The God of Every Comfort
[1-11] From Paul, a follower of Yeshua, the Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our coworker in Christ, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, and all the Christians, which are in all Achaia: May you have grace and peace from Yahweh our God, and from Yeshua the Christ. May Yahweh God be blessed, the God our Christ Yeshua comes from, the God all mercies come from, and the God all comforts come from; Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we may be able to comfort those, who are in any kind of trouble, with the same kind of comfort that we ourselves have been comforted with by God. As we have suffered much for Christ, so we’ll be comforted much by Christ. And if we’re troubled, it’s for your comfort and to help you to be saved, which is what helps us to keep going in what we suffer: or if we’re in good spirits now, it’s for your comfort and to help you to be saved. And our hope for you is strong, knowing that just as you’ve taken part in the suffering, so you’ll be comforted. Christians, we want you to know of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were troubled more than ever, more than our own strength, so that we even lost all hope of life: But we had a death sentence in us, so that we wouldn’t trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead: Who saved us from such a great a death, and so saves us: in whom we trust that even now, will still save us; You’ve also helped by praying for us, that many more people will give thanks in our place, for the gift given to us by the answered prayers of many of you.
We Have a Clear Conscience
[12-24] Our joy is that our conscience tells us by the grace of God that we’ve lived in the world with simple and godly honesty, not with earthly wisdom, and even more so with you. We write to you no other faith than what you’ve read or already know; and I trust you’ll know this even to the end of your days; As in a way, you’ve also accepted that we’re your joy, just as you’ll also be our joy in the day of Christ Yeshua. And in this trust, I was thinking of coming to you, so that you might have a second chance to do a good thing; And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come back out of Macedonia to you, and to be sent on my way again by you to Judea. Do you think I thought of this without thinking it through? Or do the things that I plan, come from my own human thinking, that I would say both yes and no at the same time? But as God is true, our word to you wasn’t unreliable, saying both yes and no at the same time. The Child of God, Yeshua the Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, wasn’t yes and no, but in Christ, was always yes. And all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ, and in Christ, we say “So be it” to the praise of God. Now the One who creates all of us in Christ, and has chosen us is God; Who has also put the proof of ownership on us, and given us this proof by the Spirit in our hearts. Besides this, I call on God for a defense of my soul that the reason I didn’t come to you was to spare you. Not that we have any control over your faith, but that we could help you to have joy, because it’s by faith that you keep on going.
Overcome with Love, not Sorrow
[1-7] But I decided on this in myself, that I wouldn’t come back to you in sorrow. If I make you sorry, who can make me happy, but the ones who are made sorry by me? And I wrote this to you, in case, when I came, I would have sorrow from the very ones I should have joy in; having trust in you all, that my joy is the same joy that you all have. In much suffering and heartbreak, I wrote to you in tears; not that you would be upset, but that you might know the great love that I have for you. But if anyone has caused sorrow, in a way, they haven’t caused me sorrow, as much as they’ve caused you sorrow: not to put it too unkindly. And they have had enough punishment from you all. So instead, you should forgive and comfort them, or they may be overcome with too much sorrow.
