Noyes - II Corinthians

Chapter 1

1:1  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the holy who are in all Achaia:

1:2  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Fathers and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:3  Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

1:4  who comforteth us in all our distress, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any distress by the comfort wherewith we are ourselves comforted by God;

1:5  for as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ doth our comfort also overflow.

1:6  And whether we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation, which showeth its power in enabling you to bear patiently the same sufferings which we also endure; and our hope is steadfast in your behalf; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort and salvation,

1:7  knowing that as ye are sharers in the sufferings, so also ye will be sharers in the comfort.

1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our distress which came upon us in Asia, that it was exceedingly heavy upon us beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

1:9  yea, we ourselves had within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead;

1:10  who delivered us from such peril of death, and is delivering; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us,

1:11  you also unitedly helping us by prayer, so that for this blessing bestowed on us by means of many, thanks may be given by many on your behalf.

1:12  For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and the sincerity which is of God, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

1:13  For we write no other things to you, than what ye read or even acknowledge. And I trust ye will acknowledge even to the end,

1:14  as also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your glorying, as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1:15  And in this confidence it was my purpose to come to you before, that ye might receive a second benefit;

1:16  and to go by way of you into Macedonia, and from Macedonia to come again to you, and by you to be forwarded on my way to Judaea.

1:17  Having, then, this purpose, did I act with levity? Or in my purposes do I resolve according to the flesh, that with me there should be now yea, yea, and now nay, nay?

1:18  But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yea and nay.

1:19  For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not found yea and nay, but in him hath been found yea.

1:20  For as to all the promises of God, in him is yea, and in him amen, to the glory of God through us.

1:21  Now he who maketh us with you steadfast in Christ, and anointed us, is God;

1:22  he who also sealed us, and gave the Spirit as a pledge in our hearts.

1:23  But I call upon God as a witness against my soul, that it was to spare you that I came no more to Corinth;

1:24  not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy. For in respect to faith ye stand firm.

Chapter 2

2:1  But I determined this with myself, that my next visit to you should not be in sorrow.

2:2  For if I make you sorrowful, who is there to make me glad but he that is made sorrowful by me?

2:3  And I wrote about this very matter, that I might not on my coming have sorrow from those who ought to gladden me, having confidence in all of you, that my joy is the joy of you all.

2:4  For out of much distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that ye should be made sorrowful, but that ye might know the exceeding love which I have for you.

2:5  But if any one hath caused grief, he hath caused it not to me alone, but in a measure, not to be too severe on him, to all of you.

2:6  Sufficient for such a one is this punishment, which was inflicted by the many;

2:7  so that on the contrary ye ought rather to forgive, and console him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

2:8  Wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him.

2:9  For to this end also I wrote, that I might know by putting it to the proof, whether ye are obedient in all things.

2:10  But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also; for what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes I forgave it in the person of Christ,

2:11  that Satan might not gain an advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2:12  Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, and a door had been opened to me by the Lord,

2:13  I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia.

2:14  But thanks be to God, who always exhibiteth us in triumph in Christ, and manifesteth through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place.

2:15  For we are to God a sweet odor of Christ among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing;

2:16  to the latter we are the odor of death, producing death; and to the former the odor of life, producing life. And who is sufficient for these things?

2:17  For we are not as the many, who adulterate the word of God; but as from sincerity, but as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

Chapter 3

3:1  Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves? Or do we need, like some others, letters of recommendation to you, or letters of recommendation from you?

3:2  Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

3:3  since ye are manifestly shown to be a letter of Christ by means of our service, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on fleshly tablets of the heart.

3:4  And such confidence as this have we through Christ toward God;

3:5  not that we are able of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves; but our ability is from God;

3:6  who also gave us ability to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

3:7  But if the ministration of death, engraven in letters on stones, was so glorious, that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses by reason of the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away,

3:8  shall not the ministration of the Spirit be much more glorious?

3:9  For if the ministration of condemnation had glory, much greater is the glory of the ministration of righteousness.

3:10  For even that which was made glorious hath ceased to be glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory by which it is exceeded.

3:11  For if that which was to be done away was glorious, much more glorious is that which endureth.

3:12  Having therefore such hope, we use great plainness of speech;

3:13  and do not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the end of that which was to be done away.

3:14  But their understandings were blinded; for until this day, when the old covenant is read, the same veil remaineth, since it is not unveiled to them that it is done away in Christ;

3:15  but even till this day, when Moses is read, there lieth a veil upon their heart;

3:16  but whenever it turneth to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

3:17  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

3:18  But we all with unveiled face beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Lord, the Spirit.

