Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Timothy, our brother,
to the church of God in Corinth and to all the
holy in all of Achaia:
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all encouragement. He
encourages us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to
encourage those in any affliction with the same encouragement with
which we ourselves are encouraged by God, because just as the
sufferings of the Christ overflow to us, so through the Christ our
encouragement overflows also. If we are afflicted, it is for your
encouragement and salvation, and if we are encouraged, it is for your
encouragement, which is at work in endurance of the same sufferings
that we also suffer. And our hope for you is secure, knowing that as
you share in the sufferings, so also in the encouragement. 1/7
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of
the affliction that became ours in Asia. We were burdened further
beyond our strength, so that we were made to despair of living also.
We had the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we would not base
our confidence on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He
rescued us from so much death and he will rescue us. We have put our
hope in him and he will rescue us still, with you also joining in for
us by your prayer, so that many familiar faces may give thanks on our
behalf, for his gift to us through many. 1/11
This is our boast and the testimony of our
conscience, that we behaved in the world, and even more toward you,
with holiness and sincerity from God, not with worldly wisdom but
with God’s grace. For we write to you only what you read and
understand. And I hope that you will understand until the end, as you
have understood us in part, that on the day of our Lord Jesus we are
your boast as you are ours. And confident of this, I wanted to come
to you earlier and to pass through you to Macedonia and, so that you
might have a second kindness, to come to you again from Macedonia and
by you be sent on to Judea. Wanting this then, did I not treat it
lightly? Do I want what I want according to the flesh, so that “yes,
yes” and “no, no” may both be open to me? But God
is faithful, so that our word to you is not “yes and no,”
because the Son of God, Christ Jesus – proclaimed among you by
me and Silvanus and Timothy – was not “yes and no,”
but in him is “yes.” For as many as are the promises of
God, the “yes” is in him, and therefore, through him, the
“Amen” to the glory of God is through us. But it is God
who makes us secure in regard to Christ, together with you, and he
anointed us, having sealed us and given the first deposit of the
Spirit into our hearts. 1/22
But I call God as witness upon my life that it was
in sparing you that I did not come to Corinth again. Not that we have
lordship over your faith, but we are fellow workers for your joy,
because you stand by your faith. And I decided this by myself: not to
come to you in sorrow again. For if I cause you sorrow, who is to
make me glad if not the same one made to sorrow by me? And I wrote
this, so that when I come to you, I would not have sorrow from those
who should make me rejoice. I am confident in all of you that my joy
is that of all of you. 2/3
Out of great affliction and an anxious heart, I
wrote to you through many tears, not so that you would be made to
sorrow, but so that you would know the love that I have even more for
you. Yet if anyone has caused sorrow he has not made me sorrow but,
without exaggerating, all of you to some extent. That censure by so
many is sufficient for such a person. In its place, rather, you
should forgive and encourage him so that he will not be swallowed-up
by still more sorrow. Therefore, I encourage you to confirm your love
for him. Indeed it was for this that I wrote, so that I might learn
from this testing of you if you are obedient in all things. And those
to whom you forgive anything, I do also. Indeed, what I have
forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, was done in front of Christ
for your sake, so that we would not be taken advantage of by Satan.
For we are not unaware of his thinking. 2/11
After coming to Troas for the gospel of the
Christ, a door having been opened to me by the Lord, I had no relief
for my spirit when I could not find my brother Titus, but parting
from them I went on to Macedonia. Yet thanks be to God who always
leads us in triumph in the Christ and makes known through us, in
every place, the scent of the knowledge of him. Among those being
saved and those perishing we are the sweet scent of Christ to God, to
the one a scent of life to life, to the other a scent of death to
death. Who is sufficient for these things? 2/16
We are not peddling the word of God, as many are,
but in Christ we speak out of sincerity, as sent from God and facing
toward God. Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Do we need,
as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our
letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people. It is
being made clear that you are a letter from Christ, a letter served
by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,
and not on tablets of stone but on the fleshy tablets of the heart.
