| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia. | 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: |
| 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! | 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 3Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, | 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, |
| 4who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. | 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. |
| 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. | 5For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. |
| 6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. | 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. |
| 7And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort. | 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. |
| 8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. | 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. |
| 9Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. | 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. |
| 10He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, | 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. |
| 11as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many. | 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. |
| 12For our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God--not by human wisdom but by the grace of God--we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you. | 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. |
| 13For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely | 13For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— |
| 14just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. | 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. |
| 15And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us, | 15Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. |
| 16and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you. | 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. |
| 17Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? | 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? |
| 18But as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." | 18As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. |
| 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us--by me and Silvanus and Timothy--was not "Yes" and "No," but it has always been "Yes" in him. | 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. |
| 20For every one of God's promises are "Yes" in him; therefore also through him the "Amen" is spoken, to the glory we give to God. | 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. |
| 21But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, | 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, |
| 22who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment. | 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. |
| 23Now I appeal to God as my witness, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. | 23But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. |
| 24I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm. | 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. |
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