Paul’s Joy in the Corinthians 1 UDB Dear ones, since God has promised to do these things for us, we should stop doing anything with our bodies or minds that keeps us from worshiping God. Let us keep trying to avoid sinning; let us keep honoring God and trembling in his presence. BSB BSB: Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 UDB Open your hearts to us! No matter what you may have heard about us, we have not wronged anyone. And we have never taken advantage of anyone. BSB BSB: Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
3 UDB I do not scold you to condemn you. We love you with all our hearts! We are united in purpose and we will live with you and die with you. BSB BSB: I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you.
4 UDB Moreover, I trust you very much, and I am very encouraged when I hear how well you are doing. Even when we were going through severe afflictions together, you fill up my joy so that it overflows. BSB BSB: Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.
5 UDB When we came to you in Macedonia, we were exhausted. We had troubles on every side—we faced hardships that other people caused, and we feared many things. BSB BSB: For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
6 UDB But God always comforts us when we are discouraged, and he comforted us at that time by sending Titus to be with us. BSB BSB: But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,
7 UDB Titus's coming was a great comfort, but you also comforted him when you were with him. When he came to us, he told us of your deep love for us and how you were sorry for us in our sufferings. He also told us how deeply concerned you were for me, and that gave me even more reason to rejoice. BSB BSB: and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.
8 UDB I know the letter I wrote to you made you sad, but I do not regret that I wrote it to you. I did have regret when I saw that my letter made you sad, but what I wrote to you was necessary to help you deal with the problems in the church. I knew that your sorrow would last for only a short time. BSB BSB: Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it—for I see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time—
9 UDB And so now I can rejoice, not because you were sad when you read my letter, but because your sorrow turned you away from the sin that was hurting you so much, and it changed your sadness into a sorrow that God brought to you, a sorrow that gave you so much more than you had lost. BSB BSB: yet now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.
10 UDB This kind of sorrow turns a person away from sin so that God can rescue him; people are glad, in the end, to have had this kind of sorrow. On the other hand, worldly sorrow, a sadness for your sins only because you were caught in them, can lead only to death. BSB BSB: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
11 UDB Now think about how much good you wanted to do because you had this sorrow that God gave you. You wanted to show me you were innocent. You were so concerned about that accusation of sin, and you were so worried about how that person had sinned. You wanted justice to be done. In sum, you showed that you were innocent. BSB BSB: Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
12 UDB What I wrote to you was not intended for the wrongdoer, nor for the one who suffered the wrong, but for you to understand how much you are faithful to us. God knows that you are faithful to us. BSB BSB: So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God.
13 UDB By all of this we are very encouraged! We were happy about what Titus told us, and we were also happy because you had given him rest and helped him. BSB BSB: On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.
14 UDB I told him very good things about you, how proud I was of you, and you did not put me to shame when he came to you. We praised you so much to Titus, and you proved it was all true! BSB BSB: Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well.
15 UDB Now his love for you has grown because he has seen for himself how much you follow God, and he knows how you welcomed him among yourselves—you welcomed him with fear, because God is holy, and with trembling, because you know God is great. BSB BSB: And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
16 UDB I am filled with joy because I have confidence in you in everything. BSB BSB: I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.