1 HAVING then these promises, beloved, let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh or spirit, in reverence for God making our holiness complete.

2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one; we have injured no one; we have taken advantage of no one.

3 I am not saying this to condemn you, for I have already said that you have such a place in our hearts that we are ready to die with you or to live with you.

4 Great is my frankness in speaking to you; great is my boasting of you; I am filled with encouragement, running over with joy at every distress of ours.

5 For since we came to Macedonia our flesh has had no rest, but we have been distressed in every way, conflicts without, fears within.

6 But God, who encourages the depressed, encouraged us by the coming of Titus,

7 and not by his coming only, but also by the encouragement by which he was encouraged about you. He told us of your longing for me, your lamentation, your zeal in my behalf, so that I rejoice the more.

8 For if I grieved you in my letter I do not regret it, though I did regret it, seeing that that letter grieved you even for a time,

9 but I am glad now, not that you were grieved, but that your grief led to a change of heart. You were grieved as God approves so that you should in nothing suffer loss from us.

10 For such grief as God approves works a change of heart leading to salvation and is never to be regretted. But the grief of the world results in death.

11 Notice this very grieving as God approves, how great earnestness resulted from it in your case, what effort to defend yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what just punishment! In everything you showed yourselves blameless in the matter.

12 So although I wrote to you, I did it not for the sake of him who did the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that your earnestness for us might be made plain to you before God.

13 On this account we have been encouraged. In addition to this encouragement of ours, we rejoiced very much more over the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all,

14 for if I have made any boast regarding you I have not been put to shame, but as we spoke everything in truth to you so our boasting over Titus turned out the truth.

15 And his affections go out more strongly to you when he remembers the obedience of you all, how with reverence and trembling you received him.

16 I am glad to be in every respect of good courage regarding you.