THE BOOK OF
SECOND CORINTHIANS
CHAPTERS 8-13
2CORINTHIANS#8
1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of
God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
2 How that in a
great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded
unto the riches of their liberality.
3 For to their
power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of
themselves;
4 Praying us with
much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship
of the ministering to the saints.
5 And this they
did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us
by the will of God.
6 Insomuch that
we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same
grace also.
7 ¶ Therefore, as ye abound
in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence,
and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
8 I speak not by
commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the
sincerity of your love.
9 For ye know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
10 And herein I
give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only
to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
11 Now therefore
perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be
a performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there
be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not.
13 For I mean not
that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14
But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may
be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your
want: that there may be equality:
15 As it is
written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered
little had no lack.
16 ¶ But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest
care into the heart of Titus for you.
17 For indeed he
accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went
unto you.
18 And we have
sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the
churches;
19 And not that
only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this
grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and
declaration of your ready mind:
20 Avoiding this,
that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
21
Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the
Lord, but also in the sight of men.
22 And we have
sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many
things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in
you.
23 Whether any do
enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our
brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory
of Christ.
24 Wherefore shew
ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our
boasting on your behalf.
1 ¶ For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is
superfluous for me to write to you:
2 For I know the forwardness
of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was
ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.
3 Yet have I sent
the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that,
as I said, ye may be ready:
4 Lest haply if
they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not,
ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
5 Therefore I
thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto
you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the
same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.
6 ¶ But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap
also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able
to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in
all things, may abound to every good work:
9 (As it is
written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness
remaineth for ever.
10 Now he that
ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply
your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
11 Being enriched
in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to
God.
12 For the
administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but
is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
13 Whiles by the
experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection
unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and
unto all men;
14 And by their prayer for you, which long
after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
15 Thanks be unto
God for his unspeakable gift.
1 ¶ Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am
bold toward you:
2 But I beseech
you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I
think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to
the flesh.
3 For though we
walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
7 ¶ Do ye look on things after
the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let
him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we
Christ's.
8 For though I
should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for
edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:
9 That I may not
seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
10 For his
letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak,
and his speech contemptible.
11 Let such an
one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent,
such will we be also in deed when we are present.
12 ¶ For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or
compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not
wise.
13 But we will
not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the
rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our
measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you
also in preaching the gospel of Christ:
15 Not boasting
of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope,
when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our
rule abundantly,
16 To preach the
gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of
things made ready to our hand.
17 But he that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
18 For not he
that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
1 ¶ Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my
folly: and indeed bear with me.
2 For I am
jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that
cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive
another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have
not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
5 ¶ For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very
chiefest apostles.
6 But though I be
rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest
among you in all things.
7
Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might
be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
8 I robbed other
churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
9 And when I was
present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was
lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all
things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep
myself.
10 As the truth
of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11 Wherefore?
because I love you not? God knoweth.
12 But what I do,
that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion;
that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
13 For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it
is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
16 ¶ I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if
otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.
17 That which I
speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this
confidence of boasting.
18 Seeing that
many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.
19 For ye suffer
fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
20 For ye suffer,
if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if
a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.
21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we
had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am
bold also.
22 ¶ Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so
am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
23 Are they
ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant,
in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews
five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I
beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a
day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that
which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
29 Who is weak,
and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
30 If I must
needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
31 The God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I
lie not.
32 In Damascus
the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a
garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
33 And through a
window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
1 ¶ It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will
come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in
Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or
whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to
the third heaven.
3 And I knew such
a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was
caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful
for a man to utter.
5 Of such an one
will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
6 For though I
would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now
I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be,
or that he heareth of me.
7
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing
I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said
unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
11 ¶ I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled
me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the
very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
12 Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds.
13 For what is it
wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not
burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to
you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for
the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the
children.
15 And I will
very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you,
the less I be loved.
16 But be it so,
I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
17 Did I make a
gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?
18 I desired
Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we
not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
19 Again, think
ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do
all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
20 For I fear,
lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be
found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths,
strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
21 And lest, when I come again, my God will
humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already,
and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness
which they have committed.
1 ¶ This is the third time I am coming to you. In the
mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
2 I told you
before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent
now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I
come again, I will not spare:
3 Since ye seek a
proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in
you.
4 For though he
was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also
are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
5 Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
6 But I trust
that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
7 ¶ Now I pray to God that
ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that
which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
8 For we can do
nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
9 For we are
glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your
perfection.
10 Therefore I
write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according
to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to
destruction.
11 ¶ Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good
comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be
with you.
12 Greet one
another with an holy kiss.
13 All the saints
salute you.
14 The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Ghost, be with you all. Amen. <<The second epistle to the Corinthians was
written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.>>