Chapter 4

4:1  Therefore, having this ministry through the mercy we received, we are not faint-hearted;

4:2  but have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

4:3  But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to them that perish,

4:4  in whom the God of this world blinded the understandings of the unbelieving, so that they cannot behold the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

4:5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

4:6  For it is God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, that shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not of us;

4:8  being troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair;

4:9  persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

4:10  always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

4:11  For we who live are continually delivered up to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

4:13  But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, "I believed, and therefore I spoke," we also believe, and therefore speak;

4:14  knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise up us also with Jesus, and will present us with you.

4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the grace abounding by means of the greater number may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

4:16  For which cause we are not faint-hearted; but though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us, in a higher and still higher degree, an everlasting weight of glory;

4:18  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are but for a time; but the things which are not seen are ever lasting.

Chapter 5

5:1  For we know that, if our earthly tent-habitation be destroyed, we have a building provided by God, a house not made with hands, everlasting, in the heavens.

5:2  For while in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven;

5:3  since, indeed, when we have put off our present garment, we shall not be found naked.

5:4  For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened; inasmuch as we do not desire to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

5:5  Now he that hath prepared us for this very thing is God; who also gave to us the Spirit as the pledge.

5:6  We have courage, therefore, always, and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;

5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight; but we have courage,

5:8  and are well pleased rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

5:9  Wherefore we also strive that, whether at home or absent, we may be approved by him.

5:10  For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he did, whether good or bad.

5:11  Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men; but to God we have been made manifest, and I hope have been made manifest in your consciences also.

5:12  For we are not again commending ourselves to you, but giving you occasion to glory on our behalf; that ye may have somewhat to answer those who glory in outward appearance, and not in heart.

5:13  For whether we were beside ourselves, it was for God; or whether we are in our sound mind, it is for you.

5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judged, that if one died for all, then all died;

5:15  and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for their sakes, and rose again.

5:16  So that we henceforth know no one according to the flesh; and if we have even known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know him.

5:17  Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

5:18  And all things are from God, who reconciled us to himself by Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;

5:19  seeing that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.

5:20  We then are ambassadors for Christ; as though God were exhorting you by us, in behalf of Christ we entreat you, Be reconciled to God.

5:21  Him, who knew not sin, he made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him.

Chapter 6

6:1  As fellow-workers, then, with him, we also exhort you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain;

6:2  (for he saith: "In an accepted time I heard thee, and in the day of salvation I helped thee;" Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation;)

6:3  giving no occasion for stumbling in anything, that the ministry may not be blamed;

6:4  but as God’s ministers recommending ourselves in all things, in much endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

6:5  in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

6:6  in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,

6:7  in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

6:8  through honor and dishonor, through evil report and good report; as deceivers, and true;

6:9  as unknown, and well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;

6:10  as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and possessing all things.

6:11  Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged.

6:12  Ye have not a narrow place in my heart, but ye have a narrow place for me in yours.

6:13  So then in return, I speak to you as children, let your hearts be enlarged.

6:14  Be not strangely yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? Or what communion hath light with darkness?

6:15  And what concord hath Christ with Beliar? Or what part hath a believer with an unbeliever?

6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God said: "I will dwell among them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

6:17  "Wherefore come out from the midst of them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and touch not anything unclean;" "and I will receive you,

6:18  and will be to you a father, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

Chapter 7

7:1  Having then these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

7:2  Receive us into your hearts; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have defrauded no one.

7:3  I am not saying this to condemn you; for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die with you and to live with you.

7:4  Great is my confidence toward you, great is my glorying on your account; I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our trouble.

7:5  For indeed when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

7:6  But God, that comforteth those who are brought low, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

7:7  and not by his coming only, but by the comfort with which he was comforted in regard to you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal in my behalf; so that I rejoiced the more.

7:8  For though I caused you sorrow with the letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it; for I perceive that that letter caused you sorrow, though it was but for a short time.

7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorrowful, but that your sorrow produced repentance. For the sorrow which ye felt had respect to God, that ye might in nothing receive injury from me.

7:10  For sorrow before God worketh repentance to salvation never to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

7:11  For behold this very thing, that your sorrow had respect to God; what earnestness it wrought in you; yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what longing desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what readiness to punish! In every thing ye showed yourselves to be pure in the matter.

7:12  Although, then, I wrote to you, it was not on account of him that did the wrong, nor of him who suffered wrong; but that your earnestness for us might be made manifest to you in the sight of God.

7:13  Therefore we have been comforted; but in our comfort we rejoiced still more on account of the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all;

7:14  for if in anything I have boasted to him of you, I am not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting, which we made before Titus, was found to be truth;

7:15  and his affection is more abundant toward you, while he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.

7:16  I rejoice that in every thing I have confidence in you.

