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2 Corinthians 7

Paul traces how God brought comfort through Titus and how the Corinthians’ sorrow bore fruit in repentance and renewed affection.

Paul writes to the Corinthians after Titus has brought news of their response to a painful letter. He begins by urging holiness in light of God’s promises, then asks them to make room for him in their hearts. Recalling conflict and fear in Macedonia, Paul describes how God comforted him through Titus’s arrival. The Corinthians’ grief had led to repentance, and their welcome of Titus had renewed Paul’s confidence in them. The wrong behind the dispute remains unnamed here.

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1Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one.
3I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.
4Great 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.
5For 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.
6Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
7and 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.
8For 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.
9I 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.
10For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
11For 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.
12So 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.
13Therefore 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.
14For 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.
15His affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him.
16I rejoice that in everything I am confident concerning you.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
2 Corinthians 7:1God’s promises ground Paul’s call to holiness, reaching both outward conduct and the inner life.
2 Corinthians 7:10This verse explains Paul’s joy by distinguishing sorrow that leads to repentance from sorrow that produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:6Paul names God as the source of comfort and Titus’s arrival as the means through which it came.
Where this chapter reaches

Hebrews shares this chapter’s call to pursue holiness and its concern that correction bear good fruit, despite the pain it brings. Acts shares the link between repentance and salvation, presenting a changed response to God as part of receiving his saving work.

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After reading the whole chapter

What does the Corinthians’ response suggest about the difference between feeling sorrow and turning toward God?

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When has someone’s arrival or news brought comfort amid conflict or fear?

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Questions people ask about 2 Corinthians 7

What is godly sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:10?

Godly sorrow is grief that produces repentance leading to salvation. Paul points to the Corinthians’ response as evidence: their grief brought earnest care and action concerning the wrong. He contrasts this with the sorrow of the world, which produces death. The distinction concerns what sorrow produces, rather than how intense it feels.

What letter is Paul talking about in 2 Corinthians 7?

Paul refers to an earlier letter that grieved the Corinthians and prompted their repentance. This chapter does not identify that letter or describe the offense in detail. Some identify it with 1 Corinthians; others understand it as a separate letter that has not survived. The identification remains uncertain.

How did Titus comfort Paul in 2 Corinthians 7?

Titus arrived while Paul was facing conflict and fear in Macedonia. His presence brought comfort, and his report added to it: the Corinthians longed for Paul and had responded to his letter with grief and repentance. They had refreshed Titus’s spirit too. Paul credits God with bringing this comfort through Titus.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).