And through the Christ we have such confidence toward God. 3/4
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
consider any of this as from ourselves, but our adequacy comes from
God and he has made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not
of letter but of spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life. Yet if the service of death, in letters carved in stone, came
with such glory that the sons of Israel could not look at the face of
Moses because of its glory, which was being done away with, how much
more glorious will be the service of the Spirit? For if the service
of condemnation was glorious, much more does the service of
righteousness overflow with glory. For even what was glorified is not
glorified in this way, for the sake of the glory that surpasses it.
For if what is being done away with came with glory, much more
glorious is that which remains. 3/11
So then, having such a hope, we make use of
liberty of speech, not like Moses who placed a veil over his face so
that the sons of Israel would not see to the end of what was being
done away with. But their thinking was hardened. For up to the
present day the same veil remains over the reading of the old
covenant, not revealing that it is being done away with in Christ.
And to this day, whenever Moses is read a veil is laid over their
hearts, but whenever their hearts turn to the Lord the veil is
removed. But the Lord is the Spirit and wherever is the Spirit of the
Lord is freedom. And we, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of
the Lord, are all being changed into his likeness, from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord's Spirit. 3/18
Because of that, and having this service as we
received mercy also, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced
hidden and shameful things. We do not act with cunning and we do not
falsify the word of God, but by expressing the truth we commend
ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. Yet if indeed
our gospel is veiled, it is veiled within those who are perishing.
The god of this age has blinded the thinking of the unbelieving, so
that light would not shine from the gospel of the Christ's glory, he
who is the likeness of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but
Christ Jesus as Lord, and us as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.
Because God, who said, “light will shine out of darkness,”
has shone in our hearts, for light from the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Christ. 4/6
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so
that the further extent of the power may be from God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; at a loss, but not
despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; thrown down, but not
destroyed; always carrying around the death of Jesus in our bodies,
so that the life of Jesus may also be made known in our bodies. For
we who are living are always being handed over to death for the sake
of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made known in our
mortal flesh. So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. Yet
having the same spirit of faith as that written, “I believed,
therefore I spoke,” we believe also and therefore we speak,
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also,
with Jesus, and will bring us into his presence with you. For all
things are for your sake, so that with grace having increased to so
many, thanksgiving may overflow to the glory of God. 4/15
Therefore, we do not lose heart. But even if our
outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed
from day to day. For the present lightness of this affliction
produces for us further, to a further extent, an eternal weight of
glory. We pay attention not to the things that are seen, but to the
things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are passing,
but the things that are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the
tent of our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For we groan in
this tent and long to put on our dwelling place from heaven, so that
being unclothed we shall not be found naked. For indeed, we who are
in this tent groan and are weighed down, not because we want to take
off but rather to put on, so that the mortal may be swallowed up in
life. God is the one who prepared us for this same thing, and he has
given us the first deposit of the Spirit. 5/5
Therefore, we are always assured, knowing that
while at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by
faith not by sight. But we are assured and think it better to leave
this home in the body and to go home to the Lord. And therefore,
whether at home or away from home, we make it a point of honour to be
pleasing to him. For all of us must be made known in front of the
judgment seat of the Christ, so that each of us may receive according
to what we did with the body, either the good or the worthless.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade people. 5/11
But we have been made known to God, and I hope
also to be made known in your consciences. We are not trying to
