Paul's Joy in the Corinthians

1Therefore having these promises, beloved, we should cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2Make room for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3I do not speak for condemnation; for I have before said that you are in our hearts for us to die together and to live together. 4Great is my boldness toward you; great my boasting on behalf of you; I have been filled with encouragement; I overabound with joy upon all our affliction.

5And indeed, of us having come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest; but we are being pressed in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6But God, the One comforting the downcast, encouraged us by the coming of Titus, 7and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted as to you, relating to us your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so as for me to rejoice the more.

8For if also I have grieved you in the letter, I do not regret it. For even if I did regret it, I see that the letter grieved you, even if for an hour. 9Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved into repentance. For you were grieved according to God, so that you might suffer loss in nothing through us. 10For grief according to God produces repentance to salvation without regret; but the world’s grief produces death.

11For behold, how much earnestness this very same thing—to have been grieved according to God—has produced in you: but reasoned defense, but indignation, but fear, but longing, but zeal, but vindication! In everything, you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12So even if I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one having done wrong, nor for the sake of the one having suffered wrong, but rather for the sake of your earnestness for us being revealed to you before God. 13On account of this, we have been comforted.

And besides our comfort, we have rejoiced the more abundantly rather at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14For if I have boasted anything to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we have spoken all things to you in truth, so also our boasting to Titus became truth. 15And his affections are more abundantly toward you, remembering the obedience of all of you, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice that in everything I am confident in you.