Piedodiet pārkāpējam
1 Es pats sevī nolēmu: ar bēdām pie jums vairs nenākt. 2 Jo, ja es jūs apbēdinu, kas gan mani tad iepriecinās, ja ne tas, ko es būšu apbēdinājis. 3 Tādēļ arī es uzrakstīju šo vēstuli, lai tad, kad ieradīšos, man nebūtu jābēdājas par jums, par kuriem man būtu jāpriecājas, jo esmu pārliecināts par jums visiem, ka mans prieks ir arī jūsu visu prieks. 4 Jo no sāpju un līdzjūtības pilnas sirds lejot rūgtas asaras, es rakstīju jums ne jau tādēļ, lai jūs apbēdinātu, bet gan lai jūs sajustu mīlestību, kas manī ir tādā pārpilnībā uz jums. 5 Bet apbēdinātājs nav apbēdinājis tikai mani, bet jūs visus vai – lai neteiktu par stipru – gandrīz visus. 6 Tādam pietiek ar vairākuma nosodījumu. 7 Tieši otrādi – jūs varētu viņam labāk piedot un to mierināt, lai viņš nenoslīkst pārāk lielās bēdās. 8 Tādēļ es jūs mudinu gādāt par to, lai viņš sajūt jūsu mīlestību. 9 Es jums tādēļ arī rakstīju, lai pārbaudītu, vai esat paklausīgi visās lietās. 10 Ja jūs kādam piedodat, tad arī es; jo, ja es kādam esmu piedevis, tad jūsu dēļ Kristus priekšā. 11 Lai sātans mūs nepārspētu, jo viņa nolūki mums ir zināmi.
Pāvila raizes un paļāvība
12 Kad es ierados Troādā, lai sludinātu Kristus evaņģēliju, un ar Kunga palīdzību man atvērās durvis, 13 tomēr, pirms nebiju atradis savu brāli Titu, es nesajutu atvieglinājumu garā. Es atvadījos no viņiem un devos uz Maķedoniju. 14 Lai pateicība Dievam, kas mūs Kristū vienmēr vada uzvaras gājienā un caur mums Kristus atzīšanai ļauj izplatīties kā smaržai visās vietās! 15 Jo Dievam mēs esam Kristus labā smarža – gan to vidū, kas tiek glābti, gan to, kas iet pazušanā. 16 Vieniem tā ir nāves smarža, kas nes nāvi, otriem – dzīvības smarža uz dzīvību. Kas visam tam ir gatavs? 17 Mēs neesam kā tie daudzie, kas tirgojas ar Dieva vārdu, mēs runājam no tīras sirds kā no Dieva – Dieva priekšā Kristū.
1 So I made up my mind not to come to you again to make you sad. 2 For if I were to make you sad, who would be left to cheer me up? Only the very persons I had made sad. 3 That is why I wrote that letter to you—I did not want to come to you and be made sad by the very people who should make me glad. For I am convinced that when I am happy, then all of you are happy too. 4 I wrote you with a greatly troubled and distressed heart and with many tears; my purpose was not to make you sad, but to make you realize how much I love you all.
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 Now, if anyone has made somebody sad, he has not done it to me but to all of you—in part, at least. (I say this because I do not want to be too hard on him.) 6 It is enough that this person has been punished in this way by most of you. 7 Now, however, you should forgive him and encourage him, in order to keep him from becoming so sad as to give up completely. 8 And so I beg you to let him know that you really do love him. 9 I wrote you that letter because I wanted to find out how well you had stood the test and whether you are always ready to obey my instructions. 10 When you forgive people for what they have done, I forgive them too. For when I forgive—if, indeed, I need to forgive anything—I do it in Christ's presence because of you, 11 in order to keep Satan from getting the upper hand over us; for we know what his plans are.
Paul's Anxiety in Troas
12 When I arrived in Troas to preach the Good News about Christ, I found that the Lord had opened the way for the work there. 13 But I was deeply worried, because I could not find our brother Titus. So I said good-bye to the people there and went on to Macedonia.
Victory through Christ
14 But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ's victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. 15 For we are like a sweet-smelling incense offered by Christ to God, which spreads among those who are being saved and those who are being lost. 16 For those who are being lost, it is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life. Who, then, is capable for such a task? 17 We are not like so many others, who handle God's message as if it were cheap merchandise; but because God has sent us, we speak with sincerity in his presence, as servants of Christ.