commend ourselves to you again, but we are giving you an incentive
for boasting on our behalf, so that you might have a response to
those who boast of appearances and not of the heart. If we have
caused astonishment, it is for God, and if we are sensible, it is for
you. For the love of the Christ grips us, having judged that one died
for all, so that all died, and he died for all so that no longer
would the living live for themselves, but for the one who died for
them and has been raised. So from now on we know no one according to
the flesh, and if indeed we did learn Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we are learning no longer. So then, if anyone is in Christ, a
new creation, the old things have passed away. Look, they have become
new. 5/17
And all things are from God, who reconciled us to
himself through Christ and gave us the service of reconciliation as:
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself – not
counting their misdeeds against them – and placing the word of
reconciliation in us. Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of
Christ, as if God were encouraging through us. We ask of you, on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He, who did not know sin, was
made into sin for our sake, so that we might become the righteousness
of God in him. And working together with him, we encourage you not to
receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In an
acceptable time, I heard you, and in a day of salvation, I helped
you.” Look, now is an acceptable time. Look, now is a day of
salvation. 6/2
So that this service is not blamed, we give no
cause for stumbling by anything we do. Instead, we commend ourselves
as servants of God in all things: in great endurance, in afflictions,
in hardships, in adversities, in lashes, in prisons, in riots, in
labours, in going without sleep, in fasting, in purity, in knowledge,
in patience, in kindness, in Holy Spirit, in unpretended love, in
truthful speech, in God's power, with weapons of righteousness in
right hand and left – through glory and disgrace; through bad
repute and good; as deceivers, yet truthful; as unknown, yet well
known; as dying, yet look we live; as disciplined, yet not put to
death; as sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but making many
rich; as having nothing, yet holding on all things. 6/10
We speak openly to you, Corinthians. Our heart is
opened wide. You are not restricted by us but restricted by your
feelings. Yet for the same in repayment, I say as if to children, let
your hearts be opened wide also. 6/13
Do not become yoked together with unbelievers. For
what do righteousness and lawlessness share? What fellowship is there
between light and darkness and what is the harmony of Christ with
Belial? What does a believer share with an unbeliever and what is the
agreement of a temple of God with idols? For we are a temple of the
living God, as God has said, “I will dwell among them and I
will walk among them and I will be their God and they will be my
people.” “‘Therefore, come out from the midst of
them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and do not touch
an unclean thing, and I will welcome you, and I will be to you as a
Father, and you will be to me as sons and daughters,’ says the
Lord Almighty.” So then, having these promises, beloved, let us
wash ourselves from any uncleanness of flesh and spirit, bringing
holiness to completion in the fear of God. 7/1
Make room for us. We wronged no one, damaged no
one, took advantage of no one. I do not say this in condemnation. I
said before that you are in our hearts, such that we would die with
you and live with you. I have great liberty of speech regarding you
and there is much for me to boast of on your behalf. I am filled with
encouragement; I overflow with joy amidst all our afflictions. For
indeed, coming into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were
afflicted in every way, battles outside and fears within. But God,
who encourages the lowly, encouraged us by the presence of Titus, and
not only by his presence, but also by the encouragement with which he
was encouraged because of you. He told us of your longing, your
mourning, your zeal for us, and so I was made to rejoice even more.
7/7
For even if I did make you sorrow with my letter,
I do not regret it, even if I did regret it. For I see that, if only
briefly, that letter did make you sorrow. Now I rejoice, not because
you were made to sorrow, but because you were sorrowed to repentance.
You were sorrowed in relation to God, so that you suffered no loss
through us. For sorrow in relation to God produces repentance,
leading to salvation without regret, but the world’s sorrow
works out into death. For look at the same thing, this being made to
sorrow in relation to God, what diligence it has produced in you,
what explanations, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what
zeal, what punishment. In all ways, you have shown yourselves to be
pure in this matter. 7/11
So then, even if I did write to you, it was not
for the one who did wrong, nor for the one wronged, but for your
diligence on our behalf to be made clear to you in the sight of God.
