1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
1:6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
1:7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
1:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
1:9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
1:10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
1:11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
1:12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.
1:13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
1:14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1:15 Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice.
1:16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea.
1:17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
1:18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”
1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
1:21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
1:22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
1:23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions and God of all comfort,
1:4 Who comforts us in all our affliction that we may be able to comfort those who are in every affliction through the comforting with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
1:5 For even as the sufferings of the Christ abound unto us, so through the Christ our comfort also abounds.
1:6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comforting and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comforting, which operates in the endurance of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
1:7 And our hope for you is firm, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you are of the comfort.
1:8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living.
1:9 Indeed we ourselves had the response of death in ourselves, that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead;
1:10 Who has delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver us; in whom we have hoped that He will also yet deliver us,
1:11 If you also help in this by petition on our behalf, that for the gift to us through many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf.
1:12 For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in singleness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
1:13 For no other things do we write to you than what you read or even know; and I hope that you will know unto the end,
1:14 Even as also you know us in part, that we are your boast, just as you also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus.
1:15 And in this confidence I intended to come to you previously that you might have double grace,
1:16 And through you to pass through into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you and be sent forward by you into Judea.
1:17 This therefore intending, did I then use fickleness? Or the things which I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there should be Yes, yes and No, no?
1:18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yes and no.
1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you through us, through me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become yes and no, but our word has become yes in Him.
1:20 For as many promises of God as there are, in Him is the Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through us to God.
1:21 But the One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God,
1:22 He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
1:23 But I call on God as a witness against my soul that to spare you I have not yet come to Corinth.
1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy; for by faith you stand.