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2nd Corinthians1This letter is from Paul, appointed by

God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,and from our dear brother Timothy. Weare writing to God's church in Corinthand to all the Christians throughoutGreece.2May God our Father and the LordJesus Christ give you his grace andpeace.3All praise to the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ. He is the source ofevery mercy and the God who comfortsus.4He comforts us in all our troubles sothat we can comfort others. Whenothers are troubled, we will be able togive them the same comfort God hasgiven us.5You can be sure that the more wesuffer for Christ, the more God willshower us with his comfort throughChrist.6So when we are weighed down withtroubles, it is for your benefit andsalvation! For when God comforts us, itis so that we, in turn, can be anencouragement to you. Then you canpatiently endure the same things wesuffer.7We are confident that as you share insuffering, you will also share God'scomfort.8I think you ought to know, dear brothersand sisters, about the trouble we wentthrough in the province of Asia. Wewere crushed and completelyoverwhelmed, and we thought we wouldnever live through it.9In fact, we expected to die. But as aresult, we learned not to rely onourselves, but on God who can raise thedead.10And he did deliver us from mortaldanger. And we are confident that hewill continue to deliver us.11He will rescue us because you arehelping by praying for us. As a result,many will give thanks to God becauseso many people's prayers for our safetyhave been answered.12We can say with confidence and aclear conscience that we have beenhonest and sincere in all our dealings.We have depended on God's grace, noton our own earthly wisdom. That is how

we have acted toward everyone, andespecially toward you.13My letters have been straightforward,and there is nothing written between thelines and nothing you can't understand. Ihope someday you will fully understandus,14even if you don't fully understand usnow. Then on the day when our LordJesus comes back again, you will beproud of us in the same way we areproud of you.15Since I was so sure of yourunderstanding and trust, I wanted togive you a double blessing.16I wanted to stop and see you on myway to Macedonia and again on myreturn trip. Then you could send me onmy way to Judea.17You may be asking why I changed myplan. Hadn't I made up my mind yet? Oram I like people of the world who sayyes when they really mean no?18As surely as God is true, I am not thatsort of person. My yes means yes19because Jesus Christ, the Son of God,never wavers between yes and no. Heis the one whom Timothy, Silas, and Ipreached to you, and he is the divineYes--God's affirmation.20For all of God's promises have beenfulfilled in him. That is why we say"Amen" when we give glory to Godthrough Christ.21It is God who gives us, along with you,the ability to stand firm for Christ. Hehas commissioned us,22and he has identified us as his own byplacing the Holy Spirit in our hearts asthe first installment of everything he willgive us.23Now I call upon God as my witnessthat I am telling the truth. The reason Ididn't return to Corinth was to spare youfrom a severe rebuke.24But that does not mean we want to tellyou exactly how to put your faith intopractice. We want to work together withyou so you will be full of joy as youstand firm in your faith.

2So I said to myself, "No, I won't do it.

I won't make them unhappy with anotherpainful visit."2For if I cause you pain and make yousad, who is going to make me glad?3That is why I wrote as I did in my lastletter, so that when I do come, I will notbe made sad by the very ones who

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ought to give me the greatest joy. Surelyyou know that my happiness dependson your happiness.4How painful it was to write that letter!Heartbroken, I cried over it. I didn't wantto hurt you, but I wanted you to knowhow very much I love you.5I am not overstating it when I say thatthe man who caused all the trouble hurtyour entire church more than he hurt me.6He was punished enough when most ofyou were united in your judgmentagainst him.7Now it is time to forgive him andcomfort him. Otherwise he may becomeso discouraged that he won't be able torecover.8Now show him that you still love him.9I wrote to you as I did to find out howfar you would go in obeying me.10When you forgive this man, I forgivehim, too. And when I forgive him (forwhatever is to be forgiven), I do so withChrist's authority for your benefit,11so that Satan will not outsmart us. Forwe are very familiar with his evilschemes.12Well, when I came to the city of Troasto preach the Good News of Christ, theLord gave me tremendous opportunities.13But I couldn't rest because my dearbrother Titus hadn't yet arrived with areport from you. So I said good-bye andwent on to Macedonia to find him.14But thanks be to God, who made ushis captives and leads us along inChrist's triumphal procession. Nowwherever we go he uses us to tell othersabout the Lord and to spread the GoodNews like a sweet perfume.15Our lives are a fragrance presented byChrist to God. But this fragrance isperceived differently by those beingsaved and by those perishing.16To those who are perishing we are afearful smell of death and doom. But tothose who are being saved we are a lifegivingperfume. And who is adequate forsuch a task as this?17You see, we are not like thosehucksters--and there are many of them--who preach just to make money. Wepreach God's message with sincerityand with Christ's authority. And we knowthat the God who sent us is watching us.

