1
Since we have these promises, beloved, 1let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of bodya and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Paul's Joy
2
2Make room in your heartsb for us. 3We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
3
I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that 4you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
4
I am acting with 5great boldness toward you; 6I have great pride in you; 7I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
5
For even 8when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--9fighting without and fear within.
7
and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
8
For 12even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it--though 13I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.
9
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but 14because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10
For 15godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas 16worldly grief produces death.
11
For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, 17what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.
12
So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one 18who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.
13
Therefore 19we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit 20has been refreshed by you all.
14
For 21whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you 22was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)