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.

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercyd we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.e 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;f we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.g On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscienceh in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospeli is veiled,j it is veiled to those who are perishing.k 4 The godl of this agem has blindedn the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,o who is the image of God.p 5 For what we preach is not ourselves,q but Jesus Christ as Lord,r and ourselves as your servantss for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”a t made his light shine in our heartsu to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.v

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clayw to show that this all-surpassing power is from Godx and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side,y but not crushed; perplexed,z but not in despair; 9 persecuted,a but not abandoned;b struck down, but not destroyed.c 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,d so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.e 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,f so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.g

13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”b h Since we have that same spirit ofc faith,i we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the deadj will also raise us with Jesusk and present us with you to himself.l 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgivingm to overflow to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart.n Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardlyo we are being renewedp day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.q 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,r since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthlys tentt we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan,u longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,v 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groanw and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,x so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.y

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight.z 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.a 9 So we make it our goal to please him,b whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due usc for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,d we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.e 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,f but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,g so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,”h as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.i 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselvesj but for him who died for themk and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldlyl point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,m the new creationn has come:a The old has gone, the new is here!o 18 All this is from God,p who reconciled us to himself through Christq and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.r And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,s as though God were making his appeal through us.t We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.u 21 God made him who had no sinv to be sinb for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.w