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Chapter 2
1So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.
2For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved?
3I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy.
4For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
Forgiveness for the Sinner
5If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent–not to put it too severely.
6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
9The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
10If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven–if there was anything to forgive–I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Ministers of the New Covenant
12Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
13I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good–by to them and went on to Macedonia.
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
17Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
Chapter 3
1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.
3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Glory of the New Covenant
7Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,
8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
9If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
10For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.
11And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.
13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.
14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.
16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflectOr contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever–increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Chapter 4
Treasures in Jars of Clay
1Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”Gen. 1:3 made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all–surpassing power is from God and not from us.
8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”Psalm 116:10 With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
 
 

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