7:4 I have great confidence in you; I take great pride 6 on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; 7 I am overflowing with joy in the midst of 8 all our suffering. 7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our body 9 had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way – struggles from the outside, fears from within. 7:6 But God, who encourages 10 the downhearted, encouraged 11 us by the arrival of Titus. 7:7 We were encouraged 12 not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement 13 you gave 14 him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, 15 your deep concern 16 for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever. 7:8 For even if I made you sad 17 by my letter, 18 I do not regret having written it 19 (even though I did regret it, 20 for 21 I see that my letter made you sad, 22 though only for a short time). 7:9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, 23 but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, 24 so that you were not harmed 25 in any way by us. 7:10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 7:11 For see what this very thing, this sadness 26 as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, 27 what indignation, 28 what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, 29 what punishment! 30 In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 7:12 So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf 31 before God. 7:13 Therefore we have been encouraged. And in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more at the joy of Titus, because all of you have refreshed his spirit. 32 7:14 For if I have boasted to him about anything concerning you, I have not been embarrassed by you, 33 but just as everything we said to you was true, 34 so our boasting to Titus about you 35 has proved true as well. 7:15 And his affection for you is much greater 36 when he remembers the obedience of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.