2 Corinthians 7:5

7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our body ¹  had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way – struggles from the outside, fears from within.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Self-Purification

7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves ²  from everything that could defile the body ³  and the spirit, and thus accomplish ⁴  holiness out of reverence for God. ⁵ 

2 Corinthians 7:15

7:15 And his affection for you is much greater ⁶  when he remembers the obedience of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

2 Corinthians 5:11

The Message of Reconciliation

5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, ⁷  we try to persuade ⁸  people, ⁹  but we are well known ¹⁰  to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

2 Corinthians 11:3

11:3 But I am afraid that ¹¹  just as the serpent ¹²  deceived Eve by his treachery, ¹³  your minds may be led astray ¹⁴  from a sincere and pure ¹⁵  devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:20

12:20 For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me ¹⁶  not what you wish. I am afraid that ¹⁷  somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, ¹⁸  slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

2 Corinthians 7:11

7:11 For see what this very thing, this sadness ¹⁹  as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, ²⁰  what indignation, ²¹  what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, ²²  what punishment! ²³  In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

2 Corinthians 12:21

12:21 I am afraid that ²⁴  when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for ²⁵  many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

2 Corinthians 10:9

10:9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters,

2 Corinthians 4:1

Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry

4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, ²⁶  we do not become discouraged. ²⁷ 

2 Corinthians 5:8

5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away ²⁸  from the body and at home with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 2:7

2:7 so that now instead ²⁹  you should rather forgive and comfort him. ³⁰  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. ³¹ 

2 Corinthians 4:16

4:16 Therefore we do not despair, ³²  but even if our physical body ³³  is wearing away, our inner person ³⁴  is being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 5:6

5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth ³⁵  we are absent from the Lord –

2 Corinthians 7:4

A Letter That Caused Sadness

7:4 I have great confidence in you; I take great pride ³⁶  on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; ³⁷  I am overflowing with joy in the midst of ³⁸  all our suffering.

2 Corinthians 9:4

9:4 For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated ³⁹  (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you. ⁴⁰ 

2 Corinthians 2:16

2:16 to the latter an odor ⁴¹  from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? ⁴² 

2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ⁴³  personally ⁴⁴  by the meekness and gentleness ⁴⁵  of Christ (I who am meek ⁴⁶  when present among ⁴⁷  you, but am full of courage ⁴⁸  toward you when away!) –

2 Corinthians 2:3

2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, ⁴⁹  so that when I came ⁵⁰  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

2 Corinthians 12:6

12:6 For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling ⁵¹  the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard ⁵²  me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me,

[7:5]  ¹ tn Grk “our flesh.”

[7:1]  ² tn Or “purify ourselves.”

[7:1]  ³ tn Grk “from every defilement of the flesh.”

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “accomplishing.” The participle has been translated as a finite verb due to considerations of contemporary English style, and “thus” has been supplied to indicate that it represents a result of the previous cleansing.

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “in the fear of God.”

[7:15]  ³ tn Or “is all the more.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peiqomen) has been translated as a conative present.

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).

[5:11]  ⁷ tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”

[11:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “I fear lest somehow.”

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Or “the snake.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Or “craftiness.”

[11:3]  ⁸ tn Or “corrupted,” “seduced.”

[11:3]  ⁹ tc Although most mss (א² H Ψ 0121 0243 1739 1881 Ï) lack “and pure” (καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος, kai th" Jagnothto"; Grk “and purity”) several important and early witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B D^[2] F G 33 81 104 pc ar r co) retain these words. Their presence in such mss across such a wide geographical distribution argues for their authenticity. The omission from the majority of mss can be explained by haplography, since the -τητος ending of ἁγνότητος is identical to the ending of ἁπλότητος (Japlothto", “sincerity”) three words back (ἁπλότητος καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος); further, since the meanings of “sincerity” and “purity” are similar they might seem redundant. A copyist would scarcely notice the omission because Paul’s statement still makes sense without “and from purity.”

[12:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “and I will be found by you.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation.

[12:20]  ⁷ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text, but are needed for clarity.

[12:20]  ⁸ tn Or “intense anger, hostility.”

[7:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “this very thing, to be grieved.”

[7:11]  ⁸ tn The words “of yourselves” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[7:11]  ⁹ sn What indignation refers to the Corinthians’ indignation at the offender.

[7:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “what zeal.”

[7:11]  ¹¹ sn That is, punishment for the offender.

[12:21]  ⁸ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text from v. 20, but are needed for clarity.

[12:21]  ⁹ tn Or “I will mourn over.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἠλεήθημεν (hlehqhmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “we do not lose heart.”

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “be absent.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

[2:7]  ¹² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:16]  ¹² tn Or “do not lose heart.”

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “our outer man.”

[4:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “our inner [man].”

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “we know that being at home in the body”; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).

[7:4]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “great is my boasting.”

[7:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “comfort.”

[7:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “I am overflowing with joy in all our suffering”; the words “in the midst of” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to clarify that Paul is not rejoicing in the suffering itself, but in his relationship with the Corinthians in the midst of all his suffering.

[9:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “be disgraced”; Grk “be put to shame.”

[9:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “by this confidence”; the words “we had in you” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied as a necessary clarification for the English reader.

[2:16]  ¹⁶ tn The same Greek word (ὀσμή, osmh) translated “odor” here (in relation to the stench of death) has been translated “fragrance” in 2:14 and in the next phrase of the present verse. The word itself can describe a smell or odor either agreeable or disagreeable depending on the context (L&N 79.45).

[2:16]  ¹⁷ sn These things refer to the things Paul is doing in his apostolic ministry.

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

[10:1]  ¹⁸ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “leniency and clemency.” D. Walker, “Paul’s Offer of Leniency of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1): Populist Ideology and Rhetoric in a Pauline Letter Fragment (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1998), argues for this alternative translation for three main reasons: (1) When the two Greek nouns πραΰτης and ἐπιείκεια (prauth" and ejpieikeia) are used together, 90% of the time the nuance is “leniency and clemency.” (2) “Leniency and clemency” has a military connotation, which is precisely what appears in the following verses. (3) 2 Cor 10-13 speaks of Paul’s sparing use of his authority, which points to the nuance of “leniency and clemency.”

[10:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

[10:1]  ²¹ tn Or “when face to face with.”

[10:1]  ²² tn Or “but bold.”

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.

[12:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “speaking.”

[12:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “may think of.”