The Holy Bible | 2 CORINTHIANS | Contemporary English (FULL) With Text

Second letter from Paul to the church in Corinth 2 Corinthians 1 from Paul chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and Timothy who is also a follower of the church of God in Corinth and all of God's people in Akia I pray that our God Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and bless you with peace. Praise God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father is a merciful God who always gives us comfort comforts us when we are in trouble so that we can share that The same comfort with others in trouble we share the terrible sufferings of Christ but also in the wonderful comfort that he gives us We suffer in the hope that you will be comforted and saved and because we are comforted, you will also be comforted by patiently enduring sufferings like them. our you never let us down you suffered as much as we did and we know you will be comforted as we were my friends I want you to know how hard we went through in Asia our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain in fact we felt sure we were going to die but this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting in God who raises the dead God saved us from the threat of death and we are sure he will do it again and again please help us by praying for us then many people will give thanks for the blessings that we received an answer to all these prayers we can be proud of our clear conscience we have always lived honestly and sincerely especially when we were with you and we were guided by the will of God goodness rather than by the wisdom of this world I am not writing anything that you cannot read and understand I hope that you understand it completely just as you already understand us in part so when our Lord Jesus returns you will be able to be as proud of us as we are I was so sure of your pride in us that I had planned to visit you first in this way , you would be blessed to receive two visits from me, once on the way to Macedonia and once on my return from there, then you could send me, to Judea, do you think I can't decide what to do?

I look like someone who says yes or no simply to please others. You can trust God and so can I when I say that. Our answer to you. It has always been yes and never no this is because Jesus Christ the Son of God is always yes and never no and he is the one Silas Timothy and I told you about Christ says yes to all the promises of God that is why we have Christ to say our men for us to the glory of God and so God makes it possible for you and us to stand firm with Christ God is also the one who chose us and put his spirit in our hearts to show that we belong to him alone God is my testimony that I turned away from Corinth just not to be hard on you we are not bosses telling you what to believe we are working with you to cheer you up because your faith is strong 2 Corinthians 2 I have decided not to make my The next visit with you will be so painful if I make you feel bad.

Who would be left to cheer me up except the people I made feel bad? The reason I want to be happy is to make you happy. I wrote as I did because I didn't. I don't want to visit you and be made to feel bad when you should be making me feel happy at the time I wrote I was suffering terribly my eyes were

full

of tears and my heart was broken but I didn't want to make you feel bad. I just wanted you to know how much I love you. I don't want to be harsh on you, but if one of you has made someone feel bad, it's really not me who has been made to feel bad.

Some of you are the Most of you have already pointed out the evil that person did and that is punishment enough for what was done when people sinned. You must forgive them and comfort them so that they do not give in to despair. You must assure them of your love for them. I also wrote because I wanted to test you and see if you would follow my instructions. I will forgive anyone you forgive, yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness. I have forgiven everything that needed to be forgiven. I have done this to prevent Satan from defeating us.

We all know what goes through his mind. When I went to Troas to preach the good news of Christ, I found that the Lord had already prepared the way, but I was worried when I did not find my friend Titus there, so I left. to the other followers and I went to Macedonia. I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume, in fact God thinks. from us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone for the people who are being saved this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life but for the people who are lost it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death no one you really have what it takes to do this job many people try to get rich by preaching the message of God but we are sincere messengers of God and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness 2 Corinthians 3 are we once again boasting ? we ourselves need letters to you or from you to tell others about us some people need letters that tell about them but you are our letter and you are in our hearts for everyone to read and understand you are like a letter written by Christ and delivered for us but you are not written with pen and ink nor on tablets of stone you are written in our hearts by the Spirit of the Living God we are sure of all this Christ assures us in the very presence of God that we do not have the right to claim that we have done something on our own.

God gives us what we need to do everything we do. He makes us worthy to be servants of his new agreement that comes from the Holy Spirit and not from a written law. after all, the law brings death but the Spirit brings life, the law of Moses brought only the promise of death, although it was carved in stones and given in a wonderful way, still the law made Moses' face shine so bright that the people of Israel could not look at it even though it was a fading glory, then will not the agreement that the Spirit brings to us be even more wonderful?

If something that brings the sentence of death is glorious, won't something that makes us acceptable to God be even more glorious? in fact the new agreement is so wonderful that the law is no longer glorious at all the law was given with a glory that has faded but the glory of the new agreement is much greater because it will never fade this wonderful hope makes us feel like speaking freely we do not We are like Moses, his face shone but he covered it to prevent the people of Israel from seeing the shine fade. The people were stubborn and something still prevents them from seeing the truth when the law is read.

