New Testament · Letters

2 Corinthians chapter 1

Paul, an of Jesus by the will of God, along with our brother Timothy, to the of God in , together with all of throughout the region of :May you experience and from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus, the One.All to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the One — the Father who is , the God who is the source of all .He us in every we face, so that we can comfort others in any crushing situation they face, using the same comfort we ourselves have received from God.Because just as the of the One into our lives, so through the One, our comfort overflows just as much.If we go through crushing times, it is for your comfort and . If we experience comfort, that is also for your comfort — a comfort that gives you the strength to the same kinds of suffering we face.And our in you is rock-solid, because we know that just as you in the suffering, you also share in the comfort.We don’t want you to be unaware, , of the crushing pressure we experienced in the . We were weighed down far beyond what we could handle — so much that we weren’t sure we would even survive.In fact, in our hearts we felt like we had received a . But this happened so that we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who .He us from a deadly situation, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him that he will continue to rescue us,as you also us through your prayers. Then many people will give thanks on our behalf for the given to us through the prayers of so many.Here is what we are : Our conscience confirms that we have conducted ourselves in the world — and especially toward you — with the and that come from God, not with but with God’s undeserved kindness.We are not writing you anything that you can’t read and understand. And I’m confident that you will come to understand fully,just as you have already partially understood us — that on the , we are your just as you are ours.Because I was so confident about this, I planned to visit you first so you could experience a —I planned to visit you on my way to , then visit you again on my way back from Macedonia, and have you to Judea.So when I made these plans, was I being ? Or do I make my plans — saying “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?But as surely as God is , our message to you has not been “yes” and “no” at the same time.Because the , Jesus the One — who , Timothy, and I proclaimed among you — was not “yes” and “no.” In him it has always been “yes.”For every one of God’s finds its “yes” in him. That is why through him we say “” — which means “yes, it is true” — to the of God.Now it is God who makes both us and you in the One. He is the one who us,set his on us, and put in our hearts as a of what is to come. — and — that the reason I did not come back to Corinth was to you.We are not trying to your — you are standing firm in your faith on your own. Instead, we are for your .