¹As people who work together with God, we ask you not to receive God’s grace and then do nothing with it.

²He says,

“When I had mercy on you, I heard you.

On the day I saved you, I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time when God is having mercy. Now is the day when he wants to save us.

³We don’t put anything in anyone’s way, so no one should find fault with our work.

⁴Instead, we try to show in every way that we’re genuine servants of God. We endure through troubles, hard times, and suffering.

⁵We don’t give up if we’re beaten or put in prison, or if people stir up trouble in the streets. We work hard and go without sleep or food if we have to.

⁶We live pure lives. We’re understanding, patient, and kind. We serve God in the Holy Spirit and with true love

⁷and honesty. We use the power of God, holding the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and the left.

⁸We serve God in times of glory and shame, whether the things people say about us are good or bad. We’re genuine, but people treat us as if we were fakes.

⁹We’re well known, but people treat us as if we were unknown. We’re dying, but we continue to live. We’re beaten, but we’re not killed.

¹⁰We’re often distressed, but we’re always full of joy. We’re poor, but we make many people rich. We own nothing, but we never lack anything.

¹¹Dear friends in Corinth, we’ve spoken freely to you, and we’ve opened our hearts wide.

¹²We’re not holding back our love from you. But you’re holding back your love from us.

¹³I speak to you as if you were my own children. It’s only fair that you also open your hearts wide to us.

¹⁴Don’t be joined together with unbelievers. What do right and wrong have in common? Can light and darkness be friends?

¹⁵How can Christ and Satan agree? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

¹⁶How can the temple of the true God get along with idols? We are the temple of the living God, as God has said,

“I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God

and they will be my people.”

¹⁷Therefore,

“Come out from among them

and be separate,

says the Lord.

Don’t touch anything that isn’t clean,

and then I’ll receive you.”

¹⁸And,

“I’ll be a Father to you,

and you’ll be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”