Only Christ can remove the covering that prevents them from seeing when it is read. the law of Moses the people of Israel have their minds covered with a covering that is removed only for those who turn to the Lord the Lord and the spirit are one in the same and the Lord's spirit frees us so that our faces are not covered, they show the bright glory of the Lord as the Spirit of the Lord makes us more and more like our glorious Lord 2 Corinthians 4 God has been kind enough to entrust us with this work, that is why we never give up we do not do shameful things that They should be kept secret and we do not try to deceive anyone or distort God's message around God.

It is our testimony that we speak only the truth so that others are sure that we can be trusted if there is anything hidden about our message. It is hidden only to someone who is lost the God who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers they cannot see the light which is the good news about our glorious Christ that shows what God is like we are not preaching about ourselves our message is that Jesus Christ is Lord he also sent us to be your servants the scriptures say that God commanded the light to shine in the darkness now God is shining in our hearts to let you know that his glory is seen in Jesus Christ we are like clay pots in those who keep this treasure the true power comes from God and not from us we often suffer but we are never crushed even when we don't know what to do we never give up in times of trouble God is with us and when we are knocked down we rise again We face death every day because of Jesus our bodies show what his death was like so that his life can also be seen in us this means that death is working in us but life is working in you in the scriptures they say I spoke because I had faith, we have that same type of faith, that is why we speak because we know that God raised Jesus Christ to life and just as God raised Jesus, he will also raise us and then bring us into his life. presence next to you all this has been done for you so that more and more people know how kind God is and praise and honor him we never give up our bodies are gradually dying but we ourselves become stronger every day these little ones problems are preparing us for an eternal glory that will make all our problems seem like nothing the things that are seen do not last forever but the things that are unseen are eternal that is why we keep our minds on the things that are not seen 2 Corinthians 5 our bodies They are like tents that we live in here on earth but when these tents are destroyed we know that God will give each of us a place to live these homes will not be buildings that someone made but they are in heaven and will last forever as long as we are here on earth we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home we want to put it on as clothing and not be naked these tents in which we live now are like a heavy burden and we groan but we do not do this just because we want to leave these bodies that They are going to die, it is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die.

God is the one who makes all this possible. He has given us his spirit to make us sure that he will always do it. We must be happy while we are in these bodies. We are far from the Lord, but we live. By faith, not by what we see, we should be glad because we would rather leave these bodies and be at home with the Lord, but whether we are at home with the Lord or far from him we still do our best to please him after all Christ will judge Each of us, for the good or evil we do while living in these bodies, knows what it means to respect the Lord and we encourage everyone to turn to Him.

God Himself knows what we are like and I hope you also know what kind of people we are. We are not trying to brag about ourselves again, but we want you to be proud of us when you are with them. who are not sincere and boast about what others think of them, if we seem crazy it is between God and us but if we are in our right mind it is for your good we are governed by the love of Christ for us we are sure that if a person died for everyone else then we have all died and Christ died for all of us died so that we no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again for us let us be careful not to judge people for what they seem to be although once we judged Christ of that way anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person the past is forgotten and everything is new God has made everything he sent Christ to make peace between him and us and he has given us the work of making peace between him and the Otherwise what we want to say is that God was in Christ offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world and he has given us the work of sharing his message of peace we were sent to speak for Christ and God is begging you to listen to our message we speak for Christ and we sincerely ask that you make peace with God Christ never sinned but God treated him as a sinner so that Christ could make us acceptable to God 2 Corinthians 6 we work together with God and we ask you to make good use of God's kindness towards you in the scriptures God says when the time came I listened to you and when you needed help I came to save you that time has come this is the day for you to be saved we We do not want anyone to criticize our work and that is why we strive not to cause problems but in everything and In everything we demonstrate that we are truly servants of God.

We have always been patient although it has cost us a lot to suffer and in difficult times, we have been beaten, imprisoned and injured in riots. We have worked hard and gone without sleep or food, but we have remained pure and been understanding, patient and kind. The Holy Spirit has been with us and our love has been real. We have spoken the truth and the power of God has worked in us in all our struggles. We have said and done only what is right, whether we have been honored or dishonored, praised or cursed. We always told the truth about ourselves, but some people said no. they are unknown to others but well known to you it seems that we are dying and yet we are still alive we have been punished but never killed and we are always happy even in times of suffering although we are poor we have enriched many people and although we possess nothing, everything It is ours, friends in Corinth, we are telling the truth when we say that there is room in our hearts for you, we are not suppressing our love for you, but you are suppressing your love for us.

