Statui autem hoc ipsum apud me, ne iterum in tristitia venirem ad vos.

But I determined this with myself, not to come to you again in sorrow.

On this I was resolved in my own mind, that I would not pay you a second visit on a sad errand.

Si enim ego contristo vos: et quis est, qui me lætificet, nisi qui contristatur ex me?

For if I make you sorrowful, who is he then that can make me glad, but the same who is made sorrowful by me?

Was I to make you sorry? It meant bringing sorrow on those who are my own best source of comfort.

Et hoc ipsum scripsi vobis, ut non cum venero, tristitiam super tristitiam habeam, de quibus oportuerat me gaudere: confidens in omnibus vobis, quia meum gaudium, omnium vestrum est.

And I wrote this same to you; that I may not, when I come, have sorrow upon sorrow, from them of whom I ought to rejoice: having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

And those were the very terms in which I wrote to you: I would not come, if it meant finding fresh cause for sorrow where I might have expected to find cause for happiness. I felt confidence in you all, I knew that what made me happy would make you happy too.

Nam ex multa tribulatione et angustia cordis scripsi vobis per multas lacrimas: non ut contristemini, sed ut sciatis, quam caritatem habeam abundantius in vobis.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears: not that you should be made sorrowful: but that you might know the charity I have more abundantly towards you.

When I wrote to you, I wrote in great anguish and distress of mind, with many tears. I did not wish to bring sorrow on you, only to assure you of the love I bear you, so abundantly.

Si quis autem contristavit, non me contristavit: sed ex parte, ut non onerem omnes vos.

And if any one have caused grief, he hath not grieved me; but in part, that I may not burden you all.

Well, if someone has caused distress, it is not myself that he has distressed but, in some measure, all of you, so that I must not be too hard on him.

Sufficit illi, qui ejusmodi est, objurgatio hæc, quæ fit a pluribus:

To him who is such a one, this rebuke is sufficient, which is given by many:

This punishment inflicted on him by so many of you is punishment enough for the man I speak of,

ita ut e contrario magis donetis, et consolemini, ne forte abundantiori tristitia absorbeatur qui ejusmodi est.

So that on the contrary, you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

and now you must think rather of shewing him indulgence, and comforting him; you must not let him be overwhelmed by excess of grief.

Propter quod obsecro vos, ut confirmetis in illum caritatem.

Wherefore, I beseech you, that you would confirm your charity towards him.

Let me entreat you, then, to give him assurance of your good will.

Ideo enim et scripsi, ut cognoscam experimentum vestrum, an in omnibus obedientes sitis.

For to this end also did I write, that I may know the experiment of you, whether you be obedient in all things.

The reason why I wrote to you, after all, was to test your loyalty, by seeing whether you would obey me in full.

Cui autem aliquid donastis, et ego: nam et ego quod donavi, si quid donavi, propter vos in persona Christi,

And to whom you have pardoned any thing, I also. For, what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned any thing, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ.

If you shew indulgence to anybody, so do I too; I myself, wherever I have shewn indulgence, have done so in the person of Christ for your sakes,

ut non circumveniamur a Satana: non enim ignoramus cogitationes ejus.

That we be not overreached by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his devices.

for fear that Satan should get the advantage over us; we know well enough how resourceful he is.

Cum venissem autem Troadem propter Evangelium Christi, et ostium mihi apertum esset in Domino,

And when I was come to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and a door was opened unto me in the Lord,

I went to Troas, then, to preach Christ’s gospel there, and found a great opportunity open to me in the Lord’s service;

non habui requiem spiritui meo, eo quod non invenerim Titum fratrem meum, sed valefaciens eis, profectus sum in Macedoniam.

I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother; but bidding them farewell, I went into Macedonia.

but still I had no peace of mind, because I had not yet seen my brother Titus; so I took my leave of them all, and pressed on into Macedonia.

Deo autem gratias, qui semper triumphat nos in Christo Jesu, et odorem notitiæ suæ manifestat per nos in omni loco:

Now thanks be to God, who always maketh us to triumph in Christ Jesus, and manifesteth the odour of his knowledge by us in every place.

I give thanks to God, that he is always exhibiting us as the captives in the triumph of Christ Jesus, and through us spreading abroad everywhere, like a perfume, the knowledge of himself.

quia Christi bonus odor sumus Deo in iis qui salvi fiunt, et in iis qui pereunt:

For we are the good odour of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.

We are Christ’s incense offered to God, making manifest both those who are achieving salvation and those who are on the road to ruin;

aliis quidem odor mortis in mortem: aliis autem odor vitæ in vitam. Et ad hæc quis tam idoneus?

To the one indeed the odour of death unto death: but to the others the odour of life unto life. And for these things who is so sufficient?

as a deadly fume where it finds death, as a life-giving perfume where it finds life. Who can prove himself worthy of such a calling?

non enim sumus sicut plurimi, adulterantes verbum Dei, sed ex sinceritate, sed sicut ex Deo, coram Deo, in Christo loquimur.

For we are not as many, adulterating the word of God; but with sincerity, but as from God, before God, in Christ we speak.

We do not, like so many others, adulterate the word of God, we preach it in all its purity, as God gave it to us, standing before God’s presence in Christ.