| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. | 1Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. |
| 2Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted no one, taken advantage of no one. | 2Please open your hearts to us. We have not done wrong to anyone, nor led anyone astray, nor taken advantage of anyone. |
| 3I don't say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. | 3I’m not saying this to condemn you. I said before that you are in our hearts, and we live or die together with you. |
| 4I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions. | 4I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles. Paul’s Joy at the Church’s Repentance |
| 5In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. | 5When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. |
| 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, | 6But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. |
| 7and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. | 7His presence was a joy, but so was the news he brought of the encouragement he received from you. When he told us how much you long to see me, and how sorry you are for what happened, and how loyal you are to me, I was filled with joy! |
| 8For even if I grieved you with my letter, I don't regret it. And if I regretted it--since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while-- | 8I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. |
| 9I now 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. | 9Now 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. |
| 10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. | 10For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. |
| 11For consider how much diligence this very thing--this grieving as God wills--has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure in this matter. | 11Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. |
| 12So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. | 12My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us. |
| 13For this reason we have been comforted. In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. | 13We have been greatly encouraged by this. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was about the way all of you welcomed him and set his mind at ease. |
| 14For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. | 14I had told him how proud I was of you—and you didn’t disappoint me. I have always told you the truth, and now my boasting to Titus has also proved true! |
| 15And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. | 15Now he cares for you more than ever when he remembers the way all of you obeyed him and welcomed him with such fear and deep respect. |
| 16I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you. | 16I am very happy now because I have complete confidence in you. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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