1 ARST { I,} Paul,{ write this letter to you,} and Timothy, our fellow believer,{ is with me}. God chose to send me to represent the Messiah Jesus, because that is what God wanted.{ I send this letter} to{ you who are part of} the group of believers belonging to God, which is in the city of Corinth.{ I} also{ send this letter} to all the believers who live throughout the region of Achaia. BSB BSB: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 ARST { May} God,{ who is} our Father, and the Lord Jesus the Messiah{ continue to be} kind to you and{ make you} peaceful. BSB BSB: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 ARST May we always praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah— he is our merciful Father and our God who always comforts us. BSB BSB: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 ARST God comforts us whenever we suffer. He does that so that we can comfort others who are suffering in any way. God enables us to comfort them in the very same way as he comforts us. BSB BSB: who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
5 ARST You see, the Messiah suffered a lot for us, and now we continue to suffer as the Messiah did because we belong to him. But now the Messiah also comforts us in the same abundant amount. BSB BSB: For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
6 ARST So whenever people cause us to suffer, it is so that God may comfort you and protect you spiritually. Whenever God comforts us, it is so that he may also comfort you. God does this as you patiently endure when people cause you to suffer just as people cause us to suffer. BSB BSB: If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.
7 ARST We know that God will also comfort you as you suffer like we suffer. Therefore, we are very confident that you will continue{ trusting in Jesus}. BSB BSB: And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.
8 ARST For example, fellow believers, we want you to know about the bad things that happened to us in the province of Asia. They were so difficult that we felt that we could not endure them. We felt certain that we were going to die. BSB BSB: We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
9 ARST We felt like a person feels when he has heard a judge say,“I condemn you to die.” But God allowed us to feel that way so that we would learn to not rely on ourselves but, instead, to rely on God. He causes people who have died to live again. BSB BSB: Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
10 ARST Even though it seemed to us that we would certainly die, God rescued us from the people who wanted to kill us, and he will continue to rescue us{ from similar people}. We confidently expect that he will rescue us again BSB BSB: He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
11 ARST as you help us by praying for us. Please do pray for us so that many people will thank God for what he will graciously do for us because many people prayed for us. BSB BSB: as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
12 ARST We are proud that we can honestly say that we have behaved toward all people in a holy and sincere way, as God has enabled us to do. We do not behave in the way that unbelievers think is wise. Instead, God graciously guides us, especially{ as we interact} with you. BSB BSB: For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.
13 ARST To see this, look at my letters. In all of my letters to you I have written only what you can{ easily} read and understand. I hope that{ soon} you will understand{ us} completely BSB BSB: For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely,
14 ARST just as you partially understand us{ already}. Then when our Lord Jesus returns, you will be just as proud of us as we will be proud of you. BSB BSB: as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 ARST Because I was confident that you were proud of me, I planned to visit you once on my way to the province of Macedonia, and then to visit you again as I returned from there. In that way, you would benefit twice from having me with you. Also, you could help supply what I would need to go from your city to the province of Judea. BSB BSB: Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.
17 ARST I intended to visit you those two times{, but then I did not come the second time}. That does not mean that I changed my plan lightly. I do not make or change my plans according to what I might desire at the time. I do not say,“Yes, I will do that” and then quickly say,“No, I will not do it.” BSB BSB: When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”?
18 ARST Just as God is faithful, we are completely sincere in everything that we say to you. We would never say,“Yes” when we really think,“No.” BSB BSB: But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
19 ARST I and Silvanus and Timothy taught you about the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah.{ You know that} he would never say,“Yes” if what he meant was,“No.” Because of who he is, our message about him has also remained consistent and dependable. BSB BSB: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.”
20 ARST Because of Jesus, we can rely on all of the promises of God. Jesus fulfills them all. Therefore, Jesus is also the one who enables us to say,“Yes, it is true” when we praise God. BSB BSB: For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
21 ARST It is God who causes us, along with you, to keep on believing strongly in the Messiah. God is also the one who has given us his Spirit so that we can serve him. BSB BSB: Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,
22 ARST God gave us the Holy Spirit to live within us. That shows both that we belong to him and that he will also do for us everything else that he has promised to do for us. BSB BSB: placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
23 ARST So now I will tell you why I changed my mind and did not visit you again as I intended to do. May God strike me dead if I am lying, but he knows that what I am telling you is true. The reason that I did not return to Corinth was so that I might not grieve you by having to speak to you severely about the wrong things that you have done. BSB BSB: I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
24 ARST When I say that, I do not mean that we are your masters who give you orders about what to believe and do. Instead, everything that we tell you{ about living for God} is so that you will be joyful. We do not need to command you, because God himself tells you what to believe and do. BSB BSB: Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.