17Wherefore, come out from among them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and touch not anything unclean; and I will receive you, 18and will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
VII. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Receive us; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we defrauded no one. 3I say it not for condemnation; for I have before said, that ye are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4Great is my confidence toward you, great is my glorying on account of you; I am filled with the consolation, I am made to abound with the joy, in all our affliction.
5For indeed, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way; without were fightings, within were fears. 6But God, who consoles those who are cast down, consoled us by the coming of Titus; 7and not by his coming only, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced the more. 8Because, though I made you sorry with the letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it; for I perceive that that letter made you sorry, though but for a season. 9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might in nothing receive harm from us. 10For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world works out death.
11For behold this very thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly manner, what earnestness it wrought in you; yea, what clearing of yourselves; yea, what indignation; yea, what fear; yea, what longing desire; yea, what zeal; yea, what avenging! In every thing ye commended yourselves as pure in the matter. 12So then, though I wrote to you, it was not on account of him who did the wrong, nor of him who suffered wrong, but that your care for us might be made manifest to you in the sight of God.
13For this cause we were consoled; but in our consolation[13], we rejoiced abundantly more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14For if in any thing I have boasted to him of you, I was not made ashamed; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus was found to be truth. 15And his tender affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
16I rejoice, that in every thing I have confidence in you.
VIII. And we made known to you, brethren, the grace of God which has been bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2that in much trial of affliction was the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality. 3For according to their power, I bear witness, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves; 4with much entreaty beseeching of us the grace, and the participation in the ministering to the saints; 5and not as we expected, but themselves they gave first to the Lord, and to us by the will of God. 6So that we exhorted Titus, that as he had before begun, so he would also finish among you this grace also.
7But, as in everything ye abound, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and all diligence, and your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8I say it not by way of command, but through the forwardness of others proving also the sincerity of your love. 9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 10And I give an opinion in this matter; for this is expedient for you, who began before others, not only to do, but also to will, a year ago. 11And now perform the doing of it also; that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the performance according to what ye have.
12For if there be first the willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man has, not according to what he has not. 13For it is not that others may be eased, and ye burdened; 14but, by the rule of equality, at this present time your abundance being a supply for their want, that also their abundance may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality; as it is written: 15He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little did not lack.