2Co 2:1 Now I decided not to pay you another painful visit.

2Co 2:2 After all, if I were to grieve you, who should make me happy but the person I am making sad?

2Co 2:3 This is the very reason I wrote you, so that when I did come I might not be made sad by those who should have made me happy. For I had confidence in all of you that my gladness would be for all of you.

2Co 2:4 For I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart-along with many tears-not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.

2Co 2:5 But if anyone has caused grief, he didn't cause me any grief. To some extent-I don't want to emphasize this too much-it has affected all of you.

2Co 2:6 This punishment by the majority is severe enough for such a man.

2Co 2:7 So forgive and comfort him, or else he will drown in his excessive grief.

2Co 2:8 That's why I'm urging you to assure him of your love.

2Co 2:9 I had also written to you to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in every way.

2Co 2:10 When you forgive someone, I do, too. Indeed, what I have forgiven-if there was anything to forgive-I did in the presence of Christ for your benefit,

2Co 2:11 so that we may not be outsmarted by Satan. After all, we are not unaware of his intentions.

2Co 2:12 When I went to Troas on behalf of the gospel of Christ, a door in fact stood wide open for me in the Lord.

2Co 2:13 But my spirit could not find any relief, because I couldn't find Titus, my brother. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

2Co 2:14 But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him.

2Co 2:15 To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.

2Co 2:16 To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a living fragrance. Who is qualified for this?

2Co 2:17 At least we are not commercializing God's word like so many others. Instead, in Christ we speak with sincerity, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.