2
1 So I made up my mind that I would not come to you again in sorrow.
2 For if I make you sorrowful, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have made sorrowful?
3 That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I came I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence about you all that my joy would be yours.
4 For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow, but to let you know the abundant love I have for you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Now if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure (not to put it too severely) to all of you.
6 This punishment by the majority is enough for that person.
7 So you should forgive and comfort him instead, so that he will not be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow.
8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
9 I wrote to you because I wanted to test your character and see if you would be obedient in everything.
10 Now if you forgive anyone of anything, I also forgive him. For if I have forgiven anyone of anything, I have done it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
11 so that we might not be exploited by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Triumph in Christ
12 Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord.
13 But I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. So I took leave of the people there and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere.
15 For we are a sweet fragrance of Christ ascending to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
16 to the latter we are a smell of death leading to death, but to the former we are a fragrance of life leading to life. And who is equal to such a task?
17 For we are not like others who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak with sincerity in the presence of God, as men sent from God.