2 Corinthians 7 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

So since we have these promises, people I love, let's clean out everything that contaminates us — body and spirit — and bring our set-apart status to completion out of deep respect for God.

Make room for us in your hearts. We haven't wronged anyone, we haven't ruined anyone, we haven't taken advantage of anyone.

I'm not saying this to blame you — I already told you that you're in our hearts, so deeply that we'd live or die together with you.

I have so much confidence in you. I'm so proud of you. I'm completely filled with encouragement. Even in the middle of all our hardships, my joy is overflowing.

When we arrived in Macedonia, we got no relief at all — we were under pressure from every direction. Conflicts on the outside, fears on the inside.

But God, who lifts up people who are beaten down, lifted us up through Titus arriving.

And not just by his arrival, but also by the encouragement you gave him. He told us how much you long for us, how deeply sorry you are, how fiercely loyal you are to me — and that made me even happier.

Because even if my letter caused you pain, I don't regret it — though I did regret it at first. I can see that letter hurt you, but only for a while.

Now I'm glad — not that you were hurt, but that your pain led you to completely change direction. You experienced the kind of pain God can work with, so you weren't damaged by us at all.

Because the kind of pain God can work with produces a complete change of direction that leads to rescue — and you'll never regret that. But the kind of pain the world produces leads to death.

Just look at what this God-aligned pain produced in you: what urgency, what eagerness to clear your name, what outrage, what alarm, what longing, what passion, what determination to see justice done. At every point you proved yourselves to be in the clear on this matter.

So even though I wrote to you, it wasn't really about the one who did the wrong, and it wasn't about the one who was wronged. It was so that your devotion to us would become clear to you — right there in the sight of God.

That's why we've been so encouraged. And on top of our own encouragement, we were even more thrilled by how happy Titus was, because all of you put his mind at ease.

If I had boasted about you to him at all, I wasn't let down. Just as everything we told you was true, our boasting about you to Titus turned out to be true too.

And his affection for you grows even deeper when he remembers how all of you listened, and how you welcomed him with such respect and reverence.

I'm so glad that I can have complete confidence in you.