| For we live by faith, not by sight. | For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
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| Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. | For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. |
| For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. | For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. |
| Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! | This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. | For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. |
| For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. | For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! |
| Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. | Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. |
| Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. | That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. |
| All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. | And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. |
| Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. | Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. |
| Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. | For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. |
| For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. | Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. |
| You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. | Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. |
| Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” |
| And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. | And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. |
| But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. | As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. |
| So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. | So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. |
| Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? | Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? |
| For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. | For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
| That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. | That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. |
| Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. | For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. |
| Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. | Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. |
| That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. | For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. |
