1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:[ † ]1 Corinthians 1:1Ephesians 1:1Colossians 1:11 Timothy 1:12 Timothy 1:1Acts 16:11 Corinthians 16:10Philippians 1:1Colossians 1:2
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[ † ]Romans 1:7
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,[ † ]Ephesians 1:31 Peter 1:3 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.[ † ]Isaiah 51:12Isaiah 66:132 Corinthians 7:6-7, 13 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.[ † ]Acts 9:42 Corinthians 4:10Philippians 3:10Colossians 1:24
6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.[ † ]2 Corinthians 4:152 Corinthians 12:15Ephesians 3:1-132 Timothy 2:10 7And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.[ † ]Romans 8:172 Timothy 2:12
8We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.[ † ]Acts 19:231 Corinthians 15:321 Corinthians 16:9 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.[ † ]Jeremiah 17:5-7
10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,[ † ]2 Peter 2:9 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.[ † ]Romans 15:30Philippians 1:19Philemon 222 Corinthians 4:152 Corinthians 9:11
12For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.[ † ]2 Corinthians 2:171 Corinthians 2:4 13For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely, 14as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.[ † ]2 Corinthians 5:12Philippians 2:161 Thessalonians 2:19
15Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.[ † ]1 Corinthians 4:19Romans 1:11Romans 15:29 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.[ † ]Acts 19:211 Corinthians 16:3-6
17When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”?[ † ]2 Corinthians 10:22 Corinthians 11:18 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”[ † ]1 John 5:20 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.”[ † ]Mark 1:1Luke 1:35John 1:34John 20:311 John 5:5-201 Thessalonians 1:12 Thessalonians 1:11 Peter 5:12Acts 18:52 Corinthians 1:1Hebrews 13:8 20For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.[ † ]Romans 15:8-9
21Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,[ † ]1 John 2:20-27 22placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.[ † ]Ephesians 4:30Romans 8:162 Corinthians 5:5Ephesians 1:14 23I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.[ † ]Romans 1:9Galatians 1:20Philippians 1:81 Corinthians 4:212 Corinthians 2:32 Corinthians 12:20 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.[ † ]1 Corinthians 3:52 Corinthians 4:52 Corinthians 11:201 Peter 5:3Romans 11:201 Corinthians 15:1