2 Corinthians 2

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 I made up my mind, then, that my next visit to you would not be a painful one,	1 For I decided not to come to you again in painful circumstances.
2 for if I cause you distress I am causing distress to my only possible source of joy.	2 For if I inflict pain upon you, then who is there to cheer me except the one pained by me?
3 Indeed, I wrote as I did precisely to spare myself distress when I visited you, from the very people whoshould have given me joy, in the conviction that for al of you my joy was yours too.	3 And I wrote as I did so that when I came I might not be pained by those in whom I should have rejoiced, confident about all of you that my joy is that of all of you.
4 I wrote to you in agony of mind, not meaning to cause you distress but to show you how very much loveI have for you.	4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you.
5 If anyone did cause distress, he caused it not to me, but -- not to exaggerate -- in some degree to al ofyou.	5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure (not to exaggerate) to all of you.
6 The punishment already imposed by the majority was quite enough for such a person;	6 This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person,
7 and now by contrast you should forgive and encourage him all the more, or he may be overwhelmed bythe extent of his distress.	7 so that on the contrary you should forgive and encourage him instead, or else the person may be overwhelmed by excessive pain.
8 That is why I urge you to give your love towards him definite expression.	8 Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
9 This was in fact my reason for writing, to test your quality and whether you are completely obedient.	9 For this is why I wrote, to know your proven character, whether you were obedient in everything.
10 But if you forgive anybody, then I too forgive that person; and whatever I have forgiven, if there isanything I have forgiven, I have done it for your sake in Christ's presence,	10 Whomever you forgive anything, so do I. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you in the presence of Christ,
11 to avoid being outwitted by Satan, whose scheming we know only too well.	11 so that we might not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not unaware of his purposes.
12 When I came to Troas for the sake of the gospel of Christ and a door was opened for me there in theLord,	12 When I went to Troas for the gospel of Christ, although a door was opened for me in the Lord,
13 I had no relief from anxiety, not finding my brother Titus there, and I said goodbye to them and wenton to Macedonia.	13 I had no relief in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But, thanks be to God who always gives us in Christ a part in his triumphal procession, and through usis spreading everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of himself.	14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place.
15 To God we are the fragrance of Christ, both among those who are being saved and among those whoare on the way to destruction;	15 For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
16 for these last, the smel of death leading to death, but for the first, the smel of life leading to life. Whois equal to such a task?	16 to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life. Who is qualified for this?
17 At least we do not adulterate the word of God, as so many do, but it is in al purity, as envoys of Godand in God's presence, that we speak in Christ.	17 For we are not like the many who trade on the word of God; but as out of sincerity, indeed as from God and in the presence of God, we speak in Christ.