(Acts 18:1–11; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3)
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Paul, 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:
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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
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who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
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For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
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If 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.
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And 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.
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We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia.(a) We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
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Indeed, 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.
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He 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,
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as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
Paul’s Change of Plans
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And 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 (b) wisdom, but in the grace of God.
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For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely,
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as you have already understood us in part, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.(c)
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Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.
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I 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.
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When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”?
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But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
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For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus (d) and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.”
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For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
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Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,
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placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
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I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
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Not 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.
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