3Are we beginning again to tell you

how good we are? Some people need tobring letters of recommendation with

them or ask you to write letters ofrecommendation for them.2But the only letter of recommendationwe need is you yourselves! Your livesare a letter written in our hearts, andeveryone can read it and recognize ourgood work among you.3Clearly, you are a letter from Christprepared by us. It is written not with penand ink, but with the Spirit of the livingGod. It is carved not on stone, but onhuman hearts.4We are confident of all this because ofour great trust in God through Christ.5It is not that we think we can doanything of lasting value by ourselves.Our only power and success come fromGod.6He is the one who has enabled us torepresent his new covenant. This is acovenant, not of written laws, but of theSpirit. The old way ends in death; in thenew way, the Holy Spirit gives life.7That old system of law etched in stoneled to death, yet it began with such glorythat the people of Israel could not bearto look at Moses' face. For his faceshone with the glory of God, eventhough the brightness was alreadyfading away.8Shouldn't we expect far greater glorywhen the Holy Spirit is giving life?9If the old covenant, which bringscondemnation, was glorious, how muchmore glorious is the new covenant,which makes us right with God!10In fact, that first glory was not gloriousat all compared with the overwhelmingglory of the new covenant.11So if the old covenant, which has beenset aside, was full of glory, then the newcovenant, which remains forever, hasfar greater glory.12Since this new covenant gives us suchconfidence, we can be very bold.13We are not like Moses, who put a veilover his face so the people of Israelwould not see the glory fading away.14But the people's minds were hardened,and even to this day whenever the oldcovenant is being read, a veil coverstheir minds so they cannot understandthe truth. And this veil can be removedonly by believing in Christ.15Yes, even today when they readMoses' writings, their hearts are coveredwith that veil, and they do notunderstand.16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,

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then the veil is taken away.17Now, the Lord is the Spirit, andwherever the Spirit of the Lord is, hegives freedom.18And all of us have had that veilremoved so that we can be mirrors thatbrightly reflect the glory of the Lord. Andas the Spirit of the Lord works within us,we become more and more like him andreflect his glory even more.

4And so, since God in his mercy has

given us this wonderful ministry, wenever give up.2We reject all shameful andunderhanded methods. We do not try totrick anyone, and we do not distort theword of God. We tell the truth beforeGod, and all who are honest know that.3If the Good News we preach is veiledfrom anyone, it is a sign that they areperishing.4Satan, the god of this evil world, hasblinded the minds of those who don'tbelieve, so they are unable to see theglorious light of the Good News that isshining upon them. They don'tunderstand the message we preachabout the glory of Christ, who is theexact likeness of God.5We don't go around preaching aboutourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, theLord. All we say about ourselves is thatwe are your servants because of whatJesus has done for us.6For God, who said, "Let there be light inthe darkness," has made us understandthat this light is the brightness of theglory of God that is seen in the face ofJesus Christ.7But this precious treasure--this light andpower that now shine within us--is heldin perishable containers, that is, in ourweak bodies. So everyone can see thatour glorious power is from God and isnot our own.8We are pressed on every side bytroubles, but we are not crushed andbroken. We are perplexed, but we don'tgive up and quit.9We are hunted down, but God neverabandons us. We get knocked down,but we get up again and keep going.10Through suffering, these bodies ofours constantly share in the death ofJesus so that the life of Jesus may alsobe seen in our bodies.11Yes, we live under constant danger ofdeath because we serve Jesus, so that

the life of Jesus will be obvious in ourdying bodies.12So we live in the face of death, but ithas resulted in eternal life for you.13But we continue to preach because wehave the same kind of faith the psalmisthad when he said, "I believed in God,and so I speak."14We know that the same God whoraised our Lord Jesus will also raise uswith Jesus and present us to himselfalong with you.15All of these things are for your benefit.And as God's grace brings more andmore people to Christ, there will begreat thanksgiving, and God will receivemore and more glory.16That is why we never give up. Thoughour bodies are dying, our spirits arebeing renewed every day.17For our present troubles are quitesmall and won't last very long. Yet theyproduce for us an immeasurably greatglory that will last forever!18So we don't look at the troubles wecan see right now; rather, we lookforward to what we have not yet seen.For the troubles we see will soon beover, but the joys to come will lastforever.

