Paul Greets the Corinthians
(Acts 18:1–11; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3)

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christa by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The God of All Comfort

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation,b which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience. 7And our hope for you is sure; If we are comforted, it is for your comfort and salvation,c because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.

8We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia.d We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.

10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He continues to deliver us.e In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on your behalff for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

Paul’s Change of Plans

12For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the integrityg and sincerity that are from God—not in worldlyh wisdom, but in the grace of God. 13For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely, 14as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.i

15Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.

17When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”? 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you was notj “Yes” and “No.” 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,k who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanusl and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” 20For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so in Him,m our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.

21Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, 22placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. 23I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.