Chapter 8

8:1  Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been bestowed in the churches of Macedonia;

8:2  that under a great trial of distress the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty increased the riches of their liberality;

8:3  for according to their power, I bear witness, and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,

8:4  begging of us with much entreaty the favor of sharing in the ministration to the saints;

8:5  and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God;

8:6  so that we urged Titus, that, as he had already made a beginning, so he would also finish among you this bounty also.

8:7  But as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this exercise of liberality also.

8:8  I speak not by way of command, but by reason of the earnestness of others, and to prove the genuineness of your love.

8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

8:10  And I only give an opinion in this matter. For this is expedient for you, who began before others, not only to do, but also to be willing, a year ago.

8:11  Now therefore perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

8:12  For if there be first the willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, not according to what he hath not.

8:13  For it is not that others may be eased, and you burdened,

8:14  but to make an equality; at the present season your abundance meeting their deficiency, that their abundance may at another time meet your deficiency; that there may be equality;

8:15  as it is written: "He that gathered much, had nothing over; and he that gathered little, had no lack."

8:16  But thanks be to God, who put the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus;

8:17  for he accepted indeed the exhortation; but being very earnest, he went of his own accord to you.

8:18  And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise in the gospel is throughout all the churches;

8:19  and not that only, but who was also appointed by the churches as our fellow-traveler in the matter of this bounty, which is administered by us to the honor of the Lord himself, and of our ready mind;

8:20  since we are careful of this, that no one should blame us in our management of this abundant liberality;

8:21  for we take forethought for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

8:22  And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often in many things proved to be zealous, but now much more zealous through the great confidence which he hath in you.

8:23  As to Titus, he is my partner and fellow-laborer for you; as to our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

8:24  Display to them, therefore, before the churches, the proof of your love, and of what we have boasted on your behalf.

Chapter 9

9:1  For concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.

9:2  For I know your readiness of mind, of which I boast in behalf of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was prepared a year ago; and your zeal stirred up the greater part of them.

9:3  But I sent the brethren, that our boasting of you should not prove unfounded in this respect; that, as I said, ye may be prepared;

9:4  lest, should the Macedonians come with me, and find you unprepared, we (not to say ye) should be put to shame in respect to this confidence.

9:5  I thought it necessary therefore to exhort the brethren to go before to you, and make up beforehand your bounty, which was already announced, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not of covetousness.

9:6  But this there is to say: He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully.

9:7  Each one, as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.

9:8  And God is able to make every blessing abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work;

9:9  as it is written: "He dispersed abroad, he gave to the poor; his righteousness remaineth for ever."

9:10  Now, he that ministereth seed to the sower, and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;

9:11  while ye are enriched in everything to all liberality, which worketh out through us thanksgiving to God;

9:12  for the ministration of this service not only supplieth the wants of the saints, but also overfloweth through many thanksgivings to God;

9:13  while by the proof afforded by this ministration they glorify God for your obedience to your profession in regard to the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution in regard to them and in regard to all;

9:14  while with supplication for you they long after you on account of the exceeding grace of God to you.

9:15  Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

Chapter 10

10:1  Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I, who present indeed am lowly among you, but am bold toward you when absent;

10:2  but I entreat you, that I may not when I am present be bold with that confidence wherewith I think of being bold towards some, who think of us as walking according to the flesh.

10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,

10:4  (for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds,)

10:5  casting down reasonings, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every purpose into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

10:6  and being in readiness to punish every disobedience, when the measure of your obedience shall be full.

10:7  Ye look at the outward appearance. If any one trusteth to himself that he belongeth to Christ, let him of himself consider this again, that as he belongeth to Christ, so also do we.

10:8  For even if I should boast still more highly of our authority, which the Lord gave us for building you up, and not pulling you down, I should not be put to shame;

10:9  that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

10:10  For his letters, saith one, are weighty and strong; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

10:11  Let such a one count upon this, that such as we are in word by letters when absent, such will we be also in deed when present.

10:12  For we do not venture to reckon ourselves among, or compare ourselves with, some of those who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves among themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not wise.

10:13  But we will not boast of things that are without our measure, but according to the measure of the line which God allotted us,—a measure to reach even to you.

10:14  For we do not stretch ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not to you; (for as far as even to you did we come, in the gospel of Christ;)

10:15  not boasting of things that are without measure, in other men’s labors, but having hope, when your faith is increased, that our line will through you be still further extended,

10:16  so that we may preach the gospel in the regions beyond you; not boasting, in another’s line, of things made ready to our hand.

10:17  But "he that boasteth, let him boast in the Lord."

10:18  For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth.

Chapter 11

11:1  Would that ye could bear with me in a little folly! and indeed ye do bear with me.

