7 Since we have these promises, beloved, qlet us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body1 and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the rfear of God.
Paul’s Joy
2 sMake room in your hearts2 for us. tWe have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for uI said before that you are vin our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with great wboldness toward you; I have great xpride in you; yI am filled with comfort. In zall our affliction, I am aoverflowing with joy.
5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had bno rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who ccomforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of dTitus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For eeven if I made you grieve with fmy letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore we are gcomforted.
And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14 For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as heverything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the iobedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because jI have complete confidence in you.
Encouragement to Give Generously
8 We want you to know, brothers,1 about the grace of God that has been given kamong the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their labundance of joy and mtheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave naccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor2 of taking part in the orelief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, pwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this qact of grace. 7 But ras you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you3—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
8 sI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is tgenuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, uyet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might vbecome rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who wa year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their xneed, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
Commendation of Titus
16 zBut thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going4 to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending5 athe brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been bappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for we caim at what is dhonorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great econfidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers6 of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of our fboasting about you to these men.
The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem
9 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the gministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready hsince last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But iI am sending1 the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, jas I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some kMacedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift2 you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, lnot as an exaction.3
The Cheerful Giver
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and mwhoever sows bountifully4 will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give nas he has decided in his heart, onot reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a pcheerful giver. 8 And qGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency5 in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
r“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies sseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the tneeds of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, uthey6 will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your vconfession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your wcontribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible xgift!
Paul Defends His Ministry
10 I, Paul, myself yentreat you, by the zmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that awhen I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of bwalking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not cwaging war according to the flesh. 4 For the dweapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your eobedience is complete.
7 Look at what is before your eyes. fIf anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is gChrist’s, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of hour authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ihis bodily presence is weak, and jhis speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only kwith regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For lwe were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 mso that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. 17 n“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is onot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I wish you would bear with me in a little pfoolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a qdivine jealousy for you, since I rbetrothed you to one husband, sto present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that tas uthe serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, vyour thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For wif someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you xreceived, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that yI am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled zin speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
7 Or adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I bpreached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for cthe brothers who came from Macedonia dsupplied my need. So eI refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 fAs the truth of Christ is in me, this gboasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows hI do!
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as iservants of righteousness. jTheir end will correspond to their deeds.
Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle
16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would1 but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the kflesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with lfools, being wise yourselves! 20 For you bear it if someone mmakes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, nwe were too weak for that!
But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they oHebrews? pSo am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they qservants of Christ? rI am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with sfar greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews tthe forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was ubeaten with rods. Once I was vstoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, wdanger from my own people, xdanger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,2 in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my yweakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that zI am not lying. 32 aAt Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
