3 Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the compassionate Father and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those who are also in trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 The more we share in Christ’s sufferings, the more we receive the abundant comfort of Christ. 6 If we are in distress, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are being comforted, it is for your comfort, which results in you patiently bearing the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 We have great confidence in you,1:7. Literally, "our hope in you is firm." knowing that as you share in our sufferings you also share in our comfort.
8 Brothers and sisters, we won’t keep you in the dark about the trouble we had in Asia. We were so overwhelmed that we were afraid we wouldn’t have the strength to continue—so much so we doubted we would live through it. 9 In fact it was like a death sentence inside us. This was to stop us relying on ourselves and to trust in God who raises the dead. 10 He saved us from a terrible death, and he will do so again. We have total confidence in God that he will continue to save us.