5For we know that when this earthly

tent we live in is taken down--when wedie and leave these bodies--we will havea home in heaven, an eternal bodymade for us by God himself and not byhuman hands.2We grow weary in our present bodies,and we long for the day when we will puton our heavenly bodies like new clothing.3For we will not be spirits without bodies,but we will put on new heavenly bodies.4Our dying bodies make us groan andsigh, but it's not that we want to die andhave no bodies at all. We want to slipinto our new bodies so that these dyingbodies will be swallowed up byeverlasting life.5God himself has prepared us for this,and as a guarantee he has given us hisHoly Spirit.6So we are always confident, eventhough we know that as long as we livein these bodies we are not at home withthe Lord.7That is why we live by believing and notby seeing.8Yes, we are fully confident, and wewould rather be away from these bodies,

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for then we will be at home with the Lord.9So our aim is to please him always,whether we are here in this body oraway from this body.10For we must all stand before Christ tobe judged. We will each receivewhatever we deserve for the good orevil we have done in our bodies.11It is because we know this solemn fearof the Lord that we work so hard topersuade others. God knows we aresincere, and I hope you know this, too.12Are we trying to pat ourselves on theback again? No, we are giving you areason to be proud of us, so you cananswer those who brag about having aspectacular ministry rather than havinga sincere heart before God.13If it seems that we are crazy, it is tobring glory to God. And if we are in ourright minds, it is for your benefit.14Whatever we do, it is because Christ'slove controls us. Since we believe thatChrist died for everyone, we alsobelieve that we have all died to the oldlife we used to live.15He died for everyone so that thosewho receive his new life will no longerlive to please themselves. Instead, theywill live to please Christ, who died andwas raised for them.16So we have stopped evaluating othersby what the world thinks about them.Once I mistakenly thought of Christ thatway, as though he were merely ahuman being. How differently I thinkabout him now!17What this means is that those whobecome Christians become newpersons. They are not the sameanymore, for the old life is gone. A newlife has begun!18All this newness of life is from God,who brought us back to himself throughwhat Christ did. And God has given usthe task of reconciling people to him.19For God was in Christ, reconciling theworld to himself, no longer countingpeople's sins against them. This is thewonderful message he has given us totell others.20We are Christ's ambassadors, andGod is using us to speak to you. Weurge you, as though Christ himself werehere pleading with you, "Be reconciledto God!"21For God made Christ, who neversinned, to be the offering for our sin, sothat we could be made right with God

through Christ.

6As God's partners, we beg you not to

reject this marvelous message of God'sgreat kindness.2For God says, "At just the right time, Iheard you. On the day of salvation, Ihelped you." Indeed, God is ready tohelp you right now. Today is the day ofsalvation.3We try to live in such a way that no onewill be hindered from finding the Lord bythe way we act, and so no one can findfault with our ministry.4In everything we do we try to show thatwe are true ministers of God. Wepatiently endure troubles and hardshipsand calamities of every kind.5We have been beaten, been put in jail,faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion,endured sleepless nights, and gonewithout food.6We have proved ourselves by our purity,our understanding, our patience, ourkindness, our sincere love, and thepower of the Holy Spirit.7We have faithfully preached the truth.God's power has been working in us.We have righteousness as our weapon,both to attack and to defend ourselves.8We serve God whether people honorus or despise us, whether they slanderus or praise us. We are honest, but theycall us impostors.9We are well known, but we are treatedas unknown. We live close to death, buthere we are, still alive. We have beenbeaten within an inch of our lives.10Our hearts ache, but we always havejoy. We are poor, but we give spiritualriches to others. We own nothing, andyet we have everything.11Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We havespoken honestly with you. Our heartsare open to you.12If there is a problem between us, it isnot because of a lack of love on our part,but because you have withheld yourlove from us.13I am talking now as I would to my ownchildren. Open your hearts to us!14Don't team up with those who areunbelievers. How can goodness be apartner with wickedness? How can lightlive with darkness?15What harmony can there be betweenChrist and the Devil ? How can abeliever be a partner with anunbeliever?

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16And what union can there be betweenGod's temple and idols? For we are thetemple of the living God. As God said: "Iwill live in them and walk among them. Iwill be their God, and they will be mypeople.17Therefore, come out from them andseparate yourselves from them, saysthe Lord. Don't touch their filthy things,and I will welcome you.18And I will be your Father, and you willbe my sons and daughters, says theLord Almighty. "

7Because we have these promises,

dear friends, let us cleanse ourselvesfrom everything that can defile our bodyor spirit. And let us work towardcomplete purity because we fear God.2Please open your hearts to us. Wehave not done wrong to anyone. Wehave not led anyone astray. We havenot taken advantage of anyone.3I'm not saying this to condemn you, forI said before that you are in our heartsforever. We live or die together with you.4I have the highest confidence in you,and my pride in you is great. You havegreatly encouraged me; you have mademe happy despite all our troubles.5When we arrived in Macedonia therewas no rest for us. Outside there wasconflict from every direction, and insidethere was fear.6But God, who encourages those whoare discouraged, encouraged us by thearrival of Titus.7His presence was a joy, but so was thenews he brought of the encouragementhe received from you. When he told mehow much you were looking forward tomy visit, and how sorry you were aboutwhat had happened, and how loyal yourlove is for me, I was filled with joy!8I am no longer sorry that I sent thatletter to you, though I was sorry for atime, for I know that it was painful to youfor a little while.9Now I am glad I sent it, not because ithurt you, but because the pain causedyou to have remorse and change yourways. It was the kind of sorrow Godwants his people to have, so you werenot harmed by us in any way.10For God can use sorrow in our lives tohelp us turn away from sin and seeksalvation. We will never regret that kindof sorrow. But sorrow withoutrepentance is the kind that results in

death.11Just see what this godly sorrowproduced in you! Such earnestness,such concern to clear yourselves, suchindignation, such alarm, such longing tosee me, such zeal, and such areadiness to punish the wrongdoer. Youshowed that you have done everythingyou could to make things right.12My purpose was not to write aboutwho did the wrong or who was wronged.I wrote to you so that in the sight of Godyou could show how much you really docare for us.13We have been encouraged by this. Inaddition to our own encouragement, wewere especially delighted to see howhappy Titus was at the way youwelcomed him and set his mind at ease.14I had told him how proud I was of you--and you didn't disappoint me. I havealways told you the truth, and now myboasting to Titus has also proved true!15Now he cares for you more than everwhen he remembers the way youlistened to him and welcomed him withsuch respect and deep concern.16I am very happy now because I havecomplete confidence in you.

8Now I want to tell you, dear brothers

and sisters, what God in his kindnesshas done for the churches in Macedonia.2Though they have been going throughmuch trouble and hard times, theirwonderful joy and deep poverty haveoverflowed in rich generosity.3For I can testify that they gave not onlywhat they could afford but far more. Andthey did it of their own free will.4They begged us again and again forthe gracious privilege of sharing in thegift for the Christians in Jerusalem.5Best of all, they went beyond ourhighest hopes, for their first action wasto dedicate themselves to the Lord andto us for whatever directions God mightgive them.6So we have urged Titus, whoencouraged your giving in the first place,to return to you and encourage you tocomplete your share in this ministry ofgiving.7Since you excel in so many ways--youhave so much faith, such giftedspeakers, such knowledge, suchenthusiasm, and such love for us --now Iwant you to excel also in this graciousministry of giving.

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8I am not saying you must do it, eventhough the other churches are eager todo it. This is one way to prove your loveis real.9You know how full of love and kindnessour Lord Jesus Christ was. Though hewas very rich, yet for your sakes hebecame poor, so that by his poverty hecould make you rich.10I suggest that you finish what youstarted a year ago, for you were the firstto propose this idea, and you were thefirst to begin doing something about it.11Now you should carry this projectthrough to completion just asenthusiastically as you began it. Givewhatever you can according to what youhave.12If you are really eager to give, it isn'timportant how much you are able togive. God wants you to give what youhave, not what you don't have.13Of course, I don't mean you shouldgive so much that you suffer fromhaving too little. I only mean that thereshould be some equality.14Right now you have plenty and canhelp them. Then at some other time theycan share with you when you need it. Inthis way, everyone's needs will be met.15Do you remember what the Scripturessay about this? "Those who gathered alot had nothing left over, and those whogathered only a little had enough."16I am thankful to God that he has givenTitus the same enthusiasm for you that Ihave.17He welcomed our request that he visityou again. In fact, he himself was eagerto go and see you.18We are also sending another brotherwith Titus. He is highly praised in all thechurches as a preacher of the GoodNews.19He was appointed by the churches toaccompany us as we take the offering toJerusalem --a service that glorifies theLord and shows our eagerness to help.20By traveling together we will guardagainst any suspicion, for we areanxious that no one should find faultwith the way we are handling thisgenerous gift.21We are careful to be honorable beforethe Lord, but we also want everyoneelse to know we are honorable.22And we are also sending with themanother brother who has beenthoroughly tested and has shown how

earnest he is on many occasions. He isnow even more enthusiastic because ofhis increased confidence in you.23If anyone asks about Titus, say that heis my partner who works with me to helpyou. And these brothers arerepresentatives of the churches. Theyare splendid examples of those whobring glory to Christ.24So show them your love, and prove toall the churches that our boasting aboutyou is justified.

9I really don't need to write to you

about this gift for the Christians inJerusalem.2For I know how eager you are to help,and I have been boasting to our friendsin Macedonia that you Christians inGreece were ready to send an offering ayear ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasmthat stirred up many of them to beginhelping.3But I am sending these brothers just tobe sure that you really are ready, as Itold them you would be, with yourmoney all collected. I don't want it toturn out that I was wrong in my boastingabout you.4I would be humiliated--and so wouldyou--if some Macedonian Christianscame with me, only to find that you stillweren't ready after all I had told them!5So I thought I should send thesebrothers ahead of me to make sure thegift you promised is ready. But I want itto be a willing gift, not one given underpressure.6Remember this--a farmer who plantsonly a few seeds will get a small crop.But the one who plants generously willget a generous crop.7You must each make up your own mindas to how much you should give. Don'tgive reluctantly or in response topressure. For God loves the person whogives cheerfully.8And God will generously provide all youneed. Then you will always haveeverything you need and plenty left overto share with others.9As the Scriptures say, "Godly peoplegive generously to the poor. Their gooddeeds will never be forgotten."10For God is the one who gives seed tothe farmer and then bread to eat. In thesame way, he will give you manyopportunities to do good, and he willproduce a great harvest of generosity in

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you.11Yes, you will be enriched so that youcan give even more generously. Andwhen we take your gifts to those whoneed them, they will break out inthanksgiving to God.12So two good things will happen--theneeds of the Christians in Jerusalem willbe met, and they will joyfully expresstheir thanksgiving to God.13You will be glorifying God through yourgenerous gifts. For your generosity tothem will prove that you are obedient tothe Good News of Christ.14And they will pray for you with deepaffection because of the wonderfulgrace of God shown through you.15Thank God for his Son--a gift toowonderful for words!

10Now I, Paul, plead with you. I

plead with the gentleness and kindnessthat Christ himself would use, eventhough some of you say I am bold in myletters but timid in person.2I hope it won't be necessary, but when Icome I may have to be very bold withthose who think we act from purelyhuman motives.3We are human, but we don't wage warwith human plans and methods.4We use God's mighty weapons, notmere worldly weapons, to knock downthe Devil's strongholds.5With these weapons we break downevery proud argument that keeps peoplefrom knowing God. With these weaponswe conquer their rebellious ideas, andwe teach them to obey Christ.6And we will punish those who remaineddisobedient after the rest of you becameloyal and obedient.7The trouble with you is that you makeyour decisions on the basis ofappearance. You must recognize thatwe belong to Christ just as much asthose who proudly declare that theybelong to Christ.8I may seem to be boasting too muchabout the authority given to us by theLord. But this authority is to build you up,not to tear you down. And I will not beput to shame by having my work amongyou destroyed.9Now this is not just an attempt tofrighten you by my letters.10For some say, "Don't worry about Paul.His letters are demanding and forceful,but in person he is weak, and his

