1 Having, then, these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Make room for us. We wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.
3 I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great my boasting on your behalf; I am filled with consolation, I overflow with joy in all our affliction.
5 For indeed, when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: fightings without, fears within.
6 But the God who consoles the lowly consoled us by the coming of Titus,
7 and not by his coming only, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled over you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
8 For even if I grieved you with the letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it; for I see that that letter grieved you, if only for an hour.
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved into repentance; for you were grieved in a godly way, so that you suffered loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly grief works repentance leading to a salvation that brings no regret; but the grief of the world works death.
11 For see this very thing, that you were grieved in a godly way: what earnestness it produced in you, yes, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging! In everything you proved yourselves to be clear in the matter.
12 So, although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but so that our care for you might be made manifest to you in the sight of God.
13 For this reason we have been consoled in your consolation; and we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
14 For if I have boasted to him about you in anything, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our boasting before Titus also proved to be the truth.
15 And his affection for you is all the more abundant as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.
16 I rejoice, therefore, that in everything I have confidence in you.