into the same imageam from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.F

THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,an we do not give up.ao 2 Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not actingap deceitfully or distorting the word of God,aq but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.ar 3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this ageas has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,G,a who is the image of God.b 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,c and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”d has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledgee of God’s gloryf in the face of Jesus Christ.

TREASURE IN CLAY JARS

7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary powerg may be from God and not from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesush in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 11 For we who live are always being given over to deathi for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,A,j we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesusk and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgivingl to increase to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not give up.m Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner personn is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light afflictiono is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.p 18 So we do not focus on what is seen,q but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.