speeches are really bad!"11The ones who say this must realizethat we will be just as demanding andforceful in person as we are in ourletters.12Oh, don't worry; I wouldn't dare saythat I am as wonderful as these othermen who tell you how important theyare! But they are only comparingthemselves with each other, andmeasuring themselves by themselves.What foolishness!13But we will not boast of authority wedo not have. Our goal is to stay withinthe boundaries of God's plan for us, andthis plan includes our working there withyou.14We are not going too far when weclaim authority over you, for we were thefirst to travel all the way to you with theGood News of Christ.15Nor do we claim credit for the worksomeone else has done. Instead, wehope that your faith will grow and thatour work among you will be greatlyenlarged.16Then we will be able to go and preachthe Good News in other places that arefar beyond you, where no one else isworking. Then there will be no questionabout being in someone else's territory.17As the Scriptures say, "The personwho wishes to boast should boast onlyof what the Lord has done."18When people boast about themselves,it doesn't count for much. But when theLord commends someone, that'sdifferent!

11I hope you will be patient with me

as I keep on talking like a fool. Pleasebear with me.2I am jealous for you with the jealousy ofGod himself. For I promised you as apure bride to one husband, Christ.3But I fear that somehow you will be ledaway from your pure and simpledevotion to Christ, just as Eve wasdeceived by the serpent.4You seem to believe whatever anyonetells you, even if they preach about adifferent Jesus than the one we preach,or a different Spirit than the one youreceived, or a different kind of gospelthan the one you believed.5But I don't think I am inferior to these"super apostles."6I may not be a trained speaker, but Iknow what I am talking about. I think

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you realize this by now, for we haveproved it again and again.7Did I do wrong when I humbled myselfand honored you by preaching God'sGood News to you without expectinganything in return?8I "robbed" other churches by acceptingtheir contributions so I could serve youat no cost.9And when I was with you and didn'thave enough to live on, I did not ask youto help me. For the brothers who camefrom Macedonia brought me another gift.I have never yet asked you for anysupport, and I never will.10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me,I will never stop boasting about this allover Greece.11Why? Because I don't love you? Godknows I do.12But I will continue doing this to cut theground out from under the feet of thosewho boast that their work is just like ours.13These people are false apostles. Theyhave fooled you by disguisingthemselves as apostles of Christ.14But I am not surprised! Even Satancan disguise himself as an angel of light.15So it is no wonder his servants canalso do it by pretending to be godlyministers. In the end they will get everybit of punishment their wicked deedsdeserve.16Once again, don't think that I have lostmy wits to talk like this. But even if youdo, listen to me, as you would to afoolish person, while I also boast a little.17Such bragging is not something theLord wants, but I am acting like a fool.18And since others boast about theirhuman achievements, I will, too.19After all, you, who think you are sowise, enjoy listening to fools!20You put up with it when they make youtheir slaves, take everything you have,take advantage of you, put on airs, andslap you in the face.21I'm ashamed to say that we were notstrong enough to do that! But whateverthey dare to boast about--I'm talking likea fool again--I can boast about it, too.22They say they are Hebrews, do they?So am I. And they say they areIsraelites? So am I. And they aredescendants of Abraham? So am I.23They say they serve Christ? I know Isound like a madman, but I have servedhim far more! I have worked harder,been put in jail more often, been

whipped times without number, andfaced death again and again.24Five different times the Jews gave methirty-nine lashes.25Three times I was beaten with rods.Once I was stoned. Three times I wasshipwrecked. Once I spent a whole nightand a day adrift at sea.26I have traveled many weary miles. Ihave faced danger from flooded riversand from robbers. I have faced dangerfrom my own people, the Jews, as wellas from the Gentiles. I have faceddanger in the cities, in the deserts, andon the stormy seas. And I have faceddanger from men who claim to beChristians but are not.27I have lived with weariness and painand sleepless nights. Often I have beenhungry and thirsty and have gonewithout food. Often I have shivered withcold, without enough clothing to keepme warm.28Then, besides all this, I have the dailyburden of how the churches are gettingalong.29Who is weak without my feeling thatweakness? Who is led astray, and I donot burn with anger?30If I must boast, I would rather boastabout the things that show how weak Iam.31God, the Father of our Lord Jesus,who is to be praised forever, knows I tellthe truth.32When I was in Damascus, thegovernor under King Aretas kept guardsat the city gates to catch me.33But I was lowered in a basket througha window in the city wall, and that's howI got away!

