Chronological Plan

¹For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

²For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,

³if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.

⁴For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

⁵Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

⁷For we walk by faith, not by sight.

⁸We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

⁹Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

¹¹Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

¹²For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

¹⁴For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;

¹⁵and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

¹⁶Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

¹⁸Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

¹⁹that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

²¹For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

¹We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

²For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

³We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed.

⁴But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

⁵in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

⁶by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,

⁷by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

⁸by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;

⁹as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;

¹⁰as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

¹¹O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.

¹²You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.

¹³Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.

¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

¹⁵And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

¹⁶And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

¹⁷Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”

¹⁸“I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”

¹Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

²Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one.

³I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

⁴Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.

⁵For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.

⁶Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

⁷and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

⁸For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.

⁹Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

¹⁰For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

¹¹For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

¹²Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.

¹³Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

¹⁴For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true.

¹⁵And his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him.

¹⁶Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.

¹Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:

²that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

³For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,

⁴imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

⁵And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.

⁶So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well.

⁷But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.

⁸I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

¹⁰And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago;

¹¹but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.

¹²For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened;

¹⁴but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality.

¹⁵As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

¹⁶But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.

¹⁷For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord.

¹⁸And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches,

¹⁹and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind,

²⁰avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us—

²¹providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

²²And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you.

²³If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

²⁴Therefore show to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.

¹Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you;

²for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.

³Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready;

⁴lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.

⁵Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.

⁶But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

⁷So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

⁹As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

¹¹while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

¹²For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,

¹³while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,

¹⁴and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.

¹⁵Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!