| 1 | But I determined this within myself, not to return again to you in sorrow. |
| 2 | For if I make you sorrowful, then who is it that can make me glad, except the one who is made sorrowful by me? |
| 3 | And so, I wrote this same thing to you, so that I might not, when I arrive, add sorrow to sorrow for those with whom I ought to rejoice, having confidence in you in all things, so that my joy may be entirely yours. |
| 4 | For with much tribulation and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears: not so that you would be sorrowful, but so that you might know the charity that I have more abundantly toward you. |
| 5 | But if anyone has brought sorrow, he has not sorrowed me. Yet, for my part, this is so that I might not burden all of you. |
| 6 | Let this rebuke be sufficient for someone like this, for it has been brought by many. |
| 7 | So then, to the contrary, you should be more forgiving and consoling, lest perhaps someone like this may be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow. |
| 8 | Because of this, I beg you to confirm your charity toward him. |
| 9 | It was for this reason, also, that I wrote, so that I might know, by testing you, whether you would be obedient in all things. |
| 10 | But anyone whom you have forgiven of anything, I also forgive. And then, too, anyone I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it was done in the person of Christ for your sakes, |
| 11 | so that we would not be circumvented by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his intentions. |
| 12 | And when I had arrived at Troas, because of the Gospel of Christ, and a door had opened to me in the Lord, |
| 13 | I had no rest within my spirit, because I was not able to find Titus, my brother. So, saying goodbye to them, I set out for Macedonia. |
| 14 | But thanks be to God, who always brings triumph to us in Christ Jesus, and who manifests the fragrance of his knowledge through us in every place. |
| 15 | For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ for God, both with those who are being saved and with those who are perishing. |
| 16 | To the one, certainly, the fragrance is of death unto death. But to the other, the fragrance is of life unto life. And concerning these things, who is so suitable? |
| 17 | For we are not like many others, adulterating the Word of God. But instead, we speak with sincerity: from God, before God, and in Christ. |
