1 Pavl an Apostle of JESVS Christ, by the will of God, and our brother Timotheus, to the Church of God, which is at Corinthus with all the Saints, which are in all Achaia: 2 Grace be with you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Iesus Christ. 3 Blessed be God, euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 4 Which comforteth vs in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any affliction by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abounde in vs, so our consolation aboundeth through Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and saluation, which is wrought in the induring of the same sufferings, which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and saluation. 7 And our hope is stedfast concerning you, in as much as we know that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. 8 For brethren, we woulde not haue you ignorant of our affliction, which came vnto vs in Asia, howe we were pressed out of measure passing strength, so that we altogether doubted, euen of life. 9 Yea, we receiued the sentence of death in our selues, because we shoulde not trust in our selues, but in God, which rayseth the dead. 10 Who deliuered vs from so great a death, and doeth deliuer vs: in whom we trust, that yet hereafter he will deliuer vs, 11 So that ye labour together in prayer for vs, that for the gift bestowed vpon vs for many, thankes may be giuen by many persons for vs. 12 For our reioycing is this, the testimonie of our conscience, that in simplicitie and godly purenesse, and not in fleshly wisedome, but by the grace of God wee haue had our conuersation in the worlde, and most of all to you wardes. 13 For wee write none other thinges vnto you, then that ye reade or els that ye acknowledge, and I trust ye shall acknowledge vnto ye end. 14 Euen as ye haue acknowledged vs partly, that we are your reioycing, euen as ye are ours, in the day of our Lord Iesus. 15 And in this confidence was I minded first to come vnto you, that ye might haue had a double grace, 16 And to passe by you into Macedonia, and to come againe out of Macedonia vnto you, and to be led foorth towarde Iudea of you. 17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I vse lightnesse? or minde I those thinges which I minde, according to the flesh, that with me should be, Yea, yea, and Nay, nay? 18 Yea, God is faithfull, that our worde towarde you was not Yea, and Nay. 19 For the Sonne of God Iesus Christ, who was preached among you by vs, that is, by me, and Siluanus, and Timotheus, was not Yea, and Nay: but in him it was Yea. 20 For all the promises of God in him are Yea, and are in him Amen, vnto the glorie of God through vs. 21 And it is God which stablisheth vs with you in Christ, and hath anoynted vs. 22 Who hath also sealed vs, and hath giuen the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 Nowe, I call God for a recorde vnto my soule, that to spare you, I came not as yet vnto Corinthus. 24 Not that wee haue dominion ouer your faith, but wee are helpers of your ioy: for by faith yee stande.
1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Timothy, who is also a follower.
To God's church in Corinth and to all of God's people in Achaia.
2 I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
Paul Gives Thanks
3 Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. 4 He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share this same comfort with others in trouble. 5 We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ, but also in the wonderful comfort he gives. 6 We suffer in the hope that you will be comforted and saved. And because we are comforted, you will also be comforted, as you patiently endure suffering like ours. 7 You never disappoint us. You suffered as much as we did, and we know that you will be comforted as we were.
8 My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain. 9 In fact, we felt sure we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life. 10 God saved us from the threat of death, and we are sure that he will do it again and again. 11 Please help us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks for the blessings we receive in answer to all these prayers.
Paul's Change of Plans
12 We can be proud of our clear conscience. We have always lived honestly and sincerely, especially when we were with you. And we were guided by God's gift of undeserved grace instead of by the wisdom of this world. 13 I am not writing anything you cannot read and understand. I hope you will understand it completely, 14 just as you already partly understand us. Then when our Lord Jesus returns, you can be as proud of us as we are of you.
15 I was so sure of your pride in us that I had planned to visit you first of all. In this way you would have the blessing of two visits from me— 16 once on my way to Macedonia and again on my return from there. Then you could send me on to Judea. 17 Do you think I couldn't make up my mind about what to do? Or do I seem like someone who says “Yes” or “No” simply to please others? 18 God can be trusted, and so can I, when I say our answer to you has always been “Yes” and never “No.” 19 This is because Jesus Christ the Son of God is always “Yes” and never “No.” And he is the one Silas, Timothy, and I told you about.
20 Christ says “Yes” to all God's promises. This is why we have Christ to say “Amen” for us to the glory of God. 21 And so God makes it possible for you and us to stand firmly together with Christ. God is also the one who chose us 22 and put his Spirit in our hearts to show that we belong only to him.
23 God is my witness that I stayed away from Corinth, just to keep from being hard on you. 24 We are not bosses who tell you what to believe. We are working with you to make you glad, because your faith is strong.