11:2  For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I espoused you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ;

11:3  but I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from single-heartedness toward Christ.

11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye did not receive, or another gospel, which ye did not accept, well might ye bear with it.

11:5  For I suppose that I am in no respect behind the very foremost apostles.

11:6  And though I am rude in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; but this did we in every respect manifest to you in all things.

11:7  Did I commit an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God without charge?

11:8  I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, in order to do you service;

11:9  and when I was present with you, and in want, I was a charge to no one; (for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied my wants;) and in every thing I kept myself and will keep myself from being burdensome to you.

11:10  As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting shall not be stopped in regard to me in the regions of Achaia.

11:11  Wherefore? Because I love you not? God knoweth!

11:12  But what I do, that I will continue to do, that I may cut off occasion from those who wish for an occasion, in order that in the matter of which they boast they may be found even as we.

11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

11:14  And no wonder; for even Satan transformeth himself into an angel of light.

11:15  It is no great thing, then, if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

11:16  I say again, let no one suppose me a fool; if otherwise, yet even as a fool receive me, that I too may boast myself a little.

11:17  What I speak, I speak not after the Lord, but as it were in folly, in this confidence of boasting.

11:18  Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will boast also.

11:19  For ye bear with fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise;

11:20  for ye bear with it, if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one smites you on the face.

11:21  I say it to my reproach, that we were weak; but in whatever any one is bold, (I speak in folly,) I am bold also.

11:22  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abram’s offspring? So am I.

11:23  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as beside myself,) I am more; in labors more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often;

11:24  of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one;

11:25  thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have spent in the deep;

11:26  by journeyings often; by perils of rivers, by perils of robbers, by perils from my countrymen, by perils from the heathen, by perils in the city, by perils in the wilderness, by perils in the sea, by perils among false brethren;

11:27  by weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

11:28  Besides the other troubles, there is that which presseth upon me daily, the anxiety for all the churches.

11:29  Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is in danger of stumbling, and I do not burn?

11:30  If I must boast, I will boast of the things which belong to my weakness.

11:31  The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I am not lying.

11:32  In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept guard over the city of the Damascenes, in order to apprehend me;

11:33  and through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.

Chapter 12

12:1  It is indeed not expedient for me to boast; I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

12:2  I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago,—whether in the body, I know not, or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth,—such a one caught up even to the third heaven.

12:3  And I know such a man, whether in the body, or without the body, I know not; God knoweth,—

12:4  that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

12:5  Of such a one I will boast; but of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.

12:6  For if I should desire to boast, I should not be a fool; for I should say the truth; but I forbear, lest any one should think of me above what he seeth me to be, or what he heareth from me.

12:7  And that I might not be too much lifted up by the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, that I might not be too much lifted up.

12:8  In respect to this I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me;

12:9  and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may abide upon me.

12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then am I strong.

12:11  I have become a fool; it is ye that compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the very foremost apostles, though I am nothing.

12:12  Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you with all endurance, by signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

12:13  For what is there in which ye were at disadvantage when compared with other churches, except that I myself was not a charge to you? Forgive me this wrong.

12:14  Behold, I am ready to come to you this third time, and I will not be a charge to you; for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

12:15  And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more I love you, the less I am loved.

12:16  But be it so; I at least was not a charge to you; but yet, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

12:17  Did I make gain of you by any of those whom I have sent to you?

12:18  I urged Titus to go to you, and with him I sent the brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

12:19  Have ye been thinking this long time that we are defending ourselves to you? It is before God in Christ that we are speaking; but all things, beloved, for your edification.

12:20  For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and lest I too shall be found by you such as ye would not; lest there be wranglings, envying, wraths, rivalries, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

12:21  and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many of those who have sinned already, and did not repent of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness, which they committed.

Chapter 13

13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

13:2  I said before, and now say beforehand, as when present the second time, so also absent now, to those who have sinned before, and to all the others, that if I come again, I will not spare;

13:3  since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who towards you is not weak, but is mighty among you.

13:4  For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God; for we also are weak in him, but we shall live together with him by the power of God toward you.

13:5  Try yourselves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, that Christ Jesus is in you, unless ye are unapproved?

13:6  But I trust that ye shall know, that we are not unapproved.

13:7  Now we pray to God that ye do no evil; not in order that we may appear approved, but that ye may do what is good, though we be as unapproved.

13:8  For we have no power against the truth, but for the truth.

13:9  For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong; this also we pray for, even your perfection.

13:10  For this cause I write these things while absent, that when present I may not use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord gave me for edification, and not for destruction.

13:11  Finally, brethren, farewell! Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

13:12  Salute one another with a holy kiss.

13:13  All the saints salute you.

13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the partaking of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.