2 Corinthians 7 (WEB)

2 Corinthians 7

¹ Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

² Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one.

³ I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.

⁴ Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction.

⁵ For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside.

⁶ Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

⁷ and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you while he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

⁸ For though I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made you grieve, though just for a while.

⁹ I now rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.

¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.

¹¹ For behold, this same thing, that you were grieved in a godly way, what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vindication! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in the matter.

¹² So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God.

¹³ Therefore we have been comforted. In our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

¹⁴ For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.

¹⁵ His affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him.

¹⁶ I rejoice that in everything I am confident concerning you.

Around 2 Corinthians 7

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

2 Corinthians 7 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

After a hard stretch, Paul lets his guard down. He and his companions had come into Macedonia and found no rest. “Fightings were outside. Fear was inside.” Then Titus arrived, and with him came comfort, because Titus brought word of how the Corinthians had received Paul's earlier letter: their longing, their mourning, their zeal.

Paul admits something tender. His letter had made them grieve, and for a moment he had regretted sending it. Now he does not regret it. The grief did not crush them. It led them to repentance, and he draws a line between two kinds of sorrow: “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation”, while the sorrow of the world produces death.

He lists what that grief stirred up in them: earnest care, indignation, longing, zeal. The chapter ends in relief and joy. Paul is confident in the Corinthians, and Titus's spirit has been refreshed by them.

Background

Paul is writing from Macedonia to the church at Corinth, shortly after Titus had returned to him with news. The painful letter he mentions is a matter of debate among scholars: some think it is lost, some identify it with 1 Corinthians, and some link it with chapters 10 to 13 of this letter. The first verse closes the promises of the previous chapter. For Paul's earlier anxiety see 2 Corinthians 2.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 17 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about 2 Corinthians 7