| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother: To God's church at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia. |
| 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, | 3Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. |
| 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. | 4He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. |
| 5For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. | 5For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. |
| 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. | 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in your endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. |
| 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. | 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort. |
| 8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. | 8For we don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: we were completely overwhelmed--beyond our strength--so that we even despaired of life. |
| 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. | 9Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. |
| 10He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. | 10He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and He will deliver us. We have put our hope in Him that He will deliver us again |
| 11You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. | 11while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many. |
| 12For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. | 12For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God's grace. |
| 13For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— | 13Now we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely-- |
| 14just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. | 14as you have partially understood us--that we are your reason for pride, as you are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. |
| 15Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. | 15I planned with this confidence to come to you first, so you could have a double benefit, |
| 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. | 16and to go on to Macedonia with your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you on my journey to Judea. |
| 17Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? | 17So when I planned this, was I irresponsible? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human way so that I say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" simultaneously? |
| 18As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. | 18As God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes and no." |
| 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. | 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us--by me and Silvanus and Timothy--did not become "Yes and no"; on the contrary, a final "Yes" has come in Him. |
| 20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. | 20For every one of God's promises is "Yes" in Him. Therefore, the "Amen" is also spoken through Him by us for God's glory. |
| 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, | 21Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us. |
| 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. | 22He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts. |
| 23But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. | 23I call on God as a witness, on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth. |
| 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. | 24I do not mean that we have control of your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand by faith. |
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