2 Corinthians 2

¹[So] I made up my mind not to make another painful {visit} to you.

²For if I grieve you, who [is left] to cheer me but those [whom] I have grieved?

³I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be grieved by [those] who ought {to make} me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you [would share] my joy.

⁴For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

⁵Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you — to some degree, not to overstate [it].

⁶The punishment [imposed on him] by the majority [is] sufficient for him.

⁷So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort [him], so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm [your] love for him.

⁹{My} purpose in writing [you] [was] to see if you would stand the test [and] be obedient in everything.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone, I also [forgive him]. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven [it] in [the] presence of Christ for your sake,

¹¹in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

¹²Now when I went to Troas [to preach] the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in [the] Lord,

¹³I had no peace in my spirit, [because] I did not find my brother Titus [there]. [So] I said goodbye to them [and] went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But thanks [be] to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of [the] knowledge of Him.

¹⁵For we are to God [the] sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

¹⁶To [the] one [we are] an odor that brings death, to the other a fragrance that brings life. And who [is] qualified for such [a task]?

¹⁷For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God {for profit}. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.