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For I made up my mind 1not to make another painful visit to you.
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For 2if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
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And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, 3for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.
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For 4I wrote to you out of much affliction 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.
Forgive the Sinner
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Now 5if anyone has caused pain, 6he has caused it not to me, but 7in some measure--not to put it too severely--to all of you.
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For such a one, 8this punishment by the majority is enough,
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so 9you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
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So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
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For this is why I wrote, that I might 10test you and know 11whether you are obedient in everything.
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Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
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so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for 12we are not ignorant of his designs.
Triumph in Christ
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When 13I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though 14a door was opened for me in the Lord,
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my spirit 15was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
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But 16thanks be to God, who in Christ always 17leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads 18the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
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For we are the aroma of Christ to God among 19those who are being saved and among 20those who are perishing,
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21to one a fragrance from death to death, 22to the other a fragrance from life to life. 23Who is sufficienta for these things?
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For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)