2 I made up my mind that I would not go to visit you again if I had to make you sad.

² For if I make you sad, who is going to make me glad? No one, but the one I made sad.

³ That is why I wrote the letter. I did not want to come and be made sad by those who should make me glad. I am sure that what makes me glad makes you all glad too.

⁴ When I wrote to you, I was in great trouble and my heart was very heavy. I cried with many tears. I did not want you to be sad, but I just wanted to let you know that I love you very much who made me sad. It was not only me that he made sad. It was every one of you, in a way. I say `in a way' because I do not want to be too strong in what I say.

⁵ That man has been punished enough by what most of you did to him.

⁶ So now, you ought to forgive him and comfort him. If you do not, then he may be so sad he cannot bear it.

⁷ So I beg you, show your love to him again.

⁸ Here is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you to find out if you obey me in all matters.

⁹ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. And if I have had anything to forgive, I have already forgiven it for your sakes, just as if we were standing before Christ.

¹⁰ I have done this so that Satan will not get ahead of us. We know his tricks. of Troas to tell the good news of Christ, the door was open for me to work for the Lord.

¹¹ But my mind was troubled because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to the people there and went on to the country of Macedonia. Christ. And Christ leads us to victory every time. To know Christ is like a sweet smell. And God lets us carry that sweet smell of his truth everywhere.

¹² We are like a sweet smell to God. It is the smell of Christ we have. We have this sweet smell among the people who are saved and among those who are lost.

¹³ To some it smells like death and brings death to those who are lost. To others it smells like life and it brings life to those who are saved. Who is good enough for such things?

¹⁴ We are not like some people. They tell God's message to make money. But we tell it with a true heart just as God told it to us. We tell it as if we stood before God. And we tell it with Christ's help.