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2 Corinthians 7 · a question people ask

"I do not regret it, though I did regret it" (7:8). Which is it?

In the text

The verse says both, in its own words: "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." (7:8). The next verse says what it rejoices in now: "I now rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance." (7:9). These notes say no more of the regret, or of the letter, than these verses do.

The verses

“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. 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.”
2 Corinthians 7:8-9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Corinthians 7

2 Corinthians 7: Godly sorrow

2 Corinthians 7 sets two sorrows side by side: "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death." (7:10). And the God it names is "he who comforts the lowly" (7:6).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions