1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, write to the church of God in Corinth, along with all God's holy people throughout Achaia:
2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
4He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others who are in any trouble. We comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.
5For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort overflows through Christ.
6But if we suffer, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which helps you patiently endure the same sufferings we also experience.
7We have firm hope for you, knowing that just as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the troubles we went through in Asia. We were weighed down so much, beyond our ability to endure, that we even despaired of life.
9In fact, we felt within ourselves that we had received a death sentence. This happened so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
10He rescued us from such a terrible death, and he continues to rescue us. We have placed our hope in him that he will rescue us again.
11You also help us by praying for us. Then, for the gift given to us through the prayers of many, many people will give thanks on your behalf.
12We are proud of this: our conscience testifies that we have lived in the world, especially toward you, with God’s holiness and sincerity, not with human wisdom but with God’s grace.
13We are not writing anything to you that you cannot read or understand, and I hope you will understand it completely in the end.
14Just as you have understood us in part, you will understand that we are your reason for pride, just as you are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.
15Because I was so confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so you could receive a second blessing.
16I intended to pass through you on my way to Macedonia, then return to you from Macedonia, and then have you send me on my journey to Judea.
17When I made these plans, was I being indecisive? Or do I make plans impulsively, saying “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you was not “Yes” and “No.”
19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you—I, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes and No,” but in him it is always “Yes.”
20For all of God’s promises find their “Yes” in him. That is why through him we say “Amen” to the glory of God.
21Now it is God who makes us stand firm with you in Christ, and he has anointed us.
22He also put his seal on us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
23I call God as my witness, on my very life, that I did not come to Corinth in order to spare you.
24Not that we control your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because you stand firm in faith.