Saturday, January 25, 2025
Introduction
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the [a]saints who are throughout Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in [b]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are [c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in [d]Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 [e]indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, [f]He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Paul’s Integrity
12 For our [g]proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. 13 For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; 14 just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might [h]twice receive a [i]blessing; 16 [j]that is, to pass [k]your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. 17 Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a [l]pledge.
23 But I call God as witness [m]to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 1:1 Or holy ones
- 2 Corinthians 1:4 Lit every
- 2 Corinthians 1:5 Lit to us
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 I.e. west coast province of Asia Minor
- 2 Corinthians 1:9 Lit but we ourselves
- 2 Corinthians 1:10 One early ms reads on whom we have set our hope that He will also
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 Lit boasting
- 2 Corinthians 1:15 Lit have a second grace
- 2 Corinthians 1:15 One early ms reads joy
- 2 Corinthians 1:16 Lit and
- 2 Corinthians 1:16 Lit through you into
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 Or down payment
- 2 Corinthians 1:23 Lit upon
Song of Praise for God’s Favor
25 O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have made a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4 For You have been a defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5 Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is [a]silenced.
6 The Lord of hosts will prepare a [b]lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of [c]aged wine, [d]choice pieces with marrow,
And [e]refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the [f]covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is [g]stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord [h]God will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
And Moab will be trodden down in his place
As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 25:5 Lit humbled
- Isaiah 25:6 Lit feast of fat things; i.e. abundance
- Isaiah 25:6 Lit wine on the lees
- Isaiah 25:6 Lit fat pieces
- Isaiah 25:6 Lit wine refined on the lees
- Isaiah 25:7 Lit face of the covering
- Isaiah 25:7 Lit woven
- Isaiah 25:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord