2 Corinthians 7:9

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

Legacy Standard Bible
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to repentance. For you were made to have godly sorrow, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Now, I'm happy. Not because you were hurt, but because of your pain you decided to change.

Bible in Basic English
Now I am glad, not that you had sorrow, but that your sorrow was the cause of a change of heart; for yours was a holy sorrow so that you might undergo no loss by us in anything.

Darby Translation
Now I rejoice, not that ye have been grieved, but that ye have been grieved to repentance; for ye have been grieved according to God, that in nothing ye might be injured by us.

Christian Standard Bible®
Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn't experience any loss from us.

World English Bible
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Now I rejoice, not that ye grieved, but that ye grieved to repentance; for ye grieved in a godly manner, so that ye received damage by us in nothing.

Weymouth's New Testament
Now I rejoice, not in your grief, but because the grief led to repentance; for you sorrowed with a godly sorrow, which prevented you from receiving injury from us in any respect.

King James Version (1611)
Now I reioyce, not that ye were made sorie, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorie after a godly maner, that ye might receiue damage by vs in nothing.

Literal Translation
Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to God, that you might suffer loss in nothing by us.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But now I reioyce, not that ye were sory, but that ye were sory to repentaunce. For ye sorowed godly, so that in nothinge ye were hurte by vs.

Mace New Testament (1729)
now I rejoice, not at your uneasiness, but at your repentance which succeeded: for your sorrow was a religious sorrow, such as convinc'd you I had done you no wrong.

Amplified Bible
yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account.

American Standard Version
I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing.

Revised Standard Version
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting; for you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
But I now reioyce not that ye were sory but that ye so sorowed that ye repented. For ye sorowed godly: so yt in nothynge ye were hurte by vs.

Update Bible Version
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance; for you were made sorry after a godly sort, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

Young's Literal Translation
I now do rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry to reformation, for ye were made sorry toward God, that in nothing ye might receive damage from us;

New Century Version
Now I am happy, not because you were made sad, but because your sorrow made you change your lives. You became sad in the way God wanted you to, so you were not hurt by us in any way.

New English Translation
Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.

Berean Standard Bible
And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.

Contemporary English Version
Now I am happy, but not because I hurt your feelings. It is because God used your hurt feelings to make you turn back to him, and none of you were harmed by us.

Complete Jewish Bible
now I rejoice not because you were pained, but because the pain led you to turn back to God. For you handled the pain in God's way, so that you were not harmed by us at all.

English Standard Version
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I nowe reioyce, not that ye were sorie, but that ye sorowed to repentance: for ye sorowed godly, so that in nothing ye were hurt by vs.

George Lamsa Translation
But it has made me exceedingly happy, not that you were sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance: for you were sorry over the things of God, so that you lack nothing from us.

Hebrew Names Version
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.

International Standard Version
Now I am happy, not because you had such sorrow, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you were sorry in a godly way, and so you were not hurt by us in any way.

Etheridge Translation
but now I exercise joy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow hath brought you to repentance. For you were sorry towards Aloha; so that in nothing will you suffer loss from us.

Murdock Translation
yet it procured me joy, not because ye had sorrow, but because your sorrow brought you to repentance; for ye sorrowed in godly sorrow; so that ye received no detriment from us.

New King James Version
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

New Living Translation
Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.

New Life Bible
I am happy now. It is not because you were hurt by my letter, but because it turned you from sin to God. God used it and you were not hurt by what we did.

English Revised Version
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing.

New Revised Standard
Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, am I rejoicing, - not that ye were grieved, but that ye were grieved unto repentance; for ye were grieved according to God, in order that, in nothing, should ye receive damage from us.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now I am glad: not because you were made sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto penance. For you were made sorrowful according to God, that you might suffer damage by us in nothing.

King James Version
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

Lexham English Bible
now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to the will of God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I nowe reioyce, not that ye were sorie, but that ye so sorowed to repent: for ye sorowed godly, so that in nothyng ye were hurt by vs.

Easy-to-Read Version
Now I am happy, not because you were made sad, but because your sorrow made you decide to change. That is what God wanted, so you were not hurt by us in any way.

New American Standard Bible
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

Good News Translation
But now I am happy—not because I made you sad, but because your sadness made you change your ways. That sadness was used by God, and so we caused you no harm.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
not for ye weren maad soreuful, but for ye weren maad soreuful to penaunce. For whi ye ben maad sori aftir God, that in no thing ye suffre peirement of vs.

Contextual Overview

⁵When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn't settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't relax because we didn't know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time! ⁸I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. ¹⁰ Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets. ¹¹And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened—and we felt just great. And then, when we saw how Titus felt—his exuberance over your response—our joy doubled. It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did. If I went out on a limb in telling Titus how great I thought you were, you didn't cut off that limb. As it turned out, I hadn't exaggerated one bit. Titus saw for himself that everything I had said about you was true. He can't quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn't be more pleased—I'm so confident and proud of you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I rejoice: 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Ecclesiastes 7:3, Jeremiah 31:18-20, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 15:17-24, Luke 15:32, Acts 20:21

after a godly manner: or, according to God, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Corinthians 1:12,*Gr.

that ye: 2 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 10:8-10, 2 Corinthians 13:8-10, Isaiah 6:9-11

Reciprocal: Numbers 29:7 - afflict Nehemiah 8:9 - all the people Psalms 30:5 - weeping Psalms 32:6 - godly Song of Solomon 5:5 - my hands Isaiah 54:6 - a woman Jeremiah 31:9 - come Matthew 5:4 - General Mark 6:12 - preached Luke 18:24 - he was Luke 22:62 - and wept 1 Corinthians 5:2 - mourned 1 Corinthians 13:6 - rejoiceth 2 Corinthians 1:7 - our 2 Corinthians 2:4 - not 2 Corinthians 12:21 - and have not 1 Timothy 1:4 - godly

Cross-References

Genesis 7:6
Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.

Genesis 7:11
It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.

Galatians 3:28
In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry,.... Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him:

but that ye sorrowed to repentance; their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so there is joy in the church below, among the saints and ministers of the Gospel, when either sinners are brought in, or backsliders returned by repentance:

for ye were made sorry after a godly sort; what gave him so much joy and satisfaction was, that their sorrow was of the right sort; it was a godly sorrow, they sorrowed after; or according to God, according to the will of God, and for sin, as it was committed against him; it was a sorrow that God wrought in them:

that ye might receive damage by us in nothing; what added to his pleasure was, that his writing to them, and the effect it produced, had not been in the least detrimental to them; things had worked so kindly, and this sorrow had wrought in such a manner, that they were not hurt in their souls, but profited; nor in their church state, they had not lost one member by it; nay, the offender himself, which was the occasion of all this trouble, was recovered and restored by these means.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry ... - I have no pleasure in giving pain to anyone, or in witnessing the distress of any. When people are brought to repentance under the preaching of the gospel, the ministers of the gospel do not find pleasure in their grief as such. They are not desirous of making people unhappy by calling them to repentance, and they have no pleasure in the deep distress of mind which is often produced by their preaching, in itself considered. It is only because such sorrow is an indication of their return to God, and will be followed by happiness and by the fruits of good living, that they find any pleasure in it, or that they seek to produce it.

But that ye sorrowed to repentance - It was not mere grief; it was not sorrow producing melancholy, gloom, or despair; it was not sorrow which led you to be angry at him who had reproved you for your errors - as is sometimes the case with the sorrow that is produced by reproof; but it was sorrow that led to a change and reformation. It was sorrow that was followed by a putting away of the evil for the existence of which there had been occasion to reprove you. The word rendered here as “repentance” (μετάνοιαν metanoian) is a different word from that which, in 2 Corinthians 7:8, is rendered “I did repent,” and indicates a different state of mind. It properly means a change of mind or purpose; compare Hebrews 12:7. It denotes a change for the better; a change of mind that is durable and productive in its consequences; a change which amounts to a permanent reformation; see Campbell’s Diss. ut supra. The sense here is, that it produced a change, a reformation. It was such sorrow for their sin as to lead them to reform and to put away the evils which had existed among them. It was this fact, and not that they had been made sorry, that led Paul to rejoice.

After a godly manner - Margin, “according to God;” see the note on the next verse.

That ye might receive damage by us in nothing - The Greek word rendered “receive damage” (ζημιωθῆτε zēmiōthēte) means properly to bring loss upon anyone; to receive loss or detriment; see the note on 1 Corinthians 3:15; compare Philippians 3:8. The sense here seems to be, “So that on the whole no real injury was done you in any respect by me. You were indeed put to pain and grief by my reproof. You sorrowed. But it has done you no injury on the whole. It has been a benefit to you. If you had not reformed, if you had been pained without putting away the sins for which the reproof was administered, if it had been mere grief without any proper fruit, you might have said that you would have suffered a loss of happiness, or you might have given me occasion to inflict severer discipline. But now you are gainers in happiness by all the sorrow which I have caused.” Sinners are gainers in happiness in the end by all the pain of repentance produced by the preaching of the gospel. No man suffers loss by being told of his faults if he repents; and people are under the highest obligations to those faithful ministers and other friends who tell them of their errors, and who are the means of bringing them to true repentance.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Corinthians 7:9. Ye sorrowed to repentance — Ye had such a sorrow as produced a complete change of mind and conduct. We see that a man may sorrow, and yet not repent.

Made sorry after a godly manner — It was not a sorrow because ye were found out, and thus solemnly reprehended, but a sorrow because ye had sinned against God, and which consideration caused you to grieve more than the apprehension of any punishment.

Damage by us in nothing. — Your repentance prevented that exercise of my apostolic duty, which would have consigned your bodies to destruction, that your souls might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.