1 Paul,aEph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:1; [Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:1] an apostle of Christ JesusbSee 1 Cor. 1:1 by the will of God, andcSee 1 Thess. 3:2 Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth,dPhil. 1:1; Col. 1:2 with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 eSee Rom. 1:7 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 fEph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3 Blessed be thegSee Rom. 15:6 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies andhRom. 15:5 God of all comfort, 4 i[Isa. 51:12; 66:13] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly inj[ch. 4:10; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24] Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ 6 k2 Tim. 2:10; [ch. 4:15; 12:15; Eph. 3:13] If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as youlSee Rom. 8:17 share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, ofmActs 19:23; 1 Cor. 15:32 the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make usnLuke 18:9 rely not on ourselvesoPs. 2:12; 25:2; 26:1 but on Godpch. 4:14 who raises the dead. 10 qSee Rom. 15:31 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.r1 Tim. 4:10 On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 s[Acts 12:5; Rom. 15:30; Phil. 1:19; Philem. 22] You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalft[ch. 4:15; 9:11, 12] for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
12 For our boast is this:u[1 Thess. 2:10]; See Acts 23:1 the testimony of our conscience that we behaved in the world with simplicity andvch. 2:17; 4:2 godly sincerity,w1 Cor. 2:4, 13 not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and acknowledge1Or understand; twice in this verse; also verse 14 and I hope you will fully acknowledge— 14 just as you didxch. 2:5 partially acknowledge us, thatySee 1 Cor. 1:8 on the day of our Lord Jesusz[ch. 5:12; 9:3] you will boast of us asa1 Cor. 9:15; Phil. 2:16; 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:19, 20 we will boast of you.
15 Because I was sure of this,bSee 1 Cor. 4:19 I wanted to come to you first, so that you might havec[Acts 18:1-18] a secondd[Rom. 1:11] experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit youeActs 19:21; [1 Cor. 16:5-7] on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plansfch. 10:2, 3 according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes ” and “No, no ” at the same time? 18 As surely asgSee 1 Cor. 1:9 God is faithful,h[ch. 2:17] our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 ForiSee Matt. 14:33 the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you,jActs 15:22 Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, butk[Heb. 13:8] in him it is always Yes. 20 Forl[Rom. 15:8; Heb. 10:23] all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter ourm[Rev. 3:14]; See 1 Cor. 14:16 Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, andn[1 John 2:20, 27] has anointed us, 22 and who has alsooEph. 1:13; 4:30 put his seal on us andpch. 5:5; Eph. 1:14; See Rom. 8:16 given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.1Or down payment
23 Butq[Gal. 1:20]; See Rom. 1:9 I call God to witness against me—it wasrch. 2:1, 3; See 1 Cor. 4:21 to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that wes1 Pet. 5:3; [ch. 4:5; Matt. 23:8-10] lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firmtRom. 11:20; See 1 Cor. 15:1 in your faith.