I speak to you as I do. I would talk to my own children please make room inyour hearts for us stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord can someone who is good get along with someone who is bad our light and darkness is the same as Christ a friend of satan can people who follow the Lord have something in common with the who do not make idols belong to the temple of God we are the Temple of the Living God as God Himself says I will live with these people and I will walk among them I will be their God and they will be my people the Lord also says leave them and go away do not touch anything that is not clean then I will receive you and I will be your father, you will be my sons and daughters as surely as I am God the almighty. 2 Corinthians 7, my friends, God has made these promises to us, which is why we must stay away from everything that prevents our bodies and spirits from being clean. we must honor God and try to be completely like him let's make a place in their hearts that we have I didn't mistreat anyone or hurt anyone.

We haven't fooled anyone. I am NOT saying this to be harsh on you, but as I have said before, you will always be in our thoughts whether we live or die. I completely trust you. I am always proud of you and feel very encouraged in all my problems. I'm still very happy after we arrived in Macedonia, we didn't have any. opportunity to rest we faced all kinds of problems we were troubled by enemies and troubled by fears but God encourages people in need and that's what he did when he sent us Titus of course we were happy to see Titus but what really He was happy with the way you cheered him up, told him how sorry you were and how worried you were about me and this made me even happier.

I no longer feel bad even though my letter hurts your feelings. At first I felt bad, but now I don't know that the letter hurt them for a while. I'm happy but not because I hurt your feelings, it's because God used your hurt feelings to make you come back to him and none of you were hurt by us when God makes you feel enough to turn to him and be saved you have nothing why feel bad, but when this world makes you feel sorry, it can cause your death, just look at what God has done by making you feel sorry, what you sincerely want. to prove that you are innocent you are angry you are shocked you are eager to see justice done you have proven that you were completely right in this matter when I wrote to you it was not to accuse the one who was wrong nor to take up the one who was hurt I wrote so that God will show you how much you care about us and we were very encouraged although we were encouraged we felt even better when we saw how happy Tito was because you had shown that he had nothing.

What to worry about, we had told him how much we thought of you and you did not disappoint us, just as we have always told you the truth, so everything we told him about you has also turned out to be true. Titus loves you all very much, especially when He remembers how he loved you. You obeyed and how you trembled with fear when you received him. I am very happy to know that I can depend on you. Second Corinthians Eight, my friends, we want you to know that the churches in Macedonia have shown others how gracious God is.

It is that although they were going through difficult times and were very poor, they were happy to give generously, they gave everything they could and more simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money to the people of God and they did more. than we expected, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us just as God wanted them to do. Titus was the one who made you start doing this good thing, so we begged him to make you finish what you had started.

You do everything better than anyone else. You have a stronger faith. You speak better and no more. You are eager to give and you love us better. Now you must give. more generously than anyone I am NOT commanding you to do this, I am simply commanding you by testing how real your love is by comparing it to the concern that others have shown you you know that our Lord Jesus Christ was kind enough to give up all his riches and become poor so that you could get rich a year ago you were the first to give and you gave because you wanted to so listen to my advice I think you should finish what you started if you give according to what you have you will show that you want to give as much as you want to think about giving no It's like this.

It doesn't matter how much you have, what matters is how much you are willing to give of what you have. I'm NOT trying to make life easier for others by making your life harder, but it's only fair that you share with them when you have it. much and have very little later when they have more than enough and you are in need, they can share with you, then everyone will have a fair share, just as the scriptures say, those who gathered too much had nothing left for those who gathered only a bit. everything they needed I'm thankful that God made Titus care as much about you as we did when we begged Titus to visit you, he said he wanted to do it because he cared so much about you.

With Titus, we will also send one of the Lord's followers. who is well known in every church for spreading the good news the churches chose this follower to travel with us as we carry this gift that will bring praise to the Lord and show how much we hope to help, we don't want anyone to find fault. with the way we handle your generous gift but we want to do what pleases the Lord and what people think is right we are also sending someone else with Tito and the other follower we approve of this man in fact he has already shown us many times that he wants to help and now he wants to help more than ever because he trusts you a lot.

Tito is my partner who works with me to serve you. The other two followers are sent by the churches and bring honor to Christ. Treat them that way. a way that churches will see your love and know why we boast about you second Corinthians nine I don't need to write to you about the money you plan to give to God's people. I know how eager you are to give and I have done so with pride. I told the followers of the Lord in Macedonia that you have been ready for a whole year now your desire to give has made you want to give that is why I am sending you Titus and the other two.

