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.
1 Por esto decidí no hacerles otra visita que les causara tristeza.
2 Porque si yo los entristezco, ¿quién podrá alegrarme, sino aquel a quien yo entristecí?
3 Por eso les escribí como lo hice, para que ustedes no me pongan triste cuando yo llegue, cuando en realidad debieran alegrarme, pues yo estaba convencido de que todos ustedes harían suya mi alegría.
4 Era tanto el dolor y la angustia de mi corazón que, al escribirles, lo hice con muchas lágrimas. Pero no lo hice para entristecerlos, sino para que comprendieran el gran amor que les tengo.
Pablo perdona al ofensor
5 Pero si alguno me ha causado tristeza, no me la ha causado solo a mí sino, en cierto modo, a todos ustedes (y espero no exagerar).
6 El castigo que muchos de ustedes le impusieron a esa persona, es suficiente.
7 Ahora deben perdonarlo y consolarlo, pues de lo contrario podría consumirlo la tristeza.
8 Por tanto, les ruego que confirmen su amor hacia él.
9 También les escribí para comprobar la obediencia de ustedes en todo.
10 Así que a quien ustedes perdonen, yo también lo perdono. Y se lo perdono, si es que hay algo que perdonar, por consideración a ustedes en la presencia de Cristo;
11 no vaya a ser que Satanás se aproveche de nosotros, pues conocemos sus malignas intenciones.
Ansiedad de Pablo en Troas
12 Aunque el Señor me había provisto una buena oportunidad para trabajar en Troas, cuando llegué a ese lugar para predicar el evangelio de Cristo
13 estaba yo muy intranquilo por no haber encontrado allí a mi hermano Tito. Por eso, me despedí de ellos y me fui a Macedonia.
Triunfantes en Cristo
14 Pero gracias a Dios, que en Cristo Jesús siempre nos hace salir triunfantes, y que por medio de nosotros manifiesta en todas partes el aroma de su conocimiento.
15 Ciertamente, para Dios somos el fragante aroma de Cristo, tanto en los que se salvan como en los que se pierden.
16 Para estos somos olor de muerte, que lleva a la muerte, y para aquellos somos olor de vida que lleva a la vida. ¿Quién está calificado para una tarea tan importante?
17 Nosotros no somos como muchos, que negocian con la palabra de Dios, sino que hablamos de Cristo con sinceridad, como enviados por Dios, y en la presencia de Dios.