2 Corinthians 7

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in [the] fear of God.

²Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.

³I 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].

⁴Great [is] my confidence in you; great [is] my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.

⁵For [when] we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every [direction] — conflicts on the outside, fears within.

⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

⁷and 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.

⁸Even 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[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.

¹⁰Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

¹¹Consider [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.

¹²So 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.

¹³On 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.

¹⁴Indeed, 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.

¹⁵And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you {were} all obedient [as] you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

¹⁶I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.