I want them to be ready just like I am. I promised that this will prove that we were not wrong to brag about you. Some Macedonian followers can come with me and I want them to find out that you have the money ready. If you don't have it, I would be embarrassed to trust you to do this, but I would be even more embarrassed, so I have decided to ask Titus and the others to spend some time with you before I arrive, this way they can arrange to pick up the money that you have promised and then you will have the opportunity to give it because you want to and you don't. because you feel compelled to remember this saying: a few seeds give a small harvest but many seeds give a great harvest each of you must make your own decision about how much to give, but do not regret having to give and donate.

Don't feel obligated to give. God loves people who love to give. God can bless you with everything you need and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others. The Scriptures say that God gives his gifts freely. the poor and always do the right thing God gives seeds to farmers and provides food for everyone he will increase what you have so that you can give even more to those in need you will be blessed in every way and you will be able to continue being generous then many people will thank God when Let's give them their gift.

What you are doing is much more than a service that provides God's people with what they need. It is something that will make many others thank God for the way they have shown themselves through this service. It will bring honor and praise to God if you believe the message about Christ and obeyed it by sharing generously with God's people and everyone else is now praying for you and wants to see you because God used you to bless them. Thank you so much, goodbye. for the gift of him that is too wonderful for words 2 Corinthians 10 do you think I am a coward when I am with you and brave when I am far away?

Well, I ask you to listen to me because Christ himself was humble and gentle, some people have told us to act like the people of this world, so when it arrives I hope to have to be firm and forceful in what I tell you, please do not force me to treat you. that way we live in this world but we do not act as if it were people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world, instead we use the power of God that can destroy strongholds, we destroy arguments and all pride that prevents someone from knowing God, we capture people's thoughts and make them obey Christ, and when you obey Him completely, I will punish anyone who refuses to obey them, judge by appearances, if any of you think that you are the only one who belongs to Christ, then think again, we belong to Christ as much as you, perhaps I will boast too much about the authority that the Lord has.

You gave me to help you and not to hurt you, but I am NOT ashamed to brag and I am NOT trying to scare you with my letters. Some of you say that Paul's letters are harsh and powerful, but he in person is weak and has nothing more. saying that it is better that those people understand that when I am with you I will do exactly what I say in my letters we will not dare to compare ourselves with those who think so much of themselves but are foolish to compare themselves with themselves we will not brag about something that We have no right to brag, we will only brag about the work that God has sent us to do and you are part of that work, we are not bragging more than we should, after all, we brought the message.

Christ for you we do not boast about what others have done as if we had done those things ourselves but I hope that as you become stronger in your faith we can reach many more people around you which has always been our goal then we will be able to preach the good news in other lands where we can't take credit for the work, someone else has already done the scriptures, say if you want to brag then brag from the Lord, you can brag about yourself but the only approval that counts is the approval of the Lord 2 Corinthians 11 please put up with a little of my foolishness I am as worried about you as God you are like a virgin bride that I had chosen only for Christ but now I fear that you will be deceived just as Eve was deceived by that lying serpent I am afraid that you will stop think about Christ in an honest and sincere way we talk to you about Jesus and you receive the Holy Spirit and you accept our message but you let some people tell you about another Jesus now you are ready to receive another spirit and accept a different message.

I think I'm as good as any of those super apostles. I may not speak as well as them, but I know the same thing and this has already been made perfectly clear to them. Was it wrong for me? to lower myself and honor them by preaching God's message for free. I stole from other churches by taking money from them to serve them even when I was in need. I have not bothered them yet, in fact, some of the followers of the Lord of Macedonia brought me what I needed. I have not been a burden to you in the past and I will never be a burden.

As sure as I speak the truth about Christ, no one in a Kia can stop me from boasting about it, and it's not because I don't. I don't love you God Himself knows how much I love you I plan to continue doing what I have always done so those people will not be able to boast of doing the same things that we are doing anyway they are nothing more than false prophets and dishonest workers only pretend to be apostles of Christ and it is no wonder that even Satan tries to seem like an angel of light, so why does it seem strange that Satan's servants pretend to do what is right? someday you will get exactly what you deserve I don't want any of you to think I'm a fool but if you do then let me be a fool and boast a little when I do all this boasting I do it like a fool and not for the Lord yet yeah Others want to brag about what they have done, I will too and since you are so smart, you will gladly suffer a fool.