Because of this we have been encouraged and, for our encouragement,
we were made to rejoice even more by the joy of Titus, because his
spirit was set at rest by all of you. Whatever I boasted about you to
him I was not put to shame, but rather just as all that we said to
you was in truth, so also our boasting to Titus has become true. His
heart goes out to you even more, remembering the obedience of you all
as you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice that I am
assured of you in every way. 7/16
Now we want you to know, brothers, about the grace
of God given to the churches in Macedonia. Amid great testing by
affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
overflowed in the wealth of their single-heartedness, which was
according to their ability and, as I am a witness, beyond their
ability. Of their own accord, they asked us, with much encouragement,
for the grace of sharing in this service to the holy. And not as we
had expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us in
the will of God. So we encouraged Titus, that just as he had begun,
so also he should complete this grace among you. But just as you
abound in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in
all diligence and in our love for you – so you may abound in
this grace also. I do not say this as a command but as testing, by
the diligence of others, the reality of your love also. 8/8
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that he was rich but became poor for your sake, so that by his
poverty you might become rich. And I give a point of view on this,
since it is helpful for you, you who began a year ago not only to do
it but also to intend it. But now finish doing it also, so that as
was the willingness of your intention, so is its completion from what
you have. For if the willingness is there, it is acceptable according
to what one has, not according to what one does not have, not so that
there is relief for others and affliction for you, but out of
equality. Your present abundance is for their lack, so that their
abundance may be for your lack also, such that there is equality. As
it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much. He
who gathered little did not have too little.” 8/15
But thanks be to God for placing the same
diligence on your behalf in Titus’s heart, so that he indeed
accepted our encouragement and, being even more eager, he is coming
to you of his own accord. And with him, we sent the brother who is
praised for the gospel throughout all the churches, and not only
that, but also he was chosen by the churches to be our travelling
companion with this grace, which is being served by us for the glory
of the Lord himself and of our willingness. We prepare ourselves, so
that no one may blame us in regard to this plenty being served by us.
For we think ahead to what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord
but also in the sight of people. And with them, we sent our brother,
whom we have tested in many ways and repeatedly found eager, and he
is even more eager now, with great confidence in you. Whether it is
in regard to Titus, my partner and fellow worker on your behalf, or
our brothers, they are apostles of the churches, the glory of Christ.
Therefore, give evidence of your love and of our boasting to them on
your behalf, demonstrating it in front of the churches. 8/24
Indeed, it is exceptional for me to write to you
about this service to the holy because I know your willingness, of
which I boast to the Macedonians on your behalf, that Achaia has been
prepared since last year and that your zeal roused the majority. Yet
I sent the brothers so that our boasting on your behalf would not
prove empty in this regard, so that, as I have been saying, you are
prepared. Otherwise, if the Macedonians were to come with me and find
you unprepared, we would be ashamed on this basis, not to speak of
you. Therefore I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to go
on ahead to you and to arrange in advance for your already promised
blessing, so that it would be ready as a blessing and not as greed.
And this is so: One who sows sparingly will reap sparingly also; one
who sows in blessing will reap in blessing also. Each of you should
do as you chose in your hearts, not sorrowfully or of necessity,
since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace
overflow to you, so that always having independence in everything,
you may overflow in every good work. As it is written: “They
scattered abroad; they gave to the poor; their righteousness remains
to the end of the age.” 9/9
The one who provides seed for sowing, and bread
for food, will supply and multiply your seed and will increase the
fruits of your righteousness, enriching you in every way for every
single-heartedness that through us produces thankfulness to God. For
the service of this ministry not only replenishes the needs of the
holy but it overflows through many giving thanks to God. By your
testing in this service, they will glorify God for the obedience of
your confession to the gospel of the Christ and for the
single-heartedness of your fellowship toward them and toward
everyone. They will long for you with prayers on your behalf because
of the exceeding grace given to you by God. Thanks be to God for his
indescribable gift. 9/15
Now, I myself, Paul, encourage you with the
gentleness and reasonableness of the Christ. I, who am indeed lowly
among you when facing you, but assured toward you when away, ask that
when I am present, I do not have to be assured with the confidence
that I count on: to act with daring toward those who count on us
walking according to the flesh. For we walk in the flesh, but we do
not make war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are
not of the flesh, but to God they are powerful for tearing down
strongholds, demolishing arguments and every high thing raising
itself against the knowledge of God and taking every thought captive
for obedience of the Christ. We are ready to punish all disobedience,
once you are fully obedient. 10/6
Take a look at what is in front of you. If any
have convinced themselves that they are of Christ, let them consider
this for themselves again, that just as they are of Christ, so are we
also. And if I boast even more about our authority, that the Lord
gave for building up and not for tearing you down, I will not be
ashamed. So I would not seem to frighten you with these letters.
