Now we have such confidence in God through Christ.

I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me.

We were encouraged ¹  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ²  you gave ³  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ⁴  your deep concern ⁵  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment. ¹ 

Now I appeal to God as my witness, ¹  that to spare ²  you I did not come again to Corinth. ³ 

We do so ¹  because we know that the one who raised up Jesus ²  will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence.

Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose ¹  is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. ² 

Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away ¹  from the body and at home with the Lord.

God ¹  made the one who did not know sin ²  to be sin for us, so that in him ³  we would become the righteousness of God.

And we are sending ¹  along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the gospel. ² 

Just as it is written, “He ¹  has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.” ² 

was caught up into paradise ¹  and heard things too sacred to be put into words, ²  things that a person ³  is not permitted to speak.

I had no relief in my spirit, ¹  because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them ²  and set out ³  for Macedonia.

For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, ¹  but we are speaking in Christ before ²  God as persons of sincerity, ³  as persons sent from God.

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power ¹  belongs to God and does not come from us.

Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, ¹  we try to persuade ²  people, ³  but we are well known ⁴  to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

And we are sending ¹  with them our brother whom we have tested many times and found eager in many matters, but who now is much more eager than ever because of the great confidence he has in you.

And I know that this man (whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows)

I urged Titus to visit you ¹  and I sent our ²  brother along with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? ³  Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit? Did we not behave in the same way? ⁴ 

But we have rejected ¹  shameful hidden deeds, ²  not behaving ³  with deceptiveness ⁴  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.