2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

Paul explains why he did not visit Corinth earlier

12 We can be proud of how we have lived in this world. We have been careful to be honest and good with everyone. And we have been like that with you even more. We are sure in our own minds that this is true. We have not tried to be clever in a human way. But we have lived in the way that God has helped us to live. 13 We are writing to you only about things that you yourselves can read and understand. And I hope that you will understand completely one day. 14 You do not understand us completely yet. But I hope that you will understand completely on the day when our Lord Jesus returns. Then you can be proud of us in the same way that we will be proud of you.

15-16 So, because I was sure that you trusted me, I wanted to visit you twice. Then I could bring God's help to you twice. I decided to visit you first on my way to Macedonia. Then I would visit you again on my way back from Macedonia. After that, you could help to send me on my journey to Judea. 17 I did not decide this in a careless way. I really wanted to do it. I do not decide to do things only to please myself, like someone who does not know God. I do not say ‘Yes,’ and then I immediately say ‘No’.

1:15-16Macedonia was north of the country that is called Greece now.
1:15-16Judea was the south region of Israel.

18 God always does what he says he will do. In the same way, my promise to you was not both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. 19 Silas, Timothy and I told you the message about God's Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is not someone who changes his message between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Instead, he always says ‘Yes,’ and he does what he says. 20 Christ says ‘Yes’ to all of God's promises, so that they become true. So when we pray, we say ‘Yes, amen!,’ because we know that Christ has done it. And when we do that, we are saying that God is great.

21 It is God that causes us to continue to trust Christ. He does that for us and for you, because we belong to Christ. God has chosen us to serve him. 22 He has also put his mark on us, to show that we belong to him. He has given his Spirit to us, to live in us. Because of that, we know that we will receive all the good things that God has promised.

23 God will show that what I say is true! He knows my thoughts. Why did I decide not to come back to Corinth at this time? I did not come because I did not want to be angry with you. 24 We are not trying to tell you what you must believe, like masters would do. You are already strong in your spirits because you trust God. So we want to help you to be really happy.

2 Corinthians 2

1 Because of that, I decided not to visit you again at that time. I did not want to make you sad. 2 You are the only people who can make me happy. So, if I make you sad, there will be nobody to make me happy. 3 That is why I did not visit you. I wrote that letter to you instead. You are the people who should make me happy. I did not want you to make me sad when I visited you. I felt sure about all of you. I knew that, if I was happy, then all of you would be happy too.

4 When I wrote that letter, I was very sad and upset. I cried a lot. I did not want to make you sad. Instead, I wanted you to know that I love you very much.

5 Someone among you has done things that have made other people sad. That person has made me sad. But really he has made all of you much more sad than me. I do not want to say more about this than is necessary. 6 Most of you have agreed to punish him. That should be enough. 7 Now, you should forgive him. You should comfort him. If you do not do that, he may become too sad. He may not be able to think properly. 8 So I tell you this: Please show him that you really do love him.

9 When I wrote that letter to you, I wanted to know what you would do. I wanted to see if you would do everything that I told you. 10 When you forgive anyone, I also forgive that person. Whatever bad thing somebody has done, I have Christ's authority to forgive them. And I do it to help you. 11 We do not want Satan to win against us. He is very clever. We know how he likes to cause us to have trouble.