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Today's Bible Reading :: 2 Corinthians 1 - 4 (ESV)

2 Corinthians 1Listen to the passage

2 Corinthians 2Listen to the passage

2 Corinthians 3Listen to the passage

2 Corinthians 4Listen to the passage

2 Corinthians 1

Greeting

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:1 - Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:2 - Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:4 - who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:5 - For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:6 - If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:7 - Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:8 - For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[fn] of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:9 - Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:10 - He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:11 - You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:12 - For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity[fn] and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:13 - For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand—

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:14 - just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:15 - Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:16 - I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:17 - Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:18 - As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:19 - For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:20 - For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:21 - And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:22 - and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:23 - But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 1:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 1:24 - Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
ESV Footnotes
Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ
Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
Some manuscripts holiness
Or down payment

2 Corinthians 2

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:1 - For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:2 - For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:3 - And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:4 - For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:5 - Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:6 - For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:7 - so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:8 - So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:9 - For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:10 - Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:11 - so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:12 - When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:13 - my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:14 - But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:15 - For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:16 - to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 2:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 2:17 - For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of the New Covenant

(cf. Jer 31:31–34 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:1 - Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:2 - You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[fn] hearts, to be known and read by all.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:3 - And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:4 - Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:5 - Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:6 - who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:7 - Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:8 - will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:9 - For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:10 - Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:11 - For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:12 - Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:13 - not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:14 - But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:15 - Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:16 - But when one[fn] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:17 - Now the Lord[fn] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 3:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 3:18 - And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[fn] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.[fn] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
ESV Footnotes
Some manuscripts your
Greek fleshly hearts
Greek he
Or this Lord
Or reflecting the glory of the Lord
Greek from glory to glory

2 Corinthians 4

The Light of the Gospel

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:1 - Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,[fn] we do not lose heart.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:2 - But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice[fn] cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:3 - And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:4 - In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:5 - For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants[fn] for Jesus’ sake.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:6 - For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:7 - But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:8 - We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:9 - persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:10 - always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:11 - For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:12 - So death is at work in us, but life in you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:13 - Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:14 - knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:15 - For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:16 - So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[fn] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:17 - For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Co 4:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Co 4:18 - as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
See the ESV Preface
ESV Footnotes
Greek having this ministry as we have received mercy
Greek to walk in
Or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
Greek man
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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