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About this book: 2 Corinthians

Second Corinthians is Paul's most personal letter, written to a church he loved and had recently wounded, and that had in turn questioned him. Some newcomers were belittling his weak appearance and plain speech, so Paul answers not with a list of credentials but with an unusual defense: God's power shows up in weakness. He speaks of comfort received in suffering and passed on to others, of ministry as clay jars carrying a treasure, and of the new creation that comes to anyone in Christ. He urges the Corinthians to reconcile with God and to finish a generous collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem, praising cheerful giving. The final chapters turn sharp as Paul confronts self-styled super-apostles, yet even there he boasts only in his hardships and in a thorn he was given that Christ refused to remove. Scholars debate whether the letter was originally one document or several, but its message is clear: real ministry looks like Christ, humble, costly and full of grace.

Author
The apostle Paul, with Timothy named in the greeting; authorship is widely accepted.
Date
About AD 55–57, written from Macedonia after Paul left Ephesus.
Audience
The church in Corinth and believers in the surrounding region of Achaia.

Themes

Comfort in sufferingPower in weaknessReconciliation with GodGenerous givingAuthentic ministry

Outline

  1. 1:1–2:17Greeting, comfort and Paul's change of plans
  2. 3:1–7:16The nature of new-covenant ministry
  3. 8:1–9:15The collection for Jerusalem
  4. 10:1–13:10Paul defends his apostleship
  5. 13:11–13:13Final greetings and blessing

Key verses

2 Corinthians 4:7 →2 Corinthians 5:17-21 →2 Corinthians 9:6-8 →2 Corinthians 12:9-10 →
About this chapterPaul blesses the God of all comfort, who comforts believers in their troubles so that they can comfort others in turn. He describes hardship in Asia so severe that he despaired of life, which taught him to rely on God who raises the dead. He defends himself against the charge that he changes plans lightly, explaining that his word to them is not a careless yes and no, because in Christ every promise of God is a yes. God has anointed, sealed and given the Spirit as a guarantee. He says he delayed his visit to spare them another painful encounter.

Paul blesses the God of all comfort, who comforts believers in their troubles so that they can comfort others in turn. He describes hardship in Asia so severe that he despaired of life, which taught him to rely on God who raises the dead. He defends himself against the charge that he changes plans lightly, explaining that his word to them is not a careless yes and no, because in Christ every promise of God is a yes. God has anointed, sealed and given the Spirit as a guarantee. He says he delayed his visit to spare them another painful encounter.

Themes

  • God of all comfort
  • Suffering shared
  • Every promise is yes

Key verses

Audio Bible · 2 Corinthians 1

Listen while you go about your day.

2 Corinthians 1

Berean Standard Bible24 verses · 3 min read

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience. 7And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort. 8We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers. 12For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God. 13For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely, 14as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus. 15Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea. 17When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”? 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” 20For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, 22placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. 23I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.
Verses in 2 Corinthians 1
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Chapters of 2 Corinthians

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