| New International 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 in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout 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 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. |
| 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the 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 troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from 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 just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. | 5For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. |
| 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings 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. |
| 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you 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. |
| 8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so 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 we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely 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 has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, | 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 |
| 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to 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. |
| 12Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God's grace. | 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 do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, | 13Now we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely-- |
| 14as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus. | 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 confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. | 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 then to 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 fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both "Yes, yes" and "No, no"? | 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? |
| 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." | 18As God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes and no." |
| 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us--by me and Silas and Timothy--was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "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 no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. | 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. |
| 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, | 21Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us. |
| 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. | 22He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts. |
| 23I call God as my witness--and I stake my life on it--that it was in order to spare you that I did not return 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, because it is by faith you stand firm. | 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. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
|
