2 Corinthians 1
About 2 CorinthiansWritten by AI
Second Corinthians is Paul's most personal letter. He wrote it from Macedonia, probably around AD 55 or 56, to the same church in Corinth after a painful season: a hurtful visit, a tearful letter, and rivals who questioned whether he was a real apostle. Paul's authorship is not in doubt, though some scholars think the letter as we have it gathers more than one of his letters.
The movement is uneven, like a real conversation. Chapters 1 to 7 explain Paul's change of plans and describe his ministry, full of suffering and hope. Chapters 8 to 9 encourage a generous gift for poor believers in Jerusalem. Chapters 10 to 13 turn sharp as Paul answers the "super-apostles" by boasting, of all things, in his weakness.
Watch for comfort in trouble, treasure in jars of clay, and the surprising way God's strength shows up in weakness. As the Lord tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”
Before you read 2 Corinthians 1Written by AI
Paul opens by praising the God of all comfort, who comforts us in trouble so we can comfort others. He speaks openly of despairing even of life in Asia. Then he explains why he changed his travel plans: not because he is fickle, but to spare them another painful visit.
Paul Greets the Corinthians
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience. And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
Paul’s Change of Plans
For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God. For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely, as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.
Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.
When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”? But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.