12This boasting is all so foolish, but

let me go on. Let me tell about thevisions and revelations I received fromthe Lord.2I was caught up into the third heavenfourteen years ago.3Whether my body was there or just myspirit, I don't know; only God knows.4But I do know that I was caught up intoparadise and heard things soastounding that they cannot be told.5That experience is something worthboasting about, but I am not going to doit. I am going to boast only about myweaknesses.6I have plenty to boast about and wouldbe no fool in doing it, because I would

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be telling the truth. But I won't do it. Idon't want anyone to think more highlyof me than what they can actually see inmy life and my message,7even though I have received wonderfulrevelations from God. But to keep mefrom getting puffed up, I was given athorn in my flesh, a messenger fromSatan to torment me and keep me fromgetting proud.8Three different times I begged the Lordto take it away.9Each time he said, "My gracious favoris all you need. My power works best inyour weakness." So now I am glad toboast about my weaknesses, so that thepower of Christ may work through me.10Since I know it is all for Christ's good, Iam quite content with my weaknessesand with insults, hardships, persecutions,and calamities. For when I am weak,then I am strong.11You have made me act like a fool--boasting like this. You ought to bewriting commendations for me, for I amnot at all inferior to these "superapostles," even though I am nothing atall.12When I was with you, I certainly gaveyou every proof that I am truly anapostle, sent to you by God himself. ForI patiently did many signs and wondersand miracles among you.13The only thing I didn't do, which I do inthe other churches, was to become aburden to you. Please forgive me for thiswrong!14Now I am coming to you for the thirdtime, and I will not be a burden to you. Idon't want what you have; I want you.And anyway, little children don't pay fortheir parents' food. It's the other wayaround; parents supply food for theirchildren.15I will gladly spend myself and all I havefor your spiritual good, even though itseems that the more I love you, the lessyou love me.16Some of you admit I was not a burdento you. But they still think I was sneakyand took advantage of you by trickery.17But how? Did any of the men I sent toyou take advantage of you?18When I urged Titus to visit you andsent our other brother with him, did Titustake advantage of you? No, of coursenot! For we both have the same Spiritand walk in each other's steps, doingthings the same way.

19Perhaps you think we are saying allthis just to defend ourselves. That isn't itat all. We tell you this as Christ'sservants, and we know that God islistening. Everything we do, dear friends,is for your benefit.20For I am afraid that when I come tovisit you I won't like what I find, and thenyou won't like my response. I am afraidthat I will find quarreling, jealousy,outbursts of anger, selfishness,backstabbing, gossip, conceit, anddisorderly behavior.21Yes, I am afraid that when I come,God will humble me again because ofyou. And I will have to grieve becausemany of you who sinned earlier have notrepented of your impurity, sexualimmorality, and eagerness for lustfulpleasure.

13This is the third time I am coming

to visit you. As the Scriptures say, "Thefacts of every case must be establishedby the testimony of two or threewitnesses."2I have already warned those who hadbeen sinning when I was there on mysecond visit. Now I again warn them andall others, just as I did before, that thisnext time I will not spare them.3I will give you all the proof you wantthat Christ speaks through me. Christ isnot weak in his dealings with you; he isa mighty power among you.4Although he died on the cross inweakness, he now lives by the mightypower of God. We, too, are weak, butwe live in him and have God's power--the power we use in dealing with you.5Examine yourselves to see if your faithis really genuine. Test yourselves. If youcannot tell that Jesus Christ is amongyou, it means you have failed the test.6I hope you recognize that we havepassed the test and are approved byGod.7We pray to God that you will not doanything wrong. We pray this, not toshow that our ministry to you has beensuccessful, but because we want you todo right even if we ourselves seem tohave failed.8Our responsibility is never to opposethe truth, but to stand for the truth at alltimes.9We are glad to be weak, if you arereally strong. What we pray for is yourrestoration to maturity.

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10I am writing this to you before I come,hoping that I won't need to deal harshlywith you when I do come. For I want touse the authority the Lord has given meto build you up, not to tear you down.11Dear brothers and sisters, I close myletter with these last words: Rejoice.Change your ways. Encourage eachother. Live in harmony and peace. Thenthe God of love and peace will be withyou.12Greet each other in Christian love. Allthe Christians here send you theirgreetings.13May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,the love of God, and the fellowship ofthe Holy Spirit be with you all.