章 |
2:1 |
So I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit.
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2:2 |
For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
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2:3 |
And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you.
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2:4 |
For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
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2:5 |
But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent-- not to exaggerate it-- to all of you.
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2:6 |
This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;
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2:7 |
so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
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2:8 |
So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
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2:9 |
I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.
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2:10 |
Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.
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2:11 |
And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
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2:12 |
When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord;
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2:13 |
but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia.
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2:14 |
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.
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2:15 |
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
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2:16 |
to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
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2:17 |
For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.
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