| 1 | But I definitely made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful
and
distressing visit. |
| 2 | For if I cause you pain [with merited rebuke], who is there to provide me enjoyment but the [very] one whom I have grieved
and
made sad? |
| 3 | And I wrote the same to you so that when I came, I might not be myself pained by those who are the [very] ones who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you all
and
felt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you. |
| 4 | For I wrote you out of great sorrow and deep distress [with mental torture and anxiety] of heart, [yes, and] with many tears, not to cause you pain but in order to make you realize the overflowing love that I continue increasingly to have for you. |
| 5 | But if someone [the one among you who committed incest] has caused [all this] grief
and
pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, [he has distressed] all of you. |
| 6 | For such a one this censure by the majority [which he has received is] sufficient [punishment]. |
| 7 | So [instead of further rebuke, now] you should rather turn
and
[graciously] forgive and comfort
and
encourage [him], to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow
and
despair. |
| 8 | I therefore beg you to reinstate him in your affections
and
assure him of your love for him; |
| 9 | For this was my purpose in writing you, to test your attitude
and
see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient
and
altogether agreeable [to following my orders] in everything. |
| 10 | If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive that one; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sakes in the presence [and with the approval] of Christ (the Messiah), |
| 11 | To keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles
and
intentions. |
| 12 | Now when I arrived at Troas [to preach] the good news (the Gospel) of Christ, a door of opportunity was opened for me in the Lord, |
| 13 | Yet my spirit could not rest (relax, get relief) because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave from them
and
departed for Macedonia. |
| 14 | But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads
and
makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere, |
| 15 | For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved
and
among those who are perishing: |
| 16 | To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?] |
| 17 | For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God’s Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity
and
the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight
and
presence of God. |