The Collection for the Lord’s People

16 Now about the collections for the Lord’s people:t Do what I told the Galatianu churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week,v each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.w 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approvex and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

Personal Requests

5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to youy—for I will be going through Macedonia.z 6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey,a wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.b 8 But I will stay on at Ephesusc until Pentecost,d 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me,e and there are many who oppose me.

10 When Timothyf comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord,g just as I am. 11 No one, then, should treat him with contempt.h Send him on his wayi in peacej so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers.

12 Now about our brother Apollos:k I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.

13 Be on your guard; stand firml in the faith; be courageous; be strong.m 14 Do everything in love.n

15 You know that the household of Stephanaso were the first convertsp in Achaia,q and they have devoted themselves to the servicer of the Lord’s people.s I urge you, brothers and sisters, 16 to submitt to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it. 17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you.u 18 For they refreshedv my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.w

Final Greetings

19 The churches in the province of Asiax send you greetings. Aquila and Priscillaa y greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.z 20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.a

21 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.b

22 If anyone does not love the Lord,c let that person be cursed!d Come, Lordb!e

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.f

24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.c

2 Corinthians

Paul wrote this follow-up letter to the church in Corinth to tell them how pleased he was that the people were sorry for the way they had acted and that they were now trying to live the way God wanted them to. He also defended himself against the accusations being made by false teachers.

1 Paul, an apostlea of Christ Jesus by the will of God,b and Timothyc our brother,

To the church of Godd in Corinth,e together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:f

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.g

Praise to the God of All Comfort

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,h the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts usi in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,j so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation;k if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,l so also you share in our comfort.

8 We do not want you to be uninformed,m brothers and sisters,a about the troubles we experiencedn in the province of Asia.o We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,p who raises the dead.q 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril,r and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hopes that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers.t Then many will give thanksu on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 Now this is our boast: Our consciencev testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrityb w and godly sincerity.x We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdomy but on God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 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.z

15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit youa first so that you might benefit twice.b 16 I wanted to visit you on my wayc to Macedoniad and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my waye to Judea.f 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly mannerg so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

18 But as surely as God is faithful,h our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God,i Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silasc j and Timothyk—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has alwaysl been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promisesm God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen”n is spoken by us to the glory of God.o 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firmp in Christ. He anointedq us, 22 set his sealr of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.s

23 I call God as my witnesst—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare youu that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it overv your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.w

2 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.x 2 For if I grieve you,y who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I wrote as I did,z so that when I came I would not be distresseda by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidenceb in all of you, that you would all share my joy. 4 For I wrote youc out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Forgiveness for the Offender

5 If anyone has caused grief,d he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishmente inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,f so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote youg was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.h 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satani might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.j

Ministers of the New Covenant

12 Now when I went to Troask to preach the gospel of Christl and found that the Lord had opened a doorm for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind,n because I did not find my brother Tituso there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.p

14 But thanks be to God,q who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aromar of the knowledges of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aromat of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.u 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death;v to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?w 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.x On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,y as those sent from God.z

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselvesa again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendationb to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.c 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,d not on tablets of stonee but on tablets of human hearts.f

4 Such confidenceg we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselvesh to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.i 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenantj—not of the letterk but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.l

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

7 Now if the ministry that brought death,m which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,n transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnationo was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!p 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope,q we are very bold.r 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his faces to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull,t for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenantu is read.v It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,w the veil is taken away.x 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,y and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.z 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatea a the Lord’s glory,b are being transformed into his imagec with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.