2 Corinthians 7:5-16

7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our body¹ had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way – struggles from the outside, fears from within. 7:6 But God, who encourages² the downhearted, encouraged³ us by the arrival of Titus. 7:7 We were encouraged⁴ not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement⁵ you gave⁶ him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning,⁷ your deep concern⁸ for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever. 7:8 For even if I made you sad⁹ by my letter,¹⁰ I do not regret having written it¹¹ (even though I did regret it,¹² for¹³ I see that my letter made you sad,¹⁴ though only for a short time). 7:9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad,¹⁵ but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended,¹⁶ so that you were not harmed¹⁷ in any way by us. 7:10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 7:11 For see what this very thing, this sadness¹⁸ as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves,¹⁹ what indignation,²⁰ what alarm, what longing, what deep concern,²¹ what punishment!²² In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 7:12 So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf²³ before God. 7:13 Therefore we have been encouraged. And in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more at the joy of Titus, because all of you have refreshed his spirit.²⁴ 7:14 For if I have boasted to him about anything concerning you, I have not been embarrassed by you,²⁵ but just as everything we said to you was true,²⁶ so our boasting to Titus about you²⁷ has proved true as well. 7:15 And his affection for you is much greater²⁸ when he remembers the obedience of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling. 7:16 I rejoice because in everything I am fully confident in you.

¹tn Grk “our flesh.”

²tn Or “comforts,” “consoles.”

³tn Or “comforted,” “consoled.”

⁴tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “We were encouraged.”

⁵tn Or “comfort,” “consolation.”

⁶tn Grk “by the encouragement with which he was encouraged by you.” The passive construction was translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the repeated word “encouraged” was replaced in the translation by “gave” to avoid redundancy in the translation.

⁷tn Or “your grieving,” “your deep sorrow.”

⁸tn Or “your zeal.”

⁹tn Grk “if I grieved you.”

¹⁰sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.

¹¹tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.

¹²tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.

¹³tc A few important mss (Ì^46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D¹ F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï sy bo). Even though Ì^46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepwn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.

¹⁴tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”

¹⁵tn Grk “were grieved” (so also twice later in the verse).

¹⁶tn Grk “corresponding to God,” that is, corresponding to God’s will (κατὰ θεόν, kata qeon). The same phrase occurs in vv. 10 and 11.

¹⁷tn Grk “so that you did not suffer loss.”

¹⁸tn Grk “this very thing, to be grieved.”

¹⁹tn The words “of yourselves” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

²⁰sn What indignation refers to the Corinthians’ indignation at the offender.

²¹tn Or “what zeal.”

²²sn That is, punishment for the offender.

²³tn Grk “but in order that your eagerness on our behalf might be revealed to you.”

²⁴tn Or “all of you have put his mind at ease.”

²⁵tn Grk “I have not been put to shame”; the words “by you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

²⁶tn Grk “just as we spoke everything to you in truth.”

²⁷tn The words “about you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

²⁸tn Or “is all the more.”