But I made up my mind ^anot to grieve you with another painful visit. 2 For if I ^acause you grief by a well-deserved rebuke, who then provides me enjoyment but the very one whom I have made sad? 3 And I ^1awrote this same thing to you, so that ^bwhen I came, I would not be filled with sorrow by those who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you and ^cfelt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you. 4 For I ^awrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the overflowing love which I have especially for you.

5 But ^aif ¹someone has caused all this sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely— he has distressed and grieved all of you. 6 For such a one ^athis punishment by the majority is sufficient, 7 so instead of further rebuke, now you should rather graciously ^aforgive and comfort and encourage him, to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reinstate him in your affections and reaffirm your ¹love for him. 9 For this was my purpose in ^awriting, to see if you ^bwould stand the test, whether you are obedient and ^ccommitted to following my instruction in all things. 10 If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive that one; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake ^ain the presence of and with the approval of Christ, 11 to keep ^aSatan from taking advantage of us; for ^bwe are not ignorant of his schemes.

12 Now when I arrived at ^aTroas to preach the ^bgood news of Christ, even though a ^cdoor of opportunity opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit ^acould not rest because I did not find my brother ^bTitus there; so ^csaying goodbye to them, I left for ^dMacedonia.

14 ^aBut thanks be to God, who always ^bleads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet ^cfragrance of the ^dknowledge of Him. 15 For we are the ^asweet fragrance of Christ which ascends to God, discernible both among ^bthose who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 ^ato the latter one an aroma from death to death a fatal, offensive odor, but to the other an aroma from life to life a vital fragrance, living and fresh. And who is ^badequate and sufficiently qualified for these things? 17 For we are not like many, acting like merchants ^apeddling God’s word shortchanging and adulterating God’s message; but ^bfrom pure uncompromised motives, as commissioned and sent from God, we speak His message in Christ ^cin the sight of God.