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¹ Now[fn] I decided not to pay you another painful visit.[xr] ² After all, if I were to grieve you, who should make me happy but the person I am making sad? ³ This is the very reason I wrote you, so that when I did come I might not be made sad by those who should have made me happy. For I had confidence in all of you that my gladness would be for all of you.[xr] ⁴ For I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart - along with many tears - not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.[xr]

⁵ But if anyone has caused grief, he didn't cause me any grief. To some extent - I don't want to emphasize this too much - it has affected[fn] all of you.[xr] ⁶ This punishment by the majority is severe enough for such a man.[xr] ⁷ So forgive and comfort him, or else he will drown in his excessive grief.[xr] ⁸ That's why I'm urging you to assure him of your love. ⁹ I had also written to you to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in every way.[xr] ¹⁰ When you forgive someone, I do, too. Indeed, what I have forgiven - if there was anything to forgive - I did[fn] in the presence of Christ for your benefit, ¹¹ so that we may not be outsmarted by Satan. After all, we are not unaware of his intentions.

¹² When I went to Troas on behalf of the gospel of Christ, a door in fact stood wide open for me in the Lord.[xr] ¹³ But my spirit could not find any relief, because I couldn't find Titus, my brother. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.[xr] ¹⁴ But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him.[xr] ¹⁵ To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.[xr] ¹⁶ To some people we are a deadly fragrance,[fn] while to others we are a living fragrance.[fn] Who is qualified for this?[xr] ¹⁷ At least we are not commercializing God's word like so many others. Instead, in Christ we speak with sincerity, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.[fn][xr]