Chapter 7

Paul Reveals His Heart

     1     Therefore, having these promises, ^abeloved, ^blet us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

     2     ^aMake room for us in your hearts; 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 ^abefore that you are ^bin our hearts to die together and to live together.

     4     Great is my ^aconfidence ¹in you; great is my ^bboasting on your behalf. I am filled with ^ccomfort; I am overflowing with ^djoy in all our affliction.

     5     For even when we came into ^aMacedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were ^bafflicted on every side: ^cconflicts without, fears within.

     6     But ^aGod, who comforts the ¹depressed, ^bcomforted us by the coming of ^cTitus;

     7     and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.

     8     For though I ^acaused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—

     9     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 ¹through us.

     10     For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a ^arepentance ¹without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

     11     For behold what earnestness this very thing, this ¹godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what ^alonging, what zeal, what ^bavenging of wrong! In everything you ^cdemonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

     12     So although ^aI wrote to you, it was not for the sake of ^bthe offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God.

     13     For this reason we have been ^acomforted.

And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of ^bTitus, because his ^cspirit has been refreshed by you all.

     14     For if in anything I have ^aboasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before ^bTitus proved to be the truth.

     15     His ¹affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the ^aobedience of you all, how you received him with ^bfear and trembling.

     16     I rejoice that in everything ^aI have confidence in you.