In fact, you let people make you slaves, cheat you and steal from you, why do you let them strut and slap you in the face I'm ashamed to say that we are too weak to behave that way if they can brag, so can I, but it's nonsense. Are they Hebrews? I am them too. Jews. Me too. of Abraham's family well I am also servants of Christ I am a fool to speak this way but I serve them better than them I have worked harder and they have put me in jail more times they have beaten me with whips more and more I have been in danger of death more times five times the Jews gave me 39 lashes with a whip three times the Romans beat me with a big stick and once my enemy stoned me I have been shipwrecked three times and even had to spend a night on a day in the sea ​​during my many travels I have been in danger from Jewish and foreign river robbers my life has been in danger in cities in deserts on the sea and with people who only pretended to be followers of the Lord I have worked and fought and spent many sleepless nights I have I have been hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat.

I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm on top of everything else every day. I am overwhelmed worrying about all the churches when others are weak. I am weak when others are deceived into sin. anger yesI have to boast I will boast about how weak I am God the father of our Lord Jesus knows that I do not lie and God must be praised forever the governor of Damascus in the time of King Arretez had the gates of the city guarded to be able to capture me but I escaped being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall 2 Corinthians 12 I have to boast there is nothing to gain from it but I must boast about the visions and other things that the Lord has shown me I know one of the followers of Christ who was taken to the third heaven 14 years ago I don't know if the man was still in his body when it happened but God surely knows it as do I.

He said only God really knows if this man was in his body at the time but he was taken to paradise where he heard things that are too wonderful to tell. I will boast about that man but not about myself, except to say how weak I still am. even if I boasted I wouldn't be stupid I would just be telling the truth but I'll try not to say too much that way none of you will think more of me than you should because of what you've seen me do and say of course now I'm talking about the wonderful things I saw one of satan's angels was sent to make me suffer terribly so that I would not feel too proud three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering disappear but he responded my goodness is all you need my power is stronger when you are weak so yes Christ keep giving me this power I will gladly brag about how weak I am Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have problems and suffering if it is for Christ because when I am weak I am strong I have been making a fool of myself but you made me do it when you should have spoken for me It may be nothing at all but I'm just as good as those super apostles when I was with you I was patient and got all the powerful miracles and signs and wonders of a true apostle you missed just one blessing that the other church receives, I mean, you don't have to support me, forgive me for hurting you, I'm planning to visit you for the third time but I'm still not going to become a burden.

What I really want is you and not what your children are supposed to save their parents for. but parents are supposed to take care of their children so I will gladly give everything I have and everything I am you will love me less for loving you too much you agree that I was not a burden to you maybe it's because I was trying to catch you off guard and deceive you. Did any of the ones I sent you deceive you? I urged Titus to visit you and sent another follower with him, but Titus did not deceive you and we felt and behaved the same way as him.

Have you been thinking the whole time that we've been defending ourselves to you? We have actually been talking to God as followers of Christ, but my friends, we did it all for your good. I'm afraid that when it comes we won't be satisfied. each other I fear that some of you may be arguing or jealous or angry or selfish or gossiping or insulting each other. I even fear that they are proud and act like a mob. I am afraid that God will shame me when he visits them again. I will feel like crying because many of you have never abandoned your old sins, you are still doing things that are immoral, indecent and shameful. 2 Corinthians 13 I am on my way to visit them for the third time and as the Scriptures say, any charge must be proven true by at least two or three witnesses during my second visit.

I warned you that I would punish you and anyone who did not stop sinning. I am far from you now, but I give you the same warning. This should prove to you that I am speaking for Christ when he corrects you he will not be weak he will be powerful although he was weak when he was nailed to the cross now he lives by the power of God we are weak just as Christ was but you will see that We will live by the power of God as well as Christ. Test yourself and find out if you are really faithful to your faith.

If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you, but if Christ does not live in you, you have failed. I hope you will discover that we have not failed. We pray that you stop doing bad things. We do not pray like this to look good, but so that you do the right thing. Even if we are failures all we can do is Follow the truth and don't fight against it even if we are weak. We are glad you are strong and pray you do even better. I write these things to you before arriving this way.

I won't have to be harsh. you when I used the authority that the Lord has given me I was given this authority to be able to help you and not destroy you goodbye my friends do better and pay attention to what I have said try to get along and live in peace with each other now I ask that God who gives love and peace be with you, give each other a cordial greeting, all the people of God send you greetings, I ask that the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and be kind to you, may God bless you with his love and may the

holy

spirit unite all your hearts.