We never write anything to you other than what you will acknowledge to the very end--

God is my witness, I never prevaricated with you.

The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we--Silas, Timothy, and I- -proclaimed among you, never wavered between 'Yes' and 'No.' With him it has always been 'Yes.'

He has also made us competent as ministers of a New Agreement [i.e., between Himself and mankind]. It is not [an agreement] based [merely] on a written document [i.e., such as the law of Moses], but on the Holy Spirit, for the written document brings [spiritual] death [See Rom. 8:2], but the Holy Spirit brings [never ending] life.

Hence, as I hold this ministry by God's mercy to me, I never lose heart in it;

We are hard pressed, yet never in absolute distress; perplexed, yet never utterly baffled;

hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed;

never free from the danger of being put to death like Jesus, so that in my body the life of Jesus also may be seen.

Hence I never lose heart; though my outward man decays, my inner man is renewed day after day.

For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]!

So, we do not look at the things which can be seen, but at what cannot be seen, for the things which can be seen are [only] temporary, but the things which cannot be seen are never ending.

For we know that if our earthly "house" [i.e., our physical body] which is like a tent, is torn down, we have [the promise of] a building from God, a never ending "house" in heaven that is not made by human hands.

Sure that, when we have put it on, we shall never be found discarnate.

For indeed, we who are in this "tent" groan under its burden, not [wanting] to be uncovered, but to be covered over. Then our mortal body will be swallowed up [i.e., replaced] by [never ending] life.

God considered Christ to be sinful on our behalf, even though He never sinned, so that we could be considered right with God through Him.

Never do we put an obstacle in any one's way, that no fault may be found with our ministry.

For grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted; but the grief of the world works death.

For if I have been doing some boasting about you to him, I have never been ashamed of it. Moreover, since everything we told you was true, our boasting to Titus has also proved to be true.

agreeing to that which is written, "He that gathered much had never the more abundance, and he that gathered little, had nevertheless."

as the Scripture says, "He scatters his gifts to the poor; His uprightness will never be forgotten."

For if I do boast a little too much about my authority, which the Lord gave me for building you up and not for tearing you down, I shall never have to blush for doing so.

and so my boasting never goes beyond the limit ??it is determined by the limits of the sphere marked out for me by God. That sphere stretches to include yourselves;

It is no strain for me to do this, as it might be for people who had never got so far, for I was the first to come all the way to you with the good news of the Christ.

For, if, indeed, he that cometh, is proclaiming, another Jesus, whom we have not proclaimed, or, a different Spirit, ye are receiving, which ye had not received, or a different glad-message, which ye have never welcomed, ye are, well, bearing.

I am no speaker, perhaps, but knowledge I do possess; I never failed to make myself intelligible to you.

and when I was with you and needed money, I never burdened a single one of you for a cent, for the brothers came from Macedonia and supplied what I needed. And so I kept myself, as I shall always do, from being a burden to you in any way.

But the truth of Christ in me, this boasting of mine shall never be stopped in the boundaries of Greece.

In what respect, therefore, have you been worse dealt with than other Churches, except that I myself never hung as a dead weight upon you? Forgive the injustice I thus did you!

It is now the third time that I have been ready to come to see you, and I will never ask you for financial support, for it is not your money but you yourselves that I want; for children are not by duty bound to lay up money for their parents, but parents for their children.

But let it be granted, you say, that I never received from you financial support, yet, you say, by being a trickster I cheated you by my cunning.

For I am afraid I may perhaps come and find you are not what I could wish, while you may find I am not what you could wish; I am afraid of finding quarrels, jealousy, temper, rivalry, slanders, gossiping, arrogance, and disorder ??21 afraid that when I come back to you, my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn for many who sinned some time ago and yet have never repented of the impurity, the sexual vice, and the sensuality which they have practised.

and that when I come back my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn over many who have kept on in their old sins and have never repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality in which they have indulged.

But I am praying God that you may never do anything wrong, not to show that I am standing the test, but that you should continue doing right, though I should fail to stand the test.