to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 When I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a fleshly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, Yes" and "No, No"? 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by usóby me and Silvanus and Timothyówas not Yes and No, but in him it has always been Yes. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are Yes. And so through him we speak our Amen to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us; 22 he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 23 But I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith; but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. 2 1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I had confidence in all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. 5 But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measureónot to put it too severelyóto all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 in order that Satan might gain no advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 12 Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I still had no rest in my mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took my leave of them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddling the word of God; but as men of sincerity, as from God, in the