Because as one says, “Yes, the letters are weighty and strong
but his bodily presence is weak and his speech can be dismissed.”
Such a person should consider that just as we are in our word,
through letters when absent, so in our work also, when present. Not
that we dare to put ourselves in the same class or to compare
ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they measure
themselves by themselves and, comparing themselves to themselves,
they do not comprehend. 10/12
We will not boast without measure, but measured by
the standard apportioned to us by God, a measure that reached to you
also. We are not over-stretching ourselves, as if not reaching you,
since we came with the gospel of the Christ to you also. We are not
boasting without measure in the labours of others, but we are hoping,
with your faith being made to grow, to be acclaimed by you for an
abundance according to our standard, to bring the gospel to places
beyond you, not to boast by another's standard of what is at hand.
But those who boast, let them boast in the Lord, since it is not
those commending themselves who are proven, but those whom the Lord
commends. 10/18
I wish that you would put up with me in a little
foolishness – although indeed you do put up with me –
because I am jealous for you with a jealousy from God. For I
betrothed you to one husband, to present a pure young person to the
Christ, and I am afraid that somehow, just as the serpent deceived
Eve with his cunning, your thoughts might be damaged from the
single-heartedness and the purity that is for Christ. 11/3
For indeed, if someone comes and proclaims another
Jesus, one we did not proclaim, or if you receive a different spirit,
one you had not received, or another gospel, one you had not
accepted, you put up with it well. But in no way do I consider myself
as falling short of those extra-special apostles. If indeed I am
untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge and I have made that
clear to you in every way and in all matters. Did I commit sin by
lowering myself so that you might be raised, such that I brought the
gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches, taking
their pay for my service to you. And when I was with you and in need,
I burdened no one because the brothers who came from Macedonia
replenished my lack. I have kept myself and will keep myself from
being a burden to you in any way. 11/9
As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting
will not be silenced in the region of Achaia. Why, because I do not
love you? God knows. And what I do I will do also, so that I may cut
off the incentive of those who want an incentive to be found like us
in what they boast of. These people are false apostles, untrustworthy
workmen, transforming themselves into apostles. And no surprise:
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, so it is no
great thing if his servants are transformed as if servants of
righteousness. Their end will be according to their works. 11/15
Again, I say, let no one think me to be foolish,
and if not that, at least accept me as a fool so that I may boast a
little also. What I am saying, I do not say according to the Lord but
as in foolishness, on the basis of boasting. Seeing that many boast
according to the flesh, I will boast also, since, being sensible, you
very gladly put up with fools. You put up with it if anyone enslaves
you, if anyone devours you, if anyone lays hands on you, if anyone is
self-exalted, if anyone slaps you in the face. With shame I say that
we were too weak for that. But whatever anyone else dares – I
say it in folly – I will dare also. Are they Hebrews? So am I.
Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
Are they servants of Christ? Being beside myself, I say that I am
more so, with even more labours, even more prisons, far more
beatings, many times near death. By the Jews, five times I received
the forty-lashes-less-one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I
was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked and I have been a day and a
night in the sea. While on journeys, I have been many times in danger
from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my people, in
danger from the nations, in danger in the city, in danger in the
wilderness, in danger at sea, in danger from false brothers –
in labour and hardship, often without sleep, in hunger and thirst,
often fasting, in cold and exposure. Apart from all else, pressing
upon me every day is the care of all the churches. Who is weak and I
am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I am not set on fire? 11/29
If it is necessary to boast, I will boast about
what is of my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is blessed for the ages, knows that I do not lie. At Damascus,
the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes in
order to seize me. I was let down in a basket through a window in the
wall, and I escaped his hands. It is necessary to boast, although not
very helpful, so I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
I know a man in Christ, and fourteen years ago – whether in the
body, I don’t know, or outside the body, I don't know; God
knows – one such as he was carried off to the third heaven. And
I know such a man as was carried off to paradise – whether in
the body or apart from the body, I don't know but God knows –
and who heard sayings not to be uttered, that it is not permitted for
a man to speak. I will boast on behalf of such a one but I will not
boast on behalf of myself, except of my weaknesses. For if I wanted
to boast, it would not be foolish of me, because I would be speaking
the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one would go by the
further extent of these revelations and count more for me than what
he sees from me or hears from me. Because of this, so that I would
not be too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger
from Satan that he might hit me, so that I would not be too elated.
Three times I encouraged the Lord about this – that it would go
away – and he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for
you, since my power is made complete in weakness.” Very gladly,
therefore, I will boast even more about my weaknesses, so that the
power of Christ might remain upon me. Therefore, I am well pleased in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in adversities
for the sake of Christ, because whenever I am weak then I am strong.
12/10
I have become foolish. You forced me to, since I
should have been commended by you. For in nothing did I fall short of
those extra-special apostles, even if I am nothing. The very signs of
an apostle were produced among you with all endurance, by signs and
wonders and miraculous powers. In what way have you been made less
than the other churches, except that I was no burden to you? Forgive
me this wrong. 12/13
Look, this is the third time that I have been
ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do
not seek that which is yours but you. For children should not save up
for their parents, but parents for their children, and very gladly I
will spend and be spent for the sake of your souls. If I love you
even more, am I loved the less? Let it be granted that I did not
burden you, but was I cunning and took you by deceit? Did I take
advantage of you through any of those I sent to you? I encouraged
Titus to go and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage
of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?
12/18
All this time you think that we have been
defending ourselves to you. We speak in Christ and facing toward God,
but beloved, all things are for the sake of building you up. For I
fear that I may come and find you not what I wish, or that I may be
found by you to be not what you wish, or that somehow there may be
quarrelling, jealousy, anger, rivalries, recriminations, whisperings,
conceit and disruptions. I am afraid that when I come again my God
may humble me in front of you, and I may have to mourn over many of
those who sinned previously and who have not repented of the
impurity, fornication and licentiousness that they practised. 12/21
This will be my third time coming to you. “From
the mouths of two or three witnesses, every saying will be
confirmed.” When I was with you the second time, I warned those
who had sinned previously, and all the rest. Now that I am absent, I
give warning in advance, that if I come again I will not spare, since
you seek a testing of the one speaking in me, of Christ, who is not
weak toward you but powerful in you. For indeed he was crucified in
weakness, but he lives by God's power, and indeed we are weak in him,
but we will live with him by God's power toward you. 13/4
Try yourselves to see if you are in the faith.
Examine yourselves. Do you not understand that Jesus Christ is in
you, unless you are disproven? Yet I hope that you will learn that we
are not disproven. And we pray to God for you to do nothing bad, not
so that we may appear proven, but so that you may do what is good and
we may be disproven. For we cannot to do anything against the truth,
but only for the truth. We rejoice whenever we are weak and you are
strong, and we pray for this: your restoration. Therefore I am
writing these things when absent, so that when present I will not
have to act abruptly with the authority that the Lord gave me for
building up, not for tearing down. 13/10
As for the rest, brothers: Rejoice. Be restored.
Accept encouragement. Think the same way. Be at peace, and the God of
love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with a holy kiss.
All